Janno Rasmus Dreger

• How to prevent lifestyle inflation for those at risk of falling into a debt crisis?
• Tutor: Martin Pärn

This thesis explores how to prevent lifestyle inflation for those who are at risk of falling
into debt through design research. The topic is relevant due to the fact that there are
more people who are not able to manage their money monthly and therefore might
fall into the trap of loans and lifestyles that they cannot bear.

While there is a system in place for those who have fallen into the debt crisis, there
are a few tools that help to prevent that from happening. Even though the theoretical
tools might be learned in school or through conversation with family members or
friends, it is clear that these understandings are only theoretical and not practical. This
is a visible trend the author saw when he looked into how many people live from
paycheck to paycheck and how their lifestyles have been upheld with unreasonable
loan conditions.

The topic is relevant to the author as he works in a financial institute and sees every
day how people are taking on more and more loans than they are able to handle.
Therefore, there should be a system in place that makes people think about whether
the new purchases are necessary or, rather, another great thing to own.

The author conducted research interviews with experts and people with different
financial backgrounds. Throughout the analysis, the author found how people are
influenced by money, how they deal with it, and what motivates them to purchase
things. This thesis proposes a digital platform called Lifestyler that aims to support
those at risk of falling into a debt crisis. The overall scope of the design brief is to not
only educate the people theoretically but guide them through instructions on how to
manage their impulsive money decisions differently.

The author would like to thank Taavi Dreger, who created the illustrations for the
design solution, as well as all of the interviewees who openly discussed the sensitive
topic of money.

Overview of the system