Design of financial app to make it fun for young people to save for their retirement
CLIENT STARTUP CONCEPT DURATION 8 WEEKS ROLE UX / UI DESIGNER TEAM ANNA ANDERSSON & HEDDA WACHTMEISTER FOCUS UX / UI DESIGN, UX RESEARCH, BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
BACKGROUND
Young people do not save enough for their retirement, especially those with poor family finances In a world of immediate gratification, long-term financial planning is often overlooked. How do we get a 25 year old that are excited for travels and their first apartment to save for 40 years in the future? And is it even important? This project addresses this challenge: to design a financial app that not only informs but actively engages young people in the crucial process of retirement savings.

Our initial research revealed a significant disconnect in financial literacy and behavior among young adults. Many believe the pension is a distant and abstract concept, not a pressing concern for today. This perception leads to a significant problem: young people do not save enough for their retirement, especially those with poor family finances.

According to sources from Nordnet (2020) and Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (2023):
60% of Swedes do not understand compound interest
60% of young Swedes are not saving for their private pensions
80% of Swedes believe that they have very good personal finance skills
CHALLENGE
How might we make it fun for young people to save for their retirement? The goal was to design a user experience that transforms retirement planning from a distant, abstract concept into a tangible, relevant, and rewarding activity. Having knowledge about how to have control over your financial future should be accessible for all young adults. And the difficult part - how to make a topic that young adult view as boring and irrelevant into something powerful and fun?
PROCESS
Understanding the savings mindset of young people Pension saving is not commonly seen as a fun activity, and since young people often do not feel an urgent need to start, we needed to understand how to make it encouraging and engaging — in order to make their future more secure.

The process included:
  • Market research
  • User research
  • Research of pension savings
  • Surveys & interviews
  • Personas & user journeys
  • User flows
  • Prototyping
  • Testing & iteration
INSIGHTS
Why young adults are not saving for their retirement
  • Lack of perceived need
Many believed that the public pension ("allmän pension") would be sufficient, minimizing the perceived need for private savings. As a result, 20% of the individuals (ages 21-29) we interviewed stated they had no intention of ever saving privately for retirement.
  • Lack of urgency
Retirement was perceived as too far away to be a priority. This was a key misconception we needed to address.
  • Lack of impact
Many felt that starting early would not make a big difference, a belief we knew was fundamentally untrue.
Indicators that these perceptions could change
  • 60% of the individuals we interviewed are currently long-term savers, though not for retirement. Their focus is on more tangible, near-future goals like apartments, cars, and travel.
  • Interviewees said they would consider saving a small amount (ca 200 SEK every now and then) if it was easy and they could see that it would make a significant impact on their future finances.
  • The people interviewed shared their big, expensive plans for their retirement, but for most, those plans would be unrealistic without additional savings.
How to make saving for retirement motivating
  • Visualizing compound interest
Users became motivated when they understood the power of compound interest, especially when it was visually explained. Highlighting the amount of "free" money they could gain over time was a powerful incentive.
  • Using concrete examples
Users understood concrete examples easier than raw numbers. They found it easier to avoid unnecessary spending when they understood what the money could be worth in the future if they skipped that purchase.
DESIGN SOLUTION
Demonstrating the benefits of starting to save early The design solution is an interactive Figma prototype that demonstrate how small, consistent investments can grow into meaningful savings. By making compound interest tangible and adding playful challenges, the app helps young adults reframe retirement saving as something accessible, motivating — and maybe even fun. It shows how easy it can be to take small steps today that make a big difference for their future.
KEY FEATURES
Investments
  • Motivates users by visualizing how compound interest grows their savings over time.
  • Collects and integrates accounts from multiple banks for a clear overview.
  • Encourages saving with progress tracking, smart nudges, and goal-oriented tips.
Progress
  • Set and track personalized savings goals, empowering users to stay on top of their financial aspirations.
  • Engaging challenges use relatable examples to demonstrate the power of compound interest, showing how small sacrifices today can lead to big rewards in the future.
Save
  • Save money quickly using personalized shortcuts based on sums you frequently save, or enter a custom amount.
  • View your most recent savings activity for a simple, instant overview of your progress.
IMPACT
Shifting mindsets around long-term saving While this project is a conceptual case study, user testing showed clear potential impact. Participants who were previously skeptical about retirement saving expressed a newfound understanding and motivation after interacting with the prototype. Specifically, the interactive visualization of compound interest proved particularly effective, making users understand the benefits of starting saving early. The app's design turned retirement saving from something distant and abstract into a tangible and motivating potential financial habit. Ultimately, this project demonstrates how UX/UI design can have a meaningful societal impact. By building a bridge between present choices and future prosperity, the app has the potential to help a generation shape better financial habits, securing their future in a way that feels both empowering and achievable.
Zecon & Karolinska Institutet Skutan