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D&AD: Barclays Daybook
How can Barclays help vulnerable customers with mental health issues manage their money better?
This was one of the many briefs given at the D&AD: New Bloods international competition. This one in particular however hooked me from the beginning due to its focus on helping the more vulnerable of us in society. After all, this is ultimately why I got into design, to help enact positive change, to do good and no matter how small or big to improve someone’s life.
One particular caveat to this project was that no advice can be given to users concerning either finance or mental health. This was one of the difficulties of this project. How could you help someone without actually helping them? Well, the answer was found in the very limitations imposed into this brief. After researching non-advice helplines and their procedures it was found that they work on the principle of self-actualisation. Meaning the patient has to come to the conclusion of how to help themselves but done through leading questions. Questions such as; how do you think your situation could improve? What would you do next time? How will you try and avoid this in the future?
Going further I found that journaling was an extension of this process but one managed by the sufferer themselves. It found that journaling can help you clear your head, make important connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and even buffer or reduce the effects of mental illness! In particular depression, anxiety and stress. Harvard studies conclude 22.8% better performance from employees keeping a work journal.
In response to this research, I created a banking app that allowed users to keep a journal. One that would be completed daily. Consisting of 3 questions in relation to the users well-being and connection to their finances. Allowing them to self-actualise on both their mental and financial situation.
