Mobile app, Website
Delivered this urgent project in just 10 days, handled 3rd party negotiation & integration
Responsive website design
Mobile app design
Component library
Style guides & Typography
The goal of this project was to create a user-centric mobile app that provides discounted gift cards for several well-known brands, allowing users to save money on their favorite products and services. The app aims to serve both users, who want to maximize their purchasing power, and businesses, who want to attract new customers by offering gift card discounts. This app not only brings value to the user but also opens up additional revenue streams for brands by offering a platform for targeted marketing. I not only took incharge of product design and management but was also involved in partnering up with Pinelabs from approaching, negotiating brand discounts to handling their integration in our app.
problem statement
Many users desire brand loyalty programs and discounts, but existing apps often feel impersonal, with limited options and complex processes. Users are looking for an easy way to save money on popular brands while navigating a simple, seamless experience without having to depend on having a special credit card. On the business side, brands want to reach new customers without devaluing their brand image. This project aimed to design a solution that balances user needs for savings and convenience with business goals of attracting loyal customers and maintaining brand value. This was an emergency project which was an overnight pivot of a startup from previous idea to a new one. So it needed to be executed extremely fast.
Since this was an emergency situation and I had to wear the hat of a cofounder and product manager apart from a product designer so I decided to skim through the research part and only do a quick competitor analysis to see what they were offering and take inspiration from that. From this analysis I reached a simple conclusion, users wanted an intuitive and fast app with clear navigation and brand categories. They preferred an app that only showed brands they were interested in, as irrelevant brands caused frustration.
Based on these insights, I designed an app with the following features: 1. Categorizing & priotizing most relevant brand categories: To make user experience intuitive without overwhelming them with 140+ brands, I categorized the brands into multiple categories and only showed the most relevant top 3 categories on home page.
2. Streamlined Purchase Flow: An optimized, three-step purchase process for discounted gift cards that includes secure payment options, an easy-to-understand discount structure, and a clear display of expiration details.
This case study underscores the importance of user-centered design and alignment with business goals. I also enjoyed the experience of working on a project that was an overnight pivot and needed to be launched ASAP. One of the biggest learning I got from working on this project was that when an emergency arrives, everything is on stake and things need to be fast, then for the sake of execution research takes a back seat for the right reasons.
