Track 07 / 08 · 2023
Kuda Teens
Product Discovery · Fintech · Concept
A concept case study: a teen debit card taken from riskiest assumptions to a scoped MVP and user stories.
The story
A product discovery case study for a teen feature at Kuda, the Nigerian digital bank: a prepaid debit card that gives teenagers spending independence while keeping parents in control.
I ranked the riskiest assumptions by importance and risk, researched the market, interviewed both parents and teens, prioritised features with MoSCoW and a value-versus-effort map, and wrote the MVP's user stories.
This is a concept study, not a shipped Kuda product.
5 parents + 3 teens interviewed
Liner notes
Step by step
- 01
Problem statement
Teens in Nigeria lacked a safe, controlled way to access and manage money, and parents had no visibility into their spending. Kuda Teens is a prepaid debit card and banking experience for teens aged 11–18 and their parents.
02Market research
Research segmented by demographics, geography, psychographics and behaviour identified tech-savvy, budget-conscious parents and financially curious teens as the core audience, across urban and rural Nigeria.
03Assumption mapping
I scored assumptions by importance and risk to decide what to validate first. The top one, that parents need controls to regulate teen spending, scored 10 on importance and drove early design decisions.
04Risk vs importance
Plotting assumptions on a risk-importance matrix surfaced the critical unknowns. High-risk, high-importance items such as merchant acceptance and parental controls were validated first.
05User research: parents
I interviewed 5 parents and 3 teens with a structured survey. Parents prioritised transparency and control; teens wanted independence and customisable card designs.
06User research: teens
Teens wanted financial independence, personalised card aesthetics and the ability to buy digital goods, which mapped to virtual card customisation and gift card support.
07Key findings
Two distinct needs: parents wanted oversight and financial literacy tools; teens wanted autonomy, personalisation and easy access to money for everyday purchases, gift cards and gaming.
08Feature prioritisation
MoSCoW plus T-shirt sizing across four pillars (Security & Privacy, Digital Experience, Card Design, Parent Controls) kept the MVP achievable without losing core value.
09MVP definition
A value vs effort map defined the MVP. Quick wins like data privacy, login and virtual card activation came first; social features and interactive budgeting tools were scoped for later releases.
10User stories
User stories for both personas covered transaction visibility, spending limits, real-time notifications and financial education, forming the backlog.