Annie Waugh - Senior Capstone Project
Role: During my capstone project, I worked alongside members of the Huntington National Bank design team to create research-based technics that increase financial literacy among queer individuals.
Description
Due to a number of factors, queer safe spaces are becoming extinct; Zami aims to bring new and empowering support systems to local queer businesses and the local community. There is an opportunity for these spaces to take a new step towards empowerment: financial empowerment.
The app serves as a budgeting tool by using tactics for queer people who perceive money differently than their straight counterparts. One of Zami's main features is a local advice forum where people can ask for advice on navigating a queer life in a heteronormative world. Local queer and allied businesses can also affiliate themselves on the app to support local queer businesses. This manifests to the user as discounts and rewards when a user meets certain goals in their budgeting journey.
Research
To understand the topic better, I researched written work on the subject of queer financial literacy. My newspaper and OP-ED of this initial research can be found here: Annie Waugh (Huntington) | Desis: Senior Thesis (osu.edu)
Survey results allowed insight into how queer people perceive finances. Survey data comes from 85 respondents sourced from different queer groups on Reddit and Facebook. These results narrowed my scope from all queer folk to the lesbian and AFAB community.
Based on what was learned in the surveys, interviews gave insight into how lesbians understand and handle their finances. It was becoming increasingly evident that you can't separate the community from how queer individuals use their money. The following quote is an example of one of my interviewees who talked with me for a while about chosen family and the importance of them in times of need.
"You really have to create a brand-new life for yourself outside of everything that you knew. I've had financial difficulties, I've had car issues and my coworkers pull together, and they're like 'we're going to give you the money and you can pay us back whenever, and to have that when I have never had that from anybody in my real family was very full circle for me."
-Employee of Slammers, 1 out of the 21 remaining lesbian bars in the United States
Photograph of Slammer's motto "All walks one groove"
Initial wireframing of concept
The final color palette is a Mediterranean take on the lesbian pride flag. In my research I identified