Helping young adults master financial literacy through gamified, real-world simulations.

Econovel is a gamified learning platform that helps young professionals build financial literacy through interactive simulations. By playing through real-life money scenarios—like managing a first paycheck or handling surprise expenses—users develop practical money skills in a tycoon-style interface filled with rewards, progress loops, and intuitive design.

Now in its 6th month of development, Econovel has completed its product design and MVP. Beta testing is planned for September, with a full launch in October and global rollout by the end of the year.

Information

Details

Tools
Figma | Research | Matchmaking

Role
Solo Designer

Duration
Summer 2025

Background

Today, Financial literacy among people in their 20s falls short of OECD standards.

Many young adults are entering the workforce, managing their first salaries, loans, or investments, yet they lack the skills to make informed financial decisions. This shortfall is not due to a lack of available information—there are countless resources scattered across YouTube, news, and online lectures—but rather because these materials are fragmented, unstructured, and often overwhelming.

Problem

Financial education is plentiful, but too difficult for young professionals to access.

While there is no shortage of material on economics, the high barriers to entry make it difficult to access. What’s needed is a solution that breaks down these obstacles, allowing young professionals to intuitively grasp financial concepts and gain real-world experience with ease.

Solution

Econovel will solve this.

It is a learning platform designed to help users experience and master economic concepts through stories that closely resemble real-life situations.

Challenges

Shaping order, precision, and lasting impact.

Econovel’s development challenged us to structure scattered financial knowledge, engineer reliable real-time feedback, and design gamification that drives lasting engagement — hurdles that refined the product into a focused, user-centered experience.

Results

Shaping order, precision, and lasting impact.

01 Purpose

Experience-based learning

Instead of simply explaining concepts, the platform engages users through gamified elements that let them make their own economic decisions and receive feedback. For example, they earn a simulated salary, create budgets, make investment choices, and learn by navigating unexpected economic variables. Just in 20 minutes.

02 Progress

Completed items

Traditional services are often text-heavy or lecture-based, which can feel monotonous and disengaging, whereas our platform takes the opposite approach by using story-driven scenarios, gamification, and competitive elements. Rather than relying on passive lectures or static problem sets, it allows users to actively make economic decisions, enabling them to naturally internalize concepts through immersion and hands-on practice.

03 Solutions

Intelligence & Adaptivity

An Adaptive Learning Engine that builds personalized courses, recommends tailored practice, and delivers feedback to keep financial education engaging, effective, and practical.

Reflections

Focus more on early user testing and onboarding.

We wish we had more time to refine the first-time user journey. Our early focus was on building content and features, which limited testing for onboarding and drop-off points. If given more time, we’d invest in making the initial 20-minute session truly engaging so users instantly feel the value of learning finance through play.

Profitability

Value Creation.

Simplifies complex financial knowledge into actionable learning.

Builds confidence in real-world financial decisions.

Saves time with short, scenario-based sessions.

Keeps users engaged through gamified, personalized feedback.

CEO & Founder

Jaewoo Kim

CPO & Co-Founder

Aidan Park

Designer & Co-Founder

Bastian Kim

Product Manager

Songyun Jeong