All workCase study 07 / 10

Pollen for kids

A gamified financial literacy app that teaches teens smart money habits, with parents in the loop.

My role
Brand identity & product design
Year
2022
Users
Teens aged 13–21 and their parents
Status
Shipped to production
Outcome
Add your headline result
Reading
TL;DR

Smart money habits, a few minutes a day.

The problemYoung Africans grow up without the basics of saving, budgeting or credit, and poverty makes those gaps expensive.
What I didDesigned the Pollen brand and a two-sided app: gamified courses for teens and a Tasks system that puts parents in the loop.
The resultPollen shipped to production. Add a metric such as weekly active learners or course completion.
Problem & my role

Habits start early. So should money skills.

According to World Bank data, four in ten Nigerians live below the poverty line of $1.90 a day. Pollen was conceived to bring financial literacy to the next generation of Africans, so smart money habits start in their early years.

4 in 10Nigerians live below the $1.90-a-day poverty line
13–21the age range Pollen is designed for
The journey, illustrated

  1. 01A few minutes a day: a teen picks a course to listen to, watch or read.

  2. 02Answering a quick quiz earns rewards at each milestone.

  3. 03Totally crushing it! Earnings show up on the dashboard straight away.

  4. 04The teen asks for a loan for headphones.

  5. 05Mum approves it on one condition: paid tasks her child completes.

  6. 06Tasks done, loan repaid, lesson learned.

Illustrative, drawn for this case study from the research and design described here.

What I owned
  • Brand identity: the Pollen name in use, visual language and playful tone
  • User framing of two audiences: teens and their parents
  • Product design: onboarding, dashboard, courses and tasks
  • Gamification: rewards, milestones and parent-approved loans
  • Collaboration with the product owners through to production
How the work ran
  1. 01 · FrameProblem & users
    Context dataTwo user groups
  2. 02 · BrandIdentity
    Visual languageTone
  3. 03 · StructureCore loops
    Learn → earnRequest → task
  4. 04 · DesignApp UI
    OnboardingDashboardCoursesTasks
  5. 05 · ShipProduction
    With the owners
Research

Two users, two goals.

Pollen has a learner and a guardian. Designing for both meant understanding what each one needs to keep going.

T

Teenagers

Aged 13–21 · the learners
  • An engaging, immersive introduction to the foundations of money
P

Parents

The guardians · approvers
  • Expose their children to ways to grow and build wealth
  • Encourage them on that path
ContextDesk researchPoverty and financial literacy data for Nigeria and the region.
ProductOwner sessionsWorking with Pollen's founders on goals, audience and content.
AddUser researchAny interviews or tests with teens or parents, and how many.
Insights

What shaped the product.

01

Teens stay for play, not lectures.

The goal is an engaging, immersive introduction, not more schoolwork.

So wegamified learning with quizzes, rewards and milestones.
02

Everyone learns differently.

Some listen, some watch, some read.

So weoffered every course in audio, video and text.
03

Parents want a role, not just a report.

They want to actively encourage their children's wealth-building.

So webuilt Tasks: loans parents approve by setting paid tasks.
04

Progress you can see keeps you going.

Rewards only motivate when they're visible.

So weput total earnings first on the dashboard.
Structure & flows

Two loops that feed each other.

Learning loop · teen
Pick a course→Listen, watch or read?→Answer questions→Hit a milestone→Earn a reward
Tasks loop · teen + parent
Teen requests a loan→Parent sets paid tasks→Approved?→Teen completes tasks→Loan repaid, lesson learned
Key decisions

Make learning feel like winning.

1Loans that parents approve by setting paid tasksEvidence · Insight 03
Options

Teach credit with lessons only, or let teens experience it safely.

Decision

Teens request a loan, and parents approve it on one condition: they set paid tasks for their child to complete.

Why

It makes an abstract concept real, and gives parents an active role instead of only watching.

Trade-off

The product now serves two users, which adds flows and notifications to design.

2Every course in audio, video and textEvidence · Insight 02
Options

One text-and-quiz format (cheaper and faster), or several formats.

Decision

Courses and modules in audio, video and text, with questions in text and audio.

Why

To appeal to every kind of learner, so nobody is left behind because of how they learn.

Trade-off

Three times the content production for the team.

3Rewards on milestones, not on every tapEvidence · Insights 01 & 04
Options

Constant points for every action, or rewards for real progress.

Decision

Rewards tied to completed milestones, with total earnings front and centre on the dashboard.

Why

Earned rewards feel meaningful, and seeing them grow keeps teens coming back.

Trade-off

Slower early rewards, so first milestones come quickly.

Final design

Playful on purpose.

OnboardingGets teens into their first course quickly.
DashboardEarnings, featured courses, current course and this week's modules.
All coursesAudio, video and text content for every kind of learner.
TasksParent-approved loans repaid through paid tasks.

The dashboard, annotated

  1. 1A snapshot of everything earned so far from quizzes and tasks, so progress is the first thing a teen sees.
  2. 2Featured courses scroll horizontally: easy to browse with a thumb, and a hint that there's always more to learn.
  3. 3This card shows the course in progress and how many others are taking it. One tap jumps straight back in.
  4. 4These cards give an overview of the modules available this week.
The brand · the mark
Pollen logo anatomy: the Pollen host (the letter P from the brand name) in red inside a white blob on a purple ring, and the pollen, a small yellow particle on a journey to multiplication, beside the Pollen wordmark

The brand's archetype is the Sage: it revolves around knowledge and truth, and the key to success is collecting information.

The Pollen mark in three colourways: blue P on a green ring over yellow, red P on a purple ring over white, green P on a yellow ring over green
Colour
  • #63328B
  • #FCCB54
  • #FF0042
  • #00C97B
  • #5C78FF
  • #8FE4EB

Gen Z lives for colour. A bright palette grabs their attention early and keeps it.

Type & voice
Typography specimen: “Skrrt!” in purple and red outlined letters, with Space Grotesk SemiBold, Medium and Regular
Space Grotesk, with a voice that sounds like a close friend: everyday language, slang and lingo.
In use
Social tile: “Littt!” sticker on purple and yellow shapes
Social tile: “Totally crushing it!” sticker on red with a green squiggle
Social tile: “Pollen. Just for you!” on purple with the mark
Pull-up banner: Pollen wordmark, the mark on green, red and yellow bands, and “Gamified Financial App”
Impact

From concept to production.

ShippedPollen went into production with the product owners.
—Add a metric: e.g. weekly active learners
—Add a metric: e.g. course completion or tasks completed
How I'd measure success · proposed
  • Insight 01Weekly learning streaksRetention rate: teens completing lessons each week.
  • Insights 01 & 04Course completionTask success rate: courses started that are finished.
  • Insight 02Format mixUsage split across audio, video and text.
  • Insight 03Parent participationShare of parents who set at least one task.
  • Insight 03Loans repaid through tasksTask success rate: approved loans fully repaid.
  • Insight 01Does it feel like a game?Likert rating from teens; CSAT from parents.
Reflection

Design for my country's future.

  • Purpose fuels craft. This project was me using my skills for the economic growth of my country.
  • Two users, one product. Designing for teens and parents together taught me to treat trust and fun as equal goals.
  • Shipping is the start. I can't wait to see the change Pollen brings to that space.
Prototype · optional

Learn it. Earn it. Own it.

A quick lesson that pays out, and the Tasks system that brings parents in. Rebuilt so you can play with it.

Open the interactive prototypeOptional: try the core flow yourself, with the reasoning at each step.Open ↓Close ↑
9:27
Welcome, Alex 👋
Let's start learning
🔔
Total amount earned₦189,780You have aced 9 courses, rockstar!
Featured coursesSee all
💰Investing
🐷Savings
📊Budgeting
💳Credit
This week's modules
📖 Needs vs wants
🎧 Your first budget
Saving 1011 of 1
🎧 Listen▶ Watch📖 Read
You get ₦5,000 for your birthday. Which choice builds a smart money habit?
Tasks
🎧 Headphones loanApproved by Mum
Repaid₦0 / ₦10,000
Mum set these paid tasks. Finish them to repay your loan.

Try it yourself

  1. Tap Saving 101 to start the quiz
  2. Answer it, then collect your reward
  3. Open the Tasks tab
  4. Tick off every task to repay the loan
Why it works

Each step you complete explains the design decision behind it.

An interactive recreation of the shipped design. Quiz content, tasks and amounts are illustrative.

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