Adult.ly
Learn and Discover
When it comes to understanding housing, insurance and taxes, our goal is to provide a learning and gaming space, a trial and error before heading into the real process.
Our Design Challenge
How might we provide an engaging, accessible learning tool for young adults navigating through housing, taxes and insurance?
Many individuals enter the "real world," with a limited plan to attain a stress free, financially prosperous, and fulfilling life. Not everyone comes from the same background and equitable learning resources are scarce. That's where Adultly comes in. Fully understanding things like taxes, how to get approved for an apartment, and insurance coverage through gaming not only prepares young adults, it encourages them to make wise decisions.
With Austin as the home base for Adultly, and it being one of the nations growing cities, having these tools is necessary to prepare all residents for growth.
Our Goals
1
Engagement
Our first idea was to create a one-stop, module-based learning teaching tool, but we quickly realized short attention spans can determine the success of our product. After speaking with experts, creating a game engages a user to the very end of of the session, as opposed to going through a "class." Learning through activities is much more fun then lecture-based.
2
Growth Mindset
Part of a successful learning process is developing a growth mindset. Embracing the effort to understand apartment hunting, building a desire to learn about taxes and recognizing your mistakes is all part of a healthy learning process. Failing at a level in our gaming prototype should help a user understand challenges help them grow.
3
Relevant Topics
We launched out a mass survey across our social media to quickly understand what the majority thinks they need to learn more about. Housing, insurance and tax preparation were the topics with most confusion. We will start our prototypes with these three topics and present them to our focus group.
Meet the Team
Enthusiastic. Authentic. Driven
These are the shared values in the Adultly team. This is who we are.
Camryn Garza
Journalism
Hello! My name is Camryn and I am a 22-year-old about-to-be college graduate who is just trying to figure it out. That's why I am so excited to be a part of our digital innovation project called Adultly. As I prepare to enter the workforce, this is the first time I've had to really think about what all being an adult entails. From finding housing to doing our taxes, we know that adulting can be hard, so we're here to work through it together.
Jennifer Castillo Cortes
Journalism
Hello! My name is Jennifer and I am a senior journalism student at UT Austin. I love eading, cooking new recipes, and going on walks with my dog. As I'm also getting ready to graduate and figure out my plans after college, Adultly stemmed out of this decision-making process. I've always mentored younger students and making a tool they can use is part of my goal for developing Adultly. I can't wait to see how our tool will help others.
Lisette Lopez
Journalism
What’s up! I’m Lisette, a soon-to-be UT grad, currently on a roller coaster ride called my twenty-somethings. When people ask me what I plan to do after college, I never know what to say other than “just gonna figure it out.” Being in my twenties, I have the advantage of pursuing all of my passions with minimal consequences, but that doesn’t mean I can ignore the inevitable responsibilities of adulting. Thankfully, I’ve met a group of girlies who share the same post-grad concerns as I do, so we’ve created Adult.ly, a safe space and handbook for a responsible life as an official grown-up.
Kayla Johnson
Journalism
Hi, I'm Kayla! I'm a senior journalism student at UT Austin who loves reading, writing and language learning. It's about a month out from graduation, and while I'm so excited to see my hard work pay off, I also know it's time to start seriously planning my future. I'm sure a lot of other young people are facing that same anxiety, so I'm happy that Adult.ly mitigate some of their stress.