Working with Ugafode and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), IDEO.org set out to design formal savings tools that are better-suited to the needs of low-income Ugandans, especially women and rural populations.

Opportunities for Design

The use of formal financial services such as a savings account is not only a more secure method to save but also protects low-income families from economic volatility and can be a fundamental tool for improving productive capacity. Ugafode, recently certified as a deposit-taking institution, brought in MEDA and the IDEO.org team on a 6-week project to design savings products to meet the needs of their customers. 

In designing these new savings products, Ugafode aimed to expand the reach of its existing branches to more rural and female customers, and also looked to try more branchless banking options. Keeping this shift in client focus in mind, we approached the design challenge with one overarching question: How might we develop formal savings products that enable rural customers to save in a more secure, accessible way? 

What We Designed

Following 2 weeks of fieldwork, including numerous interviews in 3 regions of Uganda, our team came to some key insights, which provided the direction for our design solutions. It was identified through our human-centered design process that Ugandans are already very familiar with a multitude of informal savings tools and frequently exhibit a variety of financially-minded behaviors. As such, we designed our solutions to complement these tools and behaviors. 

As Ugafode works in a competitive market, we are not able to share our design concepts and solutions in their entirety at this time. However, we look forward to keeping you in the loop in the upcoming months when these savings solutions are ready to be made public. In the meantime, please view the initial findings and insights here.