Sprout
cute companion project
Challenge
Design an interactive “cute companion” that supports well-being and brings delight through form and experience. The product needed to be supported by a secondary element of surprise through its packaging.
My focus:
Financial well-being for teens. I aimed to create a device that teaches foundational saving and investing habits through an emotional, playful experience.
Insight/needs
Teens want to understand money, but most tools feel cold, overly serious, or detached from everyday life. Through interviews and early exploration, I found that:
Teens learn best when lessons are visual, gamified, and clearly linked to progress
Parents prefer to guide, not control, their kids’ financial decisions
Financial growth is better understood when it feels like personal growth
These insights reframed the problem: rather than “teach money,” Sprout had to create a sense of care and growth. This led to a design direction rooted in metaphors like plants, pets, and produce, symbols of nurture, responsibility, and investment.
Hypothesis & SKETCHING
If the experience of saving and investing felt more like taking care of something, teens would be more engaged and more confident. Early sketches explored gamified companions, Tamagotchi-style interfaces, and piggy bank variations.
The turning point came with the slang term “cabbage” (for money), which sparked the idea: what if the savings object itself acted as a plant that would grow with the user?
Prototyping
The design was developed entirely in CAD, allowing me to quickly test size, shape, and interface placement. I explored how the “cabbage” could feel intuitive and delightful without becoming a gimmick. The integration of a minimal display made the digital connection feel seamless.
This iterative process helped me evaluate both function and personality, refining proportions and transitions before committing to final renders.
App Experience
The mobile app was designed to make learning feel like growth. Teens complete lessons to unlock real-world investment opportunities. A digital garden reflects their engagement, lush and full when active, wilted when neglected. The app rewards consistency over speed.
Parents can monitor activity and approve trades from a separate interface, offering structure without micromanagement. Visually, the UI draws from the product’s softness and simplicity: gentle animations, plant motifs, and friendly language.
PACKAGING
The packaging needed to support the story of growth and care without overcomplicating the experience. Early sketches explored produce containers and pet carriers—forms that imply responsibility, nurturing, and curiosity.
I leaned into the idea of a “fresh companion,” settling on a soft-sided carrier made to resemble cabbage leaves. It reinforced the product’s form while framing it more like something living than a piece of tech. Through CAD modeling and physical mockups, I refined the structure for scale, durability, and clarity.
Final Product & Features
A physical-digital tool to help teens grow financial literacy through playful, plant-inspired engagement.
Piggy-bank-style device in the form of a cabbage
App with lesson-based investing, real-time savings tracking
Virtual garden reflects user progress
Dual interfaces: one for teens, one for parents
Built for routine use, positive feedback, and trust-building
