finlingo

Inspiration

We were inspired to help people of all financial backgrounds learn about money management in an engaging and accessible way. Traditional education rarely covers financial literacy, leaving many unprepared to handle real-world financial decisions. We wanted to change that — and make learning about finances feel fun, beautiful, and cosmic.

What it does

FINLINGO transforms financial literacy into a celestial learning journey. Users progress through the solar system from Mercury to Pluto learning key financial topics at each “planet.” Each planet represents a different area of financial growth, like: Mercury – Basics of Money and Saving Venus – Budgeting and Spending Earth – Credit and Debt Mars – Investing Fundamentals …and beyond Along the way, users earn XP, maintain learning streaks and unlock rewards as they master new financial concepts.

How we built it

Framework: SwiftUI for modern, smooth, and expressive UI on iOS. Animations: Custom SwiftUI animations and visual effects (shooting stars, zoom-in moon logo transitions). Design: A cohesive celestial aesthetic with soft gradients, glowing highlights, and animated planetary illustrations. Data: local storage for tracking XP, streaks, and progress. Assets: Custom fonts, vector planets, and layered celestial imagery for immersive visual storytelling.

Challenges we ran into

Getting SwiftUI animations (like the starfield and splash screen transitions) to perform smoothly on mobile. Managing custom fonts and assets within Xcode’s file structure and ensuring proper rendering on different devices. Creating the illusion of motion (like a rotating planet) efficiently without heavy 3D frameworks. Balancing an educational core with playful visuals — ensuring it feels both credible and magical.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Designed a visually stunning splash screen with dynamic celestial animation. Built a planet-based progression system that makes learning feel like exploration. Developed a Lunar Streak mechanic to keep users motivated daily. Created a consistent brand identity from fonts to iconography that captures the cosmic tone of FINLINGO. Made financial literacy approachable, engaging, and fun for all ages.

What we learned

How to combine educational design with gamified user experiences. The power of animation and visual storytelling to make abstract topics (like finance) emotionally engaging. How to use SwiftUI’s declarative approach for building scalable, theme-driven UIs. The importance of UI/UX consistency — small design touches (like animated stars or streak icons) greatly impact engagement.

What's next for finlingo

Interactive Quizzes: Add real-time feedback and fun micro-games on each planet. Personalized Learning Paths: Tailor content to each user’s age, goals, and experience. Achievements & Rewards: Badges and collectibles for maintaining streaks or completing planets. Social Sharing: Compare progress with friends who’s the brightest star in the galaxy? Expansion Beyond Pluto: Introduce “Exoplanet” modules for advanced financial topics. Integration with APIs: Connect to real-world finance apps for hands-on learning.

Built With

• swift