Glasy
Overview
Our primary focus was on developing a groundbreaking mobile app dedicated to discounts and savings. My time at Glasy allowed me to contribute to a visionary project and bring our collective vision to life. It provided invaluable firsthand experience and showcased my skills in an industry set to revolutionize how people save and spend money.
This was a personal project that I did outside of university and work hours, where I spent a large amount of my spare time and weekends working closely with the founder and a small team of engineers to build the vision. Our mission is to transform shopping and dining by providing a seamless, personalized experience for users and merchants. We aim to build strong connections between consumers and local businesses while supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. Together, we're making shopping and dining more convenient and enriching for communities.
Role
UX/UI Product Designer
User Research, Interaction, Visual design, Information Architecture, Prototyping & Testing
January - July 2022
Background
Glasy is a mobile app dedicated to discounts and savings, revolutionizing how people save and spend money. The vision is to create a vibrant, sustainable local economy by becoming the go-to platform for consumers and merchants, offering solutions that promote economic growth, social well-being, and environmental stewardship. Learn more about what Glasy does.
I am half the design team at Glasy.
I joined Glasy as a Jr. UX/UI Product Designer when it was just a small team of founders, a few engineers, and myself. I helped lead the product, UX, and UI strategy for the team. It has been a rewarding journey where I've grown tremendously. Below are some key achievements from my time at Glasy:
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Turned an Idea into a Product: Transformed an initial concept into a tangible product by shaping the vision and strategy.
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Juggled Multiple Roles: Dedicated extra hours to research, design, and test the product. Also conducted user testing, created wireframes, developed prototypes, and gathered user feedback.
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Improved Usability Across the Platform: Conducted UX research and usability testing to enhance user experience and platform functionality.
Understanding the problem
Existing discount apps like Honey and Rakuten offer generic savings, leading to missed opportunities for personalized deals and significant user frustration due to malfunctioning offers and checkout limits. Small businesses also struggle to connect with consumers, hampering their growth. Current platforms are often difficult to navigate, lacking community engagement and strong connections between consumers and local businesses. Glasy addresses these issues by providing personalized, reliable discounts and fostering a vibrant, sustainable local economy.
Through moderated interviews with our users, we uncovered the top frustrations they were experiencing:
Generic Savings: Existing discount apps fail to offer personalized deals.
Malfunctioning Deals: Users encounter unreliable and non-working offers.
Wasted Time: Users spend hours on unfruitful websites without gaining value.
Checkout Limits: Frustrating restrictions during the checkout process.
Poor Connectivity: Small businesses struggle to connect with consumers.
Fragmented Experience: Platforms are often difficult to navigate and use.
Lack of Community Engagement: Weak connections between consumers and local businesses.
"It's frustrating when I
discover a great discount,
only to realize it expired or
wasn't as advertised. I need
an app that keeps its
information up to date."
User personas
Based on our research, we identified three key user types that our product aimed to serve. We decided to focus on Persona 1, as their needs were the greatest. This group could be effectively reached through partnerships with universities, community centers, and local businesses, providing targeted discounts and savings opportunities tailored to their specific preferences
Persona 1: Emma Takeout
Age: 20
Occupation: University student
Location: Waterloo, Ontario
Income: 2500 CAD
About:
Emma is a 20-year-old female university student studying psychology at a well-known university. She comes from a middle-class family and lives on campus in a dormitory. Emma is tech-savvy and owns a smartphone, which she uses for various purposes, including academic work, socializing, and entertainment. She is active on social media
platforms and frequently seeks ways to save money on her daily expenses
Goals:
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Save Money: Motivated to stretch a student budget.
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Accessible Discounts: Wants hassle-free access to discounts and deals.
Needs:
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Cost-Saving Solutions: Needs an app with substantial discounts to save on everyday expenses.
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Convenience and Efficiency: Requires a user-friendly app with easy navigation and efficient search functions for finding relevant deals.
Pains:
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Limited Budget: Struggles to afford products and experiences due to financial constraints as a student.
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Trust Issues: Cautious about sharing personal information and using apps that might compromise privacy or security.
Defining the problem statement
After gathering insights from the research and focus groups, I worked with the team to define the problem statement.
Problem statement:
Consumers are frustrated with existing discount apps due to generic deals, unreliable savings, and poor user experiences. These apps often provide malfunctioning deals, restrictive checkout limits, and complicated navigation, leading to missed savings opportunities and user dissatisfaction.
WHITE BOARD
The product vision
As a product, Glasy aims to position itself as the leading discount and savings platform with three key focus areas:
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Personalized Savings: Glasy strives to help users maximize their savings by offering personalized discounts and deals tailored to individual preferences and spending habits.
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User Experience: Glasy is dedicated to providing a seamless, user-friendly interface that makes it easy to find and utilize discounts, ensuring a hassle-free and efficient experience.
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Community Engagement: Foster strong connections between consumers with local businesses to support economic growth and sustainability and building a trusted platform.
In addition to my role as Product Designer, I managed marketing and outreach, developing strategies to highlight our product's benefits. I used my university experience to create a targeted user pool, engaging a diverse student audience at events and through online channels. By collaborating with my university to set up an appealing booth, we expanded product visibility, driving growth and user acquisition.
Designs
User testing was an iterative process conducted at every milestone of the project to pinpoint the biggest pain points in the current version. Once feedback was gathered, I would refine the prototypes and test again, ensuring that each iteration brought us closer to a seamless, user-friendly experience focused on maximizing savings.
For the Glasy brand, I aimed to create a refreshing, minimalist, and clean UI that conveyed both trustworthiness and a forward-thinking approach, appealing to savvy, future-oriented individuals who value smart savings and deals.
Logo
I designed four distinct mascots to build recognition and a unique identity for the Glasy brand. After careful consideration, the team chose the first design as the brand's official mascot.
Sign up page
A simple sign-up page that enables users to either log in or create a new account using email, Facebook or Google, ensuring a smooth and convenient onboarding process."
Check out page
A straightforward checkout page that allows users to complete their purchase quickly, with options to sign in or proceed as a guest. The page offers multiple payment methods, enabling users to effortlessly pay with their preferred option, ensuring a seamless and efficient transaction experience from start to finish.
Results and takeaways
Working on Glasy, a deal-saving platform, was my first experience at a startup, and it provided me with an incredible amount of creative freedom. This opportunity allowed me to explore innovative ideas and approaches, which was both intense and rewarding. It taught me invaluable lessons about staying agile, knowing where to focus energy, and making meaningful progress in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
Some key takeaways from this project are that:
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Maximize Impact: In a startup, especially in deal-saving, it’s crucial to invest time in features that offer the highest value to users. With limited resources, focusing on what truly matters ensures the best outcomes.
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Balance Detail with Function: Initially, I focused too much on UI aesthetics, but stepping back to prioritize user flows improved the overall experience and effectiveness.
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Stay User-Centric: Glasy's success depends on solving user pain points. Keeping this focus is essential, even amid daily tasks.
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