Creating Community for Group Discount
Overview
Monster Mash is an iOS app that creates a community for group discounts. Users form groups to get discounted rates for events and activities. The app targets students and young professionals aged 20-40 who want to socialize and save money. Monster Mash empowers users to connect with like-minded individuals and engage in group activities.
My Role
User Research, Interaction, Visual design, Prototyping & testing
Role
Role Data
Year
Year Data
Product Type
Product Data
The Problem
Students and young professionals are interested in socializing while saving money. However, they often lack opportunities for affordable events and activities. Monster Mash addresses this issue by encouraging users to form groups of like-minded people. By doing so, they can take advantage of discounted group rates.
How can Monster Mash empower users to build community by encouraging group activities?
Goals
Create an opportunity for users to save money.
Introduce a variety of group-exclusive events, promotions, and activities available in your current location.
Foster user-user interactions to expand their network, particularly with individuals who share similar interests.
Target Audience
The primary target audience would be students and young professionals aged 20-40. This group tends to take the initiative in finding savings and is comfortable interacting with people they have never met. This would be great for money-conscious people looking to go to an event but prefer it at a below-retail cost.
Constraints and Challenges
This was nanopay's first customer facing app. They primarily focused on backend development and lacked UI experience. Building the product according to the design required constant interaction with developers. Extra time was also spent on branding and UI/UX to improve user-friendliness. Finding a card provider that met nanopay's requirements was another challenge.
Research
When exploring the topic of socializing and group discounts, it is evident that several existing apps are already available in the market. However, what sets my app apart from the rest? What unique features and functionalities can my app offer? Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the advantages and disadvantages of these existing apps.
What apps do people currently use to save money?
Which platforms are commonly used to connect with others?
Among the apps that have served as a source of inspiration for my project, Groupon and Meetup stand out. Through thorough research and analysis, it becomes clear that these apps each focus on a specific aspect: Groupon excels in providing discounts and deals, although it lacks interactive features between users and offers a limited range of activities and events. On the other hand, Meetup successfully connects individuals with shared interests, yet it falls short in offering discounts or incentives to its members for attending events and gatherings.
Interview
Students and young professionals are conscious about finances, but existing apps offer limited options.
Many individuals miss out on exclusive events, discounts, deals, and activities because they don't meet the requirement of having enough participants.
Not all friends share the same interests.
Young professionals lack opportunities to meet new people and expand their network.
Networking and dating apps appear to be more popular.
Persona
Goals
Connect with individuals who share similar interests to expand her knowledge and potentially enhance her career.
Ensure a transparent, secure, and reliable transaction process.
Discover affordable tickets for events she is interested in attending with a small group of friends.
Frustrations
Struggling to save money while attending events and exploring new things.
Often unable to qualify for group discounts due to a limited number of people.
Time and effort are required to find good deals.
Motivations
Cost-effectiveness.
Networking opportunities.
Safety and reliability.
High-quality service.
Personal growth.
Being part of a social community.
Journey Mapping
Ideation Development
After analyzing the journey map and considering the struggles faced by my persona, I envisioned the interactions and goals that users would want to achieve in this app. At this stage, I focused on group discounts - connecting users with similar interests to obtain group discounts. For example, if you are a fan of Maroon 5, you can team up with other Maroon 5 fans to get tickets at a discounted group rate.
Designing a task flow was quite challenging due to the numerous uncertainties involved. The task flow below does not guarantee the user will receive a group discount. The group discount is only applied when the required number of people is met. I believe that this feature could serve as an attraction for users, motivating them to invite friends and receive the group discount.
Usability Testing 1
Five users. Result: complete failure. While the app was usable, it did not accomplish the intended goal. Users were unhappy because the group discount was not guaranteed. I realized that the desired user-to-user interaction was not at the necessary level. There were many troublesome questions, such as "What if people who signed up back out?" "When do they make the payment at which rate?" or "What compensation is provided if the group is not matched to encourage users to keep using the app?". The main challenge was determining where and when the user-user interactions happen.
Design Challenge 1
Where and when do the user-user interactions happen?
Inspiration - Tamagotchi
In search of inspiration, I came across the Tamagotchi — the device that connected children in the 90s. Those children are in their 20s and 30s, which were my initial target users. It was so easy to make friends with others.
Why not bring back that sense of nostalgia?
Introduction of Monster with Chatbot System
Inspired by the Tamagotchi, I reminisced about the joys of caring for a digital pet and connecting with others through it. As we grow older, making friends becomes more challenging. People now require more time for icebreakers compared to their childhood.
To facilitate user-to-user interactions, I came up with the idea of introducing a "monster" as a mediator. Users will receive a monster that can level up by participating in events, activities, or group deals. Users can also earn points and rewards by interacting with others.
Unlike the Tamagotchi monsters from the 90s, our monsters now can communicate. In the 2010s, chatbot systems have become more popular, so I have incorporated them into the monsters.
Chatbot Wireframes
Usability Testing 2
Result: Cute, cool! Once again, we tested with five users, and they all loved their monster. Most users successfully completed the task of obtaining a ticket to Canada's Wonderland using the chatbot system. However, instead of continuing to chat with the chatbot, they immediately tapped on the card when it appeared. The information on the cards lacked details and needs to be improved. Additionally, I noticed that the combination of discounts/coupons and networking can be confusing when using the point system. It would be helpful to provide an introduction to explain the process.
Design Challenge 2
Some people prefer to find their deals independently rather than chat with a chatbot. In the 'Mash' tab, I have created a list of cards that display group events, activities, and deals.
In the first iteration, the list of cards included events with a picture, location, rating, original price, and discounted price. When a user taps on a card, it takes them to a wireframe I had previously created. This wireframe shows event details, available dates, pricing, the number of people required to receive the group discount, and reviews. Although tapping on a card provided much information, the card itself did not provide much differentiation.
There are two identical events at the same price.
How can we differentiate each card?
What can make a user choose one card over the other?
Users can select a card based on the number of people required in the group and the date. Since the cards displayed more information, we can eliminate one page and reduce a step for the user.
Brand & Visual Identity
Monster Inc. is one of my favorite animations. In the movie, a human girl becomes friends with these monsters.
Monsters = Strangers. Different. However, you can still be friends.
Those two monsters inspired the color scheme of Monster Mash in Monster Inc. People holding hands have the shape of the letter ‘M.’ The Monster Mash logo was created with these inspirations, illustrating connection and binding with new people.
Logo / Visual Identity Development
High-Fidelity Prototype
The Next Step
The next steps for the Monster Mash project include expanding the task flow, conducting a test to assess the reception of incorporating Tamagotchi nostalgia among users, verifying the effectiveness of the monster feature in promoting user-to-user interactions, and exploring opportunities for group discounts and partnerships. These actions will contribute to the further development and improvement of the Monster Mash app.