ABOUT THE PROJECT
Enhancing user engagement and creating viral-loops for education savings fund platform 🎓
CONTEXT
For this project, I had the opportunity to work with Pelican, a startup company who are on mission to empower families to save smarter, save more and achieve their financial goals for their children's education.
Ali, CEO/Founder came to us to seek new potential ideas and design to increase user engagement and create viral-loops to retain more users. Our goal was to deliver high-fidelity mock-up on time for the Demo Day for Pelican to present the product and new features to investors.
Role
Product Designer
TEAM
Emily Cho (Product Designer)
client
Duration
8 weeks
August - October 2023
about company
Who is Pelican?
Savings platform for your child with help of friends & families
With Pelican, families can easily set up education savings accounts, access expert recommendations tailored to their specific needs, take advantage of smart investment options, and enable contributions from family and friends to support your loved one's journey.
goal
Deliver MVP of new feature designs to increase user engagement
Our goal - Design features to increase user engagement & viral loops
The team already had key main features thought out, and they were in need of layering on some features that would enable engagement, viral-loops, and user delight for users to come back and sign-up and further pull-us apart from the competitors.
PERSONA
2 main user groups
We were provided with the 2 main personas that had been previously created by the team.
insight
Hesitancy asking for non-traditional gifts
How can we ensure that the gift-giving moments on Pelican feel as personal and heartfelt as traditional gift exchanges?
One striking observation I made was the parents' hesitancy around asking for non-traditional gifts from their families and friends.
Traditionally, gift-givers would select presents with great care, investing time and thought into finding something that resonated with the recipient or express their affection. Proposing monetary contributions to a child's savings is a profoundly meaningful gesture, but it can unintentionally feel transactional stripping away the warmth and intimacy of gift-giving experiences.
Addressing this challenge seemed fundamental to enhancing the gift-giving experience and driving engagement and attracting new users.
Current wireframes
Static experience of transactioning $$
Static experience
The current design of Gift Sending was quite bare to the bones, missing some basic elements such as scheduling a date to send gift. There were steps where users could fill out Occasion and type in Message but overall it lacked life to the experience of sending gifts, felt more like a check-out experience when you transfer money.
Original wireflow of Gift Sending
Competitor analysis
How are competitors handling personalization?
We've looked at 3 different direct competitors and researched around how their designing the flows around 'Gift Send' experience or any other personalizable delight moments.
Some elements of personalization
Each competitor had different levels of personalization when sending gifts or contributions to the fund. They all had pros and cons, for example, Backer had the least personalization but it was very straightforward experience that was very easy and simple for the first time user.
Competitor analysis on Gift Sending experience
ideate
Creating amazing experiences at touch points to convert users
Ideal viral-loop scenario
I created a Scenario Flow of how the ideal viral-loop would play out for us based on my instinct and competitors flow.
The 'starred' phase was where I identified as the key action points where we needed to encourage our users to share the fund and send a gift meanwhile we giving unique and memorable experiences.
Ideal viral-loop scenario
Features to increase engagement
After conducting more research and gathering a plethora of ideas, I showcased various keywords and features to the CEO. From our discussion, we pinpointed three primary keywords and features to prioritize for the project during the workshop.
Unique Personalization
To spread word of mouth and give a memorable experience of Gift Giving
Social Media
Users are part of building the Fund Page, community aspect
Share/Referrals
To encourage users to refer more users
Design & Iteration
Striking the balance of fun and simple experience
Our approach
Our objective was to make the gift-giving experience both enjoyable and tailored to individual preferences. However, we were cautious not to overload users with additional steps, especially for those who preferred a straightforward process. Striking the right balance became one of our primary challenges as we brainstormed and sketched out concepts.
Send Gift page design
Initially, our plan was to allow users to compose a message on the same page where they finalized gift details. They could also delve deeper into customization if they wished.
However, upon reflection, the design seemed overcrowded. It inadvertently added the impression of another task to complete. In response, I reimagined the side panel. I eliminated the shortcut customization features and instead integrated a clear CTA button for composing a message. Clicking on this now initiates a lightbox mode for card writing and customization.
Sketch iterations of Send Gift page
2-1. Card Customization
We went through multiple iterations to determine the optimal layout for customization, considering features that would make the gift card writing process enjoyable, like stickers, photos, and color options for backgrounds and texts.
At first, we settled on Option D. However, after sleeping on the idea, it occurred to me that while this design might be fun for some, it could be overwhelming, particularly for our senior users.
1st iteration of Card Customization
2-2. Balancing customization and ease of use with help of AI card writer ✨
After further reflection and a discussion with our engineer, I merged the concept of integrating an AI card writer into the card creation process while simplifying the card customization features to just the essentials. This way, users can still enjoy a personalized experience by selecting cards and modifying fonts and colors.
I was torn between two layout choices: a side-by-side view (opt. e-1) and a floating cards view (opt. e-2). However, I opted for the side-by-side design, believing it would be more intuitive for a broader range of users.
2nd iteration of Card Customization
Fund page re-design
The current fund page, as designed by the previous team, was minimalistic featuring just a message and photograph of the fund beneficiary. Our vision was to give breath of life to this space, inspiring visitors to actively participate in gift-giving and to champion the child's future.
To realize this, we infused elements reminiscent of social media, including a message/activity wall that invites visitor interaction. Additionally, an integrated photo gallery allows editors to infuse personal touches and provides visitors an immersive way to connect with the child's journey.
Fund page re-design
How can we ensure that the gift-giving moments on Pelican feel as personal and heartfelt as traditional gift exchanges?
deliver
It takes a village & lots of ❤️ to raise a child
learning
What did I learn?
If I had more time…
Given more time, I would have refined the mobile layouts and undertaken a comprehensive UI overhaul.
We prioritized a desktop-first approach since the earlier design team's foundational designs were based on this, and they were essential for presentations. I recognized lots of areas of enhancement in the UI, ranging from color schemes, typography, to overall composition. However, after discussions with the CEO, we decided to postpone the UI revamp to a later phase in our roadmap.
Trusting your instinct
For this project, I didn't get a chance to test the prototype with users due to the timeline as we focused on what Pelican could be and creating high-fidelity mockups to showcase for Demo Day. I learned to navigate, iterate rapidly, and make decisions based on my instinct and engaging with stakeholders.
Thank you for taking the time to read!