Early collaborative board sorting our assumptions, ideas and research .
Financial Empowerment for Women:
A Global Research Study
Overview
Despite shifting attitudes, a financial literacy gender gap persists. To uncover the reasons behind this gap, our global team of service designers conducted research across three time zones, identifying leverage points in women’s relationship to investing. What would the world look like if women had more financial power? The question isn’t just about money—it’s about agency, influence, and a future where financial systems work for everyone.
Goal
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Uncover the deeper systemic, social, and psychological barriers shaping women’s financial confidence.
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Conduct a survey of women followed by in-depth interviews, to map the real-life influences on financial decision-making.
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Identify small but high-impact interventions—the moments, mindsets, or mechanisms that could shift financial behaviour at scale.
Outcome
After immersing ourselves in extensive research, we uncovered invaluable insights when to comes to women and investing. Our user centred research can be used to improve or create services that seek to differentiate themselves, foster loyalty, or unlock new customer segments.
Section of a map charting one of our participants financial journey from multiple perspectives.
The Team
Our team of four was made up for service and UX designers from India, UAE and England. We had met online and were all interested in exploring a complex problem together.
The Problem and Method
We identified women’s financial literacy and empowerment as a critical issue, recognising it as a global phenomenon with widespread implications.
First, we explored the macro-level influences shaping women’s financial literacy. From there, we zoomed in, looking for niches with the potential to create ripple effects across the broader financial system.
Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research, we analysed our key area, searching for leverage points that could drive change.
Map showing factors affecting women's financial empowerment.
Determining Our Focus Area
As we gathered research and discussed factors contributing to the a gender gap in financial literacy and empowerment, it became clear how complex and interconnected this issue is, especially when viewed through a global lens. The diagram above represents a simplified map of these contributing factors.
We identified several areas which we felt might have the potential to create ripples of change throughout the wider system. Eventually we settled on exploring working women’s attitudes to investment, an area which we had both compelling research insights and equal access to participants.
One key finding stood out: fewer women invest than men, yet when they do, they are more likely to prioritise ethical and sustainable funds. This led us to wonder, what might our world look like if more women had financial influence? And more importantly, how might we support this shift?
With this in mind, we designed a survey to gather insights directly from women about their financial behaviours.
Infographic highlighting key learnings from our survey.
Survey and Interpreting the results
Our survey was answered by 98 women across 15 countries and revealed no clear causal link between age, location, or job type and financial behaviours. This suggested that the issue wasn’t purely demographic but rather influenced by deeper, systemic, and psychological factors.
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Screenshot of one of our in depth interviews
Uncovering Deeper Insights
To better understand why our survey revealed no clear patterns in financial attitudes, we conducted in-depth interviews with working professional women (without children). Our goal was to track their financial journey from childhood to the present day, uncovering the key attitudes, learning styles, barriers, and influences shaping their approach to investing.
One of our working hypotheses was that mental load, the cognitive burden of juggling responsibilities, left women with limited time and energy to engage with financial decision-making. We wondered, did financial planning feel overwhelming? Was it seen as just another task on an already full plate?
By interviewing women across different cultures and time zones, we aimed to identify a a deeper, cross-cultural understanding of why this gap persists and where the most effective interventions might be.
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Affinity mapping the results of our in depth interviews before turning them into financial journey maps.
Key Insights & Leverage Points
Our in-depth research provided rich insights that filled the gaps left by our survey findings but did not prove our original hypothesis that mental load stopped women from making investments.
Instead these interviews identified several other key leverage points that influence women’s financial behaviours:
Big-Picture Learning
Many participants preferred to understand the entire financial landscape before taking action. They often felt they needed to "know everything" before making investment decisions. This mindset made them less likely to seek financial advisors or take incremental steps toward investing. Given the vast and complex nature of investing, this big-picture approach often led to inaction.
Confidence vs. Financial Control
Confidence alone did not translate to financial action. Some participants who described themselves as anxious about investing were, in reality, successfully managing investments. Others who felt empowered by the idea of investing had yet to make any financial moves.
Trust
Trust emerged as a major factor in financial decision-making. Women wanted to know exactly where their information was coming from and who was behind it before acting. Many participants viewed comments sections as more credible than formal articles, highlighting a preference for peer validation over institutional sources.
Risk Tolerance & Regulation
Many participants were put off by the perceived risks of investing, fearing financial loss. However, their confidence increased when they understood the regulations and safeguards in place.
Financial Attitudes Start Early
Financial habits—both positive and negative—were often shaped early in life and remained deeply ingrained. In many cases, these attitudes only shifted through significant social or interpersonal interactions rather than formal education.
Social Influence & The “Chasm” of Investing
Women were far more likely to start investing when guided by someone they knew and trusted, often in a social setting rather than through digital platforms. Even those who had engaged with online investment courses, apps, or paid investment communities did not take action until they had a real-world influence tipping point.
This highlights a crucial barrier: many women remain on the edge of investing but haven’t yet crossed the chasm—not because of a lack of knowledge, but because they haven’t found a trusted social influence to guide them through their first investment. Knowledge alone was not enough action required trust, encouragement, and real-world mentorship.
Maps for three of our participants charting their financial journeys from multiple perspectives
Challenges
Our team had members spanning different cultures, generations and backgrounds. There was an initial concern that our perspectives might be too varied, potentially making it difficult to find common themes in the data. Happily these differences added depth to our research. Despite our diverse viewpoints and access to research participants, we uncovered patterns that resonated across demographics, reinforcing the importance of insights we found.
Our biggest challenges stemmed from a lack of clear structure and direction at the start of the project. The team formed casually, and while we made efforts to define roles and expectations, the absence of a designated team lead made it difficult to establish firm processes. As a result, work distribution was uneven, and contributions varied in quality, a challenge that became more pronounced as the project progressed.
Ultimately, these challenges impacted group morale and, over time, led to the team disbanding. They also reinforced the importance of setting clear expectations at project outset.
Research Participant talks through her investment choices.
What’s Next?
While acknowledging that they are a small piece of a larger puzzle, these insights, highlight opportunities for financial product designers, policymakers, and educators to improve women’s financial empowerment and enrich current user experiences.
To expand on these findings, future research could benefit from
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Comparing men’s financial behaviours for deeper insight.
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Interviewing women with dependents, who face additional financial pressures.
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Input from financial educators and psychologists to help big-picture thinkers navigate financial uncertainty.
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A focus on early financial education within a home setting, especially around risk and investing. “What if our participants had learned about investing from their first payslip?”
Beyond further study, these insights can be applied within existing financial services, shaping education programs, product design, and community-driven initiatives to help bridge the gap between financial awareness and action.