UX Researcher
finEQUITY
Learn how to provide tools for financial futures for families in spite of incarceration
OVERVIEW
CHALLENGE:
Users returning from incarceration encounter structural barriers to credit access that affect housing and financial stability. finEQUITY’s micro-loan model addresses part of this gap, but additional user needs emerge around financial literacy, trust, and ongoing support.
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This research explored how finEQUITY could better support users’ financial understanding and wellbeing while building trust in a sensitive, high-stakes context.
MY ROLE: UX Researcher with UXRLab team for non-profit fintech client, finEQUITY.
Scheduled interviews, conducted user semi-structured interviews, participated in empathy and affinity mapping, synthesis, insight-finding, and preparing of the final slide deck presentation to finEQUITY.
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CLIENT:
finEQUITY was founded in 2019 by Briane Cornish to support the financial wellbeing of those impacted by the criminal justice system. finEQUITY currently provides both free and membership-based tools and services including credit checks, micro-loans for building credit, and an in-prison education program.
PROJECT-BASED BUSINESS OBJECTIVES:
Develop a statement of user needs to inform new program ideation.
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THREE GOALS:
1. Identify unmet user needs outside of finEquity's current scope of tools and services.
2. Prioritize unmet user needs within finEquity's current framework.
3. Discover evidence-based recommendations and align them with the unmet user needs.
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TIMELINE: 3 months
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PRODUCT: SLIDE DECK PRESENTATION FOR FINEQUITY
RESULTS
finEQUITY found our results to be "very fruitful"! They were excited about our findings, and they requested more quotes from users so we provided more quotes while still protecting the anonymity of the population of users we were working with.