Participants needed for short-term credit research

using-tablet-narrow

Have you borrowed money online?

We are looking to speak to people about their experiences of accessing and using short-term credit products through digital devices like smartphones, laptops, PCs or tablets.

Short-term credit products might include payday loans, instalment loans, guarantor loans or purchases from weekly payment stores that you have accessed online.

Discussions will last between 45 minutes and 1 hour and take place at a time and place convenient to you. Participants will be given a £20 shopping voucher as a thank you for their involvement in the research.

Your experiences are important in helping to produce evidence and recommendations about how digital devices are changing the credit market and impacting people’s everyday lives. All interviews will be confidential and anonymised and participants would be entitled to receive a report outlining the key findings of the research at the end of the project.

If you would like to take part, please contact Rachel Gordon at Newcastle University: rachel.gordon@newcastle.ac.uk.

A successful project workshop – credit, debt and digital devices

first-project-workshop-narrow

We had a very productive and enjoyable first project meeting with some of our partners who work across Newcastle helping people with debt and money matters.

Dr James Ash began the workshop by introducing the project and the research objectives. This prompted a discussion between participants about what aspects of the research really interested their organisations and how the research linked to pertinent issues and challenges experienced by their clients. We then heard from each representative about the work they do and who their clients are. This stimulated discussion around people’s everyday practices and experiences of credit, debt and money, with a particular emphasis on the role of digital devices. We heard a lot about people’s skills in ‘juggling money’, managing tight budgets from one week to the next, and the tactics they employ when managing different types of credit. This prompted some talk around the changes to Universal Credit and how this might affect how people manage their money. To round off the event, we reflected on common interests and experiences across the represented organisations and our next steps.

First project workshop

phone-blurred-background-1-narrow-blog-page

We’re looking forward to a productive first workshop with project partners next week. Our first project workshop will take place on 27th September 2016 at Newcastle University. We’ll be meeting representatives of our partner organisations working in debt support and advice in Newcastle. This will give us an opportunity to talk about to them about what they do day to day, who they support, what issues their clients experience and how the research can help them understand the relationship between digital devices, interface design and practices of accessing credit online.

If you’re interested in the project, please get in touch with us. It would be great to hear from you.