Product Design Digital Design & Technology

Promoting financial Literacy through experiential learning

Riyali, a collection of financial literacy programs, is a social initiative of SEDCO Holdings, a Saudi investment company. Riyali empowers different segments of the Saudi population with the financial skills they need, but students aged 12 to 14 represented an untapped segment. So we worked with SEDCO to design Ajyal Riyali, a program unlike any of their previous initiatives, that built the financial awareness of youth in a fun & engaging way.

The Challenge

SEDCO has the ambitious goal of expanding the reach of its Riyali programs to 2 million beneficiaries. When the company approached us, they already had established three main programs, each targeting different levels of students, but middle school students were yet to be addressed. SEDCO knew the importance of addressing this gap and empowering Saudi youth who tended to lack basic financial skills, but was unsure of how to achieve this in the most impactful manner. This was where our work began. Using human-centered design principles, we knew we could address this challenge and design a program which gave these 7th, 8th and 9th grade students exactly what they needed in the way that they would want it.

The Process

Our process of developing Ajyal Riyali began with an experimental study carried out with 60 middle school students who were given an allowance and a journal to record their observations and transactions. Using this data, we were able to understand the connection this age group has with money and discover relevant behavioral trends. We also did research on financial literacy and youth development, identifying global benchmarks. This was complemented by interviews with stakeholders such as the students’ parents and teachers. With all of these insights, we were able to develop a curriculum based on experiential learning that addressed the needs of these students. The program was developed through an iterative process, being tested by the target users in multiple cycles as we considered all feedback received.

The Experience

If it had not been for our extensive interaction with our target users, Ajyal Riyali would have turned out to be a very different sort of program. We empathized with these students, and accordingly developed Ajyal Riyali as a gamified experience that is played both inside and outside the classroom. We integrated real-world experiences into the classes, thereby empowering students to learn financial concepts in a fun and interactive way. There were around 1,568 students that took part in the pilot phase of Ajyal Riyali, and the post-experience feedback received showed us how much the students enjoyed the experience and how it led to their growth and development, even after the experience was over. Another important element in the success of the program were the teachers. By giving them the right tools and guidance, we enabled them to create an impactful experience and were also able to track the progress of the program. Teachers informed us of the behavioral change they noticed in the students, and parents were reassured as they knew that the Ajyal Riyali experience would contribute to the financial security of their children in their future lives.

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