Concept video
Turn on sound! 🔊
Deposit
Pay
Save
Shake
Feedback when spending more and more
Hear how much money you have saved
Choose how much to save. be in control
Save up to your goal. little by little
The Result
The Problem
Modern digital transactions lack physical and emotional presence. Money is just numbers on a screen. Many people, especially young adults, struggle to grasp their spending and saving habits because money feels intangible.
We created Piggy Pay, a playful pig-themed money companion that uses sound, touch, and motion to make saving and spending more tangible. A handheld pig connects to your phone for payments. Users turn its nose to save, pat it to check balance, and hear fun feedback like pig sounds. Piggy Pay makes managing money intuitive and enjoyable.
Piggypay - hear your money
Winter 2025
Project info
3 weeks, Winter 2025
Group project
Umeå Institute of Design
Focus
Sound design
Expression
Video editing
Storytelling
Team
Chenxi Li
Yixin Zhu
Simon Ljungblahd
Signe Lindgren
Piggy Pay is a collaborative project between the Interaction design and Advanced product design programs, exploring the question: What if you could hear you money? Our goal was to explore how sound and physical interaction could create an engaging, playful, and intuitive way to interact with finances.
Strong metaphor for money and greed.
Promising opportunity for sound exploration.
Fun! =D
What if...
Within the pig theme, we explored different expressions to balance fun and trustworthiness, ensuring the product remained engaging while still feeling reliable for managing money. This balance came through both form and sound. The design leans towards a functional, abstract look for credibility, while the sound adds character and life.
Balanceing fun and seriousness
A strong sense of teamwork was at the heart of this project. We collaborated closely, making decisions together, combining our different experiences, and building on each other’s strengths. Yxin, from APD, brought expertise in product design and manufacturing, while Simon’s experience in Blender helped bring our animations to life. Aurora took on new tools in After Effects to craft the pig’s interface, and I took main responsibility in directing and editing the final film. We also supported each other in areas like sound design and concept development, ensuring that every part of the project was a team effort.
Working together
We explored many playful ways to make saving money more engaging, from pirate treasure themes to quirky interactions like toasting savings or building budgets with blocks. But the pig theme kept coming back to us. It has a strong historical connection to money, offers interesting sound design opportunities, and most importantly, it’s fun! Both as a motivation for this project and for encouraging saving habits.
But what if we did this? Exploring how expression could bring the fun
A short video demonstrating our process
Young people feel disconnected to digital money
"I have no sense of how much I’ve spent in a night out."
"I save money, but I don’t feel like I’m getting richer."
Details
Final words
Piggy with detachable loading station
Overview of nose graphics
Packaging design
Phone animation
This project taught me just how impactful sound can be in enhancing interactions. I got to experiment with finding the right balance between playfulness and functionality to create something that was both fun and practical. It also really reminded me the power of collaboration. Combining different skills, learning from each other, and working toward a shared vision took this idea to places that wouldn’t have been possible alone.
What if we could make money more tangible
and fun?
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