Company
Zello Tech
My Role
Lead Designer
Timeline
4 months
Responsabilities
Research
Market Research
Brand Design
Design Direction
Interaction Design
Visual Design
Prototyping
Overview
In early 2020 during the pandemic, local businesses were heavily impacted. Working collaboratively with the local trading federation, our team at Zello was assigned to conceptualize a platform to help local merchants boost their sales and help customers save more money.
The platform also had to be profitable, allowing it to grow and become a sustainable business. Key business stakeholders suggested a cashback platform for local retailers. Cashback platforms were becoming popular nationwide, but most cash flow was heading to other estates.
Spoiler Alert!
This is not a successful startup story. However, it highlights the importance of early Product Discovery in guiding startups to re-evaluate and pivot their strategies by addressing the right concerns.
High Level Goals
01
Help local merchants boost their sales during the pandemic while providing customers a way to save more money when shopping.
02
Conduct a comprehensive feasibility analysis to assess the market potential and viability of Nobolso as a sustainable cashback platform.
Questions from Discovery Workshops
In early discovery workshops I had facilitated, some outstanding questions emerged from the team:
1
How could we attract merchants to perceive value and extract real benefits by joining this platform?
2
How can we encourage consumers to shop from these merchants via our platform? What's the incentive for someone to join?
3
Is this a feasible business venture?
Consumer Research & Competitive Study
To better understand these questions, we started with a consumer survey to see how often people use platforms like ours. Because of COVID-19, we talked to some of these users on WhatsApp. By looking at our competition and using our earlier research, we got more ideas and started designing the first versions of the consumer app.
Feedback from Merchants
Talking to merchants was very helpful. We found that convincing them to work with a platform like ours isn't easy. They had concerns like technical issues, worries about more competition, and how much discount they could give. Using this information and a Lean Business Canvas, we changed our approach later on.
Branding Choices & Design
I picked blue and yellow for our brand since they stand out in print ads and set us apart from competitors. The logo features an arrow, hinting at cash returns. Paired with our mascot, it resembles a smile, giving a friendly yet confident vibe suitable for a financial platform. We also included unique 3D illustrations crafted by Rafael3d.
After collecting the data and considering stakeholder strategies, I created the initial design for Nobolso. It's a cashback platform with an app for local deals and a website for merchant insights.
The Consumer App
For consumers, I created a digital wallet to see their cashback balance and transfer it to others. They can also view a detailed activity log, which shows cashback received, payments, and discounts. In the partners' section, users can find local cashback deals, which can be sorted by type. Our team built a feature to recognize purchases using the user's CPF, a Brazilian ID.
Find Local Deals and Save Money
Digital Wallet - After signing up, the home screen shows the current cashback balance and the option to retrieve or transfer to other users.
Payment Activity - Users can verify each activity, like incoming cashback and processed payments and transfers.
Find Cashback Deals - It is easy to locate cashback deals nearby from the platform's partners with a map view, search, and filters.
Transfer Money - There's also the ability to transfer their balance to other users, maintaining the cash inside the platforms Escrow account
Boost your sales and get valuable insights
Merchants had to provide access to their invoice system to identify which sales were made using CPF. To manage all the purchases, we created a web application for merchants. There, they can track sales and cashback generated.
Leveraged consumer purchase history for insights on our platform.
Adopted the RFM strategy to segment customers effectively.
Understood distinct traits of each customer group using RFM.
Engaged these segments with tailored push notifications in the Nobolso app.
The Outcome
During interviews with local merchants, I discovered challenges our stakeholders hadn't initially considered. These included technical issues and concerns about competition on our platform. This suggested that getting merchants on board might take longer than expected. While merchants liked our customer insights feature, our small user base was a drawback.
We had hoped to gain access to a large 1.2 million user base by partnering with the local trading federation, but that deal didn't come through. After reviewing our findings, the stakeholders decided to stop the project since they felt the business wouldn't grow quickly enough.
Key Learnings
My journey through this project provided several key insights.
Importance of Early Product Discovery
Engaging in early product discovery can prevent unnecessary resource expenditure. Interviewing potential users and partners can bring essential insights to light, challenging stakeholder assumptions and aiding in informed decisions.
Flexibility in Research Methods
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated adapting research methods. Using WhatsApp for qualitative research was effective and allowed for more extensive engagement than initially anticipated.
Clarifying the Unique Value Proposition
It's crucial to have a strong and reliable value proposition for any business. Factors external to the business can change the effectiveness of a perceived value proposition, and it's essential to regularly validate it.
The Importance of a Strong Foundation
Assumptions, especially those involving partnerships (like with the trading federation), can drastically affect outcomes. It's essential to ensure these foundational elements are solidified to prevent unexpected negative impacts.
