Group 4 Project Solution: Agora Financial Education May 6, 2009 Scott Allen, Pam Johnston, Emily Lloyd, Katie Magin

Introduction Project Overview/Background –Drivers –Initial client thoughts and expectations –Preliminary ideas Rational for our approach to a solution Benefits to our initial solution Prototype status as of last semester

User Research Round 1 Approach –Goals User’s initial impressions and satisfaction Functionality Learning strategies Content input –Methods Usability test and questionnaire Rationale –Validate the usability of the site –Determine if this is what people would want to use

Daddy Lost His Job Daddy Lost His Job offers a brief overview of the types of topics your family you may be discussing with your children. Today's economic challenges have forced many companies to downsize which has increasing unemployment in all socioeconomic levels. Now is the perfect time to start talking to your kids and grandkids about basic financial issues. They are hearing the same scary news on the T.V. and may be more interested than ever in knowing what is going on and what it means for their family. Daddy Lost His Job

Why? Why?!? Why?!?! So why, why, why is there a section called why, why, why? Because, your child or grandchild may have a lot of questions starting with that very word; "Why did daddy lose his job?", "Why did my friend next door have to move all of a sudden?", "Why can't I get a car for my birthday?" Here is the place to find ways to answer those very questions in a manner your child will understand. There will also be ways to explain to them how this relates to the economy. Why? Why?!? Why?!?!

Savings 101 offers an introductory lesson in savings. This is designed to be an overview of savings topics for you, as the parent, to learn about savings best practices, fundamentals in savings, and strategies for saving. This is not designed to be a lesson that provides instructions for how to teach your kids about savings, but for you, the parent, about saving.

Why? Why?!? Why?!?! Case studies provide a unique opportunity to look at the lives of other Americans and learn what they are doing to teach their children and grandchildren about savings, the economy and financial planning. This portion of the website is designed to provide a brief background of the family as well as to identify the strategies and resources they are using. There are sample families that represent three different family units. Hopefully you'll be able to relate to one of these families and be able to draw from their experiences.

Why? Why?!? Why?!?! There will be a variety of resources available for you to use to teach your children or grandchildren about the economy, savings, and personal finance. The resources will include links to other Web sites, articles or news stories, games and activities you can do with your children on and offline and more all relating to the economy, savings and personal finance.

The discussion board is a forum for you to learn from fellow subscribers and financial experts. You can also give advice to others. If you have a question or problem that the AGORA Education site is not addressing, you can post it here. And if you have some ideas post them here to benefit other parents and grandparents that visit the site. You can also use the discussion board as a resource to get ideas for how to explain financial issues or activities you can do with your children and grandchildren.

User Research Round 1 Results Overall results: –100% satisfaction in navigating the site –74% would return to the site –78% recommend the site to others –At least 50% of people found each learning strategy useful Conclusions: –All learning strategies proposed on the site were appealing to users –Different users found various strategies to be potentially useful

User Research Round 1 Updates Branding added and logo updated Discussion board revamped Why? Why?!? Why?!?! changed to Q&A Current event changed to a more universal and unbiased topic Case studies updated to better reflect our target audience Savings 101 would be designed for adults

Round 2 User Research Approach –Goals Learning Satisfaction Recommendations –Methods Pre- and post-test Follow up interviews Rationale –Validate the content of the site –Determine if learning occurred

Prototype for Round 2

User Research Round 2 Results Overall results: –66% thought the amount of learning and information was adequate –40% learned something new –Users did not learn anything new about savings –89% learned new strategies for teaching their children Conclusions: –Overall, users felt the content was too basic and already knew the information provided –Although users stated previously that they wanted basic savings information, they reported not learning anything new –Disparity between what users learned and what they liked

User Research Round 2 Updates Updates made: –Linked financial terms to the glossary throughout the site –Update Savings 101 for synching/technical issues Out of scope updates proposed: –Additional articles and case studies –Additional resources and activities –Expert available in the discussion area –Users would prefer advanced content

Conclusions Users were more satisfied with the prototype in Round 1 than in Round 2 –Indicates a higher satisfaction with the learning strategies –Indicates a lower satisfaction with the content Content did not meet the needs of the users –Disparity in data between what users wanted and what users seemed to need based on learning

Recommendations Utilize Subject Matter Expert to aid in content development Reinforce the goal or purpose of the Web site throughout Conduct Level 3 Evaluation - Rather than self-reporting whether they learned, users should report on their behaviors since visiting the site Provide self-contained learning module

Summary Questions??