Case Study:
Northwise Financial Learning

Overview

With a passion for increasing financial literacy, I wanted to create a digital experience (vibe-coding) to help people in Canada understand some of the complexities in financial management. Introducing Northwise Financial Learning: an elegant, gamified learning journey designed to demystify Canadian personal finance through interactive simulations and evidence-based insights.

Try it out for yourself!

Access Northwise Financial Learning

If you’re interested in how I came up with the idea and validated the user pain points, check out the product insights and strategy below.

Image shows example of Northwise Financial dashboard.

Product Discovery

Based on user and market research, here are some of the key insights from the targeted demographic in relation to the concept experience.

Insight Analysis:

To get a better understanding of the common financial knowledge gaps/pain points people are experiencing, I leveraged the Personal Financial Canada Reddit page and asked ChatGPT to analyze the top knowledge gaps people have discussed. I then asked it to highlight the most common gaps to ensure I prioritized those areas. This is what it provided:

User Insights:

Canadian account types (TFSA vs RRSP)

This is noted as the most consistently misunderstood topic as it is often the first major financial decision people get wrong.

Investing basics (how to actually start)

The main pain point is the lack of understanding between “I should invest” and “I know how.” This is where inaction costs the most over time.

Debt, credit, and borrowing

This knowledge gap shows up constantly, especially with younger users. People optimize for affordability today, not cost over time.

Housing and mortgages:

Seemingly one of the most discussed (and emotionally charged) topics.

Taxes:

This is less visible than investing but is just as misunderstood.

User Needs:

Learning can be a hurdle:

People want to learn but can find it difficult to start educating themselves and or stay engaged.

Plain language over technical explanations:

People prefer simplified concepts that avoid jargon.

Real examples and scenarios:

People prefer relatable experiences they can use to help benchmark against their specific financial scenario.

Simple frameworks over endless options:

When advice is too open-ended, people get stuck. They prefer to follow a trusted rule of thumb approach.

Bite-sized, just-in-time learning:

Financial inquiries are usually based on specific and situational questions, rather than needing a full financial overview.

Product Strategy

An overview of why the experience is needed and how success is tracked.

Problem Statement:

People are struggling to understand how financial management can benefit them in Canada.

Proposed Digital Product:

Northwise Financial Learning: a gamified Canadian financial literacy experience with a mandatory educational-only disclaimer, learning modules, interactive quizzes, fictional Canadian personas, XP/levels/streaks/badges, and zero personal data collected.

Product Vision:

A financial learning experience that helps fill knowledge gaps and empowers Canadians to make informed financial decisions.

Proposed Outcome:

Increased financial literacy for people in Canada.

Northstar Metric:

Number of unique visitors per month

Product Requirements

Series of prompts and dependencies.

Initial Prompts:

Design a digital gamification experience that helps people learn about financial management in Canada.
The aim of the experience is to help teach and inform Canadians about the various financial opportunities available to them.
The experience should not require a user to input their personal information, rather help inform them using fake financial data as examples.
Information and data can be learned using Canadian government sites to ensure accuracy.
There should be a notification at the start of the experience that informs users that the experience does not provide financial or legal advice and users should consult a financial advisor before making any financial decisions based on the information in the digital experience.

Constraints

Data and information found in modules are reliant on Canadian government data. It can only be updated when the government site is.

Assumptions:

Users may not participate in all modules. Only the ones that are relevant to them based on their current financial situation.
Users may access this type of learning on-the-go via mobile, more often than on desktop. This is because the digital experience is designed to be very user friendly.

Dependencies:

Data can not be stored (i.e. no login required) and so access and data storage will need to rely on browser storage data.
Financial information is based on the reliability and accuracy of Canadian government sites.

Backlog / Versioning

A collection of enhancements made based on real user feedback.

V1.1: MVP including initial framework and key features. (Complete)
V1.2: Updates to Canadian financial data and additional modules. (Complete)
V1.3: Design enhancements - specifically content alignment. (Complete)
V1.4: Keyword Descriptive Pop Up. (In Design), Financing a vehicle module (Complete)
V1.5: Buying a home module, Personal calculation tools - Beta (Complete)
V1.6: Personal calculation tools - enhancements (In Discovery)