Let's Talk Moola
Making financial literacy more accessible for South African high school students
The "Let's Talk Moola" project addressed the lack of practical financial literacy education within South Africa’s high school Life Orientation (LO) curriculum. This project seeked to fill that gap, targeting students aged 14-18 by introducing accessible, interactive methods for learning fundamental financial principles. We wanted to break down stigmas around discussing finances and to encourage young South Africans to engage openly with concepts like budgeting, investing, and responsible spending..
Overview
Problem
Life Orientation is often seen as unhelpful by students, and financial education is missing or too theoretical. Many learners leave school without practical money skills or confidence to talk about finances.
Solution
Project snapshot
Timeline: 1 Month
Role: UX/UI Designer (Research, Wireframes, Prototyping)
Tools: Figma, Canva, Word
Team: 2 UX/UI Designers, 3 Graphic Designers
We designed an interactive financial education experience that uses real-world examples, school-based activations, and digital content to make money topics more approachable, practical, and engaging for students which included posters, murals, and an interactive web experience.
The challange
Financial literacy is not adequately covered in South Africa’s Life Orientation curriculum and many students feel unprepared to manage money in real life. The subject is often seen as unhelpful and disconnected from real-world needs.
. Most students feel Life Orientation does
not prepare them for real-life challenges.
. This highlights a lack of confidence in LO as a subject that prepares students for adulthood.
. Students overwhelmingly want more practical, real-world skills in Life Orientation.
. This confirms a strong gap between the curriculum and what students feel they actually need.
Research & Insights
We started by exploring how students experience Life Orientation and where financial education falls short.
Ideation
Based on the research, we explored different ways to make financial learning more practical, engaging, and relevant to students.
Desktpp
Mobile
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Deep blue
Sea blue
Orange
Green
Process
Concpt direction and Design system
and refined our ideas into a clear direction that would guide both the experience and the visual design, creating a visual system to keep the experience consistent and playful
Buttons
Icons
Characters
Aa
PF Fuel
abcdefghijklmnop
qrstuvwxyz
Primary
font
Aa
Burnabay
abcdefghijklmnop
qrstuvwxyz
Secondary
font
Aa
Work sans
abcdefghijklmnop
qrstuvwxyz
Body
font
Wireframes and ux flow
We mapped the main user journey and created wireframes to test the structure, layout and clarity of the experience before moving into the final UI
Figma Prototype
Desktop experience
Mobile experience
Figma Protoype
Role and contributions
Contributed to UX and UI design for the digital learning platform
Helped shape the visual direction and layout of the experience
Designed interface screens and content structure for clarity and accessibility
Collaborated with the team to refine the final concept and user journey
Assisted in building and presenting the digital prototype
Working on Let’s Talk Moola helped me understand how powerful design can be as an educational tool. I learned how to balance visual storytelling with usability, and how to structure information in a way that feels approachable rather than overwhelming. It also strengthened my ability to design across platforms while keeping the experience cohesive.
Takeaway
rirandzu.ngobeni@gmail.com
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