ATM for Kids (yay money!)

You saw the title right! ATM for kids…a design thinking exercise and of course, kids need money too so why not, right?

So what exactly is an ATM machine? It is an automated teller machine that allows you to access your account and make transactions whenever you need it. It is a form of convenience for those who do not want to wait in line just to ask the teller to give me $100. ATM machines are everywhere and 24 hours operational!

My first time using an ATM was when I was in middle school with my new fancy adult bank account. I had a debit card where I put my allowance in, eventually landing my first job in high school and then putting my paycheck in there. It sure made me feel independent and wealthy.

Let’s take a look into Empathy

Now, as a kid, how does an ATM work? Obviously, we cannot use the same ATM machines you see next to your bank for a kid to use. Let’s target our ATM design for an age group of 5 to 12 years old. The reasons for this particular age group are:

• We are targetting kids who are starting kindergarten up to the age of getting into middle school.
• Kids start to learn their numbers in kindergarten, getting familiar with counting, money and all things math.
• Towards the age right before 13 is what we call pre-teens when kids desire independence. Once they are in middle school, many tend to obtain their first adult debit cards, making the ATM for kids no longer valid.

What are some reasons a kid would use an ATM?

• To access their allowance. Not every kid will want to spend it right away, some may wish to save it until there is enough for a bigger piece of candy or GameBoy!
• General uses for money include bus fare, school lunch, snacks with friends, writing utensils, etc.
• Earn money from lemonade stands, car wash, in-home chores, etc.

How would a kid possibly use an ATM?

• Kids are fast growers and reaching the age of 12, some are as tall as I am at 5 foot 2 inches. For this reason, we will keep the machine roughly the same height as ones you see today. The trick is, we will design pullable stairs at the bottom to accommodate for younger children.
• Check how much money they have saved up for the desired gift
• Transfer/Withdraw
• Settings (change/regain PIN)
• Parental Control (set limitations, change security settings, change age limit to generate variations of interaction, etc.)

Any educational purposes?

• Handle money at a young age
• Incorporate sound effects to encourage psychological association for “ChaChing” when transferring and “WompWomm” when withdrawing
• Develop independence and financial decisions (save and use later)
• Understand privacy and security (accessing PINs)
• Know the importance of our presidents

Moving to Define, let’s get into the details of things now.

What are the functionalities of a kid’s ATM machine?

• Accessible for all heights
• Sound effects (withdraw “WompWomm”/transfer “ChaChing”)
• They will have an access card associated with an access code to get into their own account details.
• When withdrawing, we will display dollar bill options with images to clearly represent what they are choosing.
• We will also display the amount of what is selected, currently in the account, and the leftover once it is withdrawn.
• Parent code necessary for anything over $100 per day.
• The machine only provides $1, $5, $10, $20 bills.

Ideate: the user flow of the K-ATM

Prototypes

Screen Options:

Here are some additional screens that a kid would see when operating the K-ATM. You see that when they are withdrawing, they will see the amount in red and when it is confirmed, there will be a sound associated with it (“WompWomm”). In conjunction, we have a green color when the kid is depositing more money into their account with “ChaChing” associated when they confirm.

We also have a parental control option for parents to update the PIN in case the child forgets or loses their card. We also provide the option that parents can limit how much money their child can take out per day or even amount of withdrawal times per week.

Multiple Screens

K-ATM Side View:

The following is a simple image of the side of the K-ATM, similar to what we currently see today for adult users. The biggest difference here is that we offer pullable staircases for kids of all heights.

Pullable Staircase

As many are aware, kids grow very quickly. Between the ages of 5 and 12, kids can grow as tall as 5 feet or more.

Summary

As a conclusion, ATM for kids comes with limited options including, money withdrawal/deposit and balance check. On top of that, we added parental control that allows the parents to set cash out limitations and security update. We’re also additionally adjustable stairs to accommodate children of any height, making it easy for them to reach the screen.