The Solution
Sama is a community-based savings platform designed to improve financial literacy for middle-aged women in India.
Project Brief
Design and pitch a product or service that encourages or improves the financial literacy of a target user group of your choice.
Sep-Dec 2023 (3 months)
Project Duration
Role
Research & Strategy Lead
Collaborators
Abed Darwazeh and Ruhie Shah
Researched market trends to calculate market size and analyze competitors.
Synthesized findings from user interviews to guide final concept development.
Participated in 4+ rounds of design iterations for app screens.
Contribution and Impact
The Problem
Indian women aged 40+ face cultural and social barriers that impede their financial education and challenge their desire to gain financial independence.
How does Sama work?
Sama leverages the power of local and urban communities to provide personal financial empowerment for every woman.
Key Features:
Encourages group accountability through common financial saving goals.
Turn-based pooling, lending, and borrowing based on the “Kitty-Party” social concept in India.
Provides options to wisely invest saved money, thereby improving financial literacy in the long run.
What inspired Sama?
It was the stories of our mothers and their struggles for financial independence, as women coming from emerging economies.
“People in India don’t really discuss finances with their partner.”
-Shital, 52
“My husband is usually in charge of our finances.”
-Eshita, 49
“There’s no motivation to save on my own.”
-Maisa, 46
It is not just our mothers…market research reveals that
516 million women, or 80% of the female population in India navigate through issues of financial literacy.
So how did we simplify this massive problem into one compact digital solution?
So how did we simplify this massive problem into one compact digital solution?
Our big breakthrough
Harness existing mental models to create a sense of familiarity and break barriers to access.
This meant moving away from Western practices of financial saving and leaning into local traditions.
Introducing “Kitty Parties”
Kitty parties are a way for small groups of women to pool money and receive the total at the end of their turn.
9
women
from
4
countries
validated the success of Kitty Parties.
By harnessing the power of their tight-knit communities,
How can we empower middle-aged women in India to make better decisions around money habits with the support of their communities?
2x2 Competitive Analysis
Sama bridges a crucial and unidentified gap in the market for community-based solutions.
Our competitors focused their solutions on individual users and are mainly based in western developed countries.
We see that there is an untapped potential around local communities in financial learning.
Community-Based Financing Models
Market trends in India point to an increased preference for peer-to-peer borrowing and lending within communities.
ACCORDING TO A FORECAST REPORT BY INDUSTRYARC,
The India P2P lending market size is forecast to reach $10.5 billion by 2026.
Barriers to traditional banking systems make the peer-to-peer model an optimum alternative for women in India.
While the social aspect of lending and borrowing is prevalent in emerging economies,
There is still a large cultural stigma around conversations about money and finances.
What does Sama offer?
Goal-oriented product features that utilize “community” to foster long-term financial education and growth.
Join local groups with common saving goals.
View group members and set common goals.
Send invites to close friends and family.
Members are rated based on their trust, validity, and saving performance.
Set your goal intentions and preferences.
What are you saving up for?
Which month would you like to save up?
Engage with the customization options to personalize your experience.
Turn on Lender Protection for extra security
Toggling lender protection on ensures that your pooled-in money is safe; your ROI is guaranteed.
2% of the savings you pool in is collected as an additional service fee if enabled.
View group progress towards a common saving goal
Progress bar to see the percentage of completion towards the goal.
Shows the number of days left to the deadline.
Turns can also be viewed on a month-by-month basis.
Celebrate your success!
Groups can celebrate their success after a completed savings goal.
From this point onwards, you can explore your choices or withdraw your money to invest in alternate sources.
Learn ways to use your new savings wisely
Exploring your choices reveals options to:
Buy Gold
Invest in Safe Stocks
Create a future Safety Net
Or Treat Yourself through affiliate marketing brands.
Concept Validation
Potential customers expressed excitement about Sama
Customers validated our proof-of-concept during user testing where they positively expressed their feelings about the features we offer.
“There’s a sense of trust in the app with lender protection. I feel safer to participate in groups.”
-Monali, 50
“The Kitty party concept but for actual money feels familiar and would work very well.”
-Meghna, 44
“This way I am able to use the pooled in savings to grow my money. ”
-Neela, 53
“A good service either gives value or entertains, here I’m getting value.”
- Eman, 52
The future of Sama
Our Product Roadmap envisions Sama to scale beyond the local communities of India to emerging economies across the world.
We plan to consensually utilize user data to lobby for gender-based financial empowerment and inclusion.
Lessons Learned
Our concept pivot around 9 weeks in was hugely successful because we trusted the new direction we were moving towards. We used the insights we gathered from concept testing to guide our thought process behind the development of Sama.f Sama.
1. Pivot with confidence and don't look back
Numerous times, we forced ourselves to move away from polishing our designs and instead focus our time and attention on how we could effectively communicate the story of our product. ama.
2. Focus on selling your story
Our usual methods of presenting the designs did not work with the idea we were trying to sell. We had to learn how to “pitch” in a way that connects with the audience and who we are as people. Pitching helped us realize why we were doing what we were doing, and how we were doing it.
3. Pitching vs Presenting
Sama is a product of our experiences as sons and daughters of mothers coming from emerging economies.
- Abed, Neha, Ruhie
