IDEO.org fellow John Won shares seven photos from seven days in the field collaborating with Moneythink in Chicago to create tools for financial literacy in youth.

Photo 1: How does Moneythink's mentoring work? 

How do they make financial literacy topics like budgeting fun? Are they really able to connect with high school students? We wanted to find out by observing Moneythink's mentoring in action. Here, we observe University of Chicago mentors with students at Gary Comer College Prep in Southside Chicago.

Photo 2: What is a financial journey like for youth? 

We met youth who had little control over their finances, youth with jobs who had begun to dip into debt, and youth starting a family that wanted to learn how to be more financially responsible. In this photograph, we spoke with youth who had been placed in internships and had begun to experience a steady income thanks to GenesysWorks, a national work-readiness and internship-placement program for high-school students.

Photo 3: How do youth use their phones?  

How many of them have smartphones? Do they use Facebook or Snapchat? Do they have monthly or pay-as-you-go plans and regular access to data/internet? We relied on worksheets, exercises, and group discussion to understand the range of how youth use their phones, with whom they communicate, and what they see as constraints. 

Photo 4: Do *I* even know how to budget? 

Most of the IDEO.org team didn't know how to make a budget or stick to one ourselves. So we were curious to see how youth approach it. In an interactive group exercise, we challenged them to budget with play money and threw in a curveball constraint. We listened as the youth raised tough questions, debated options, and found savvy solutions based on their own experiences. 

Photo 5: Why top up?

We stopped by a Cricket Mobile and a check-cashing business to understand how youth with sporadic incomes and without bank accounts might manage monthly mobile costs and gain access to cash in Southside Chicago. 

Photo 6: Why mentor?

We talked with college student mentors at Northwestern University (pictured) and University of Chicago to understand what drives them, how they connect with youth, and what they might need out of a mobile solution for financial literacy. 

Photo 7: Does it have to be an app? 

As part of our one-week research deep dive we asked the Moneythink team to brainstorm and generate ideas with us. We had a few burning questions. What should the app be able to do if you had a youth's attention for only two seconds? What would the solution look like if it wasn't on a mobile platform?