Persona

The Problem

According to Statistics Canada, monthly wholesale sales exceed retail sales by C$20 billion. Nevertheless, despite the increasing trend of bulk purchases, consumers encounter several challenges:

Food Waste

The availability of products in wholesale stores at lower prices often necessitates purchasing them in large quantities, which can lead to overbuying and subsequent food waste. It may result in overbuying and food waste.

Storage Space Limitation

Costly Membership Fees

Obtaining and renewing membership in wholesale establishments can be costly, requiring authorization and financial commitment.

The Solution

Splink helps members of the neighborhood create or join shopping groups and make joint purchases, splitting the bill afterward. It is not only convenient and economical but also enhances community connections and turns a weekly routine into an exciting event!

Shopping Groups

Offer a unique shopping experience to your community by creating a shopping event, discussing details, managing groups and keeping track of your contacts and group activity history.

Receipt Scanner

Processing and converting receipt details into payments by mapping them with a pre-planned shopping list. Accurate outcomes and time savings are guaranteed.

Splitting the Bill

This feature allows splitting the bill easily and precisely in equal portions or based on the cost of items purchased by each group member. The payer can be the organizer of the event or any of the members of the group appointed by the host.

Tracking Group Balance

View group balance at your convenience, keep track of payments made by each member and receive notifications so you would never miss a payment.

Group Discussion (Chat)

Communication between members of the shopping group is carried out by exchanging text messages, photos, or images downloaded from the gallery or taken with the camera phone. The user can search chat messages by inputting keywords into the search field and leave a discussion if the group balance was settled.

Market Research

After analyzing the main features of our competitors, we conclude that despite the fact that they provide users with the opportunity to form expense-sharing groups, none of them allows the creation of a proper shopping group with the ability to share a shopping list or organize a shopping event. In addition, when splitting a bill, competitors offer manual entry of the payment amount, and only Splitwise has a receipt scanning feature for the users of the PRO version. Our application stands out from its competitors by combining the financial and social components. It is not only a convenient tool for shopping planning or conducting calculations, but also a community-driven platform that allows people from the same neighborhood to establish friendly connections.

User Flow

We maintained a user-centric approach throughout our design process. To begin the ideation phase, we created a user flow using our research findings and features. Our goal was to visualize the user's journey, from creating or joining a shopping event to splitting the group bill and managing the outstanding balance within the mobile app. This helped us showcase the steps required to achieve specific goals and foster a shared understanding among designers, project managers, and developers regarding the overall structure and organization of the proposed design solutions.

Wireframes

We invested time in exploring different layout options, establishing a clear information hierarchy, and strategically placing content. Instead of getting caught up in visual details, we focused on prioritizing essential components. This allowed our design team to concentrate on the functional aspects, gather feedback, and seek suggestions regarding core functionality and main structure. By adopting this effective approach, we successfully identified the most intuitive and efficient user interactions and flow. Additionally, it streamlined our design iterations, saving valuable time and effort for the team.

Discover(Home)

Shopping Groups

Split Bills

Group Balance

Group Discussion & Notification

Account

Usability Test

Once we completed the initial version, we created rapid prototyping and conducted usability test with targeted users (newcomers, classmates, young couples) to receive valuable feedback and address any questions. Participants followed instructions to complete specific tasks, which provided us with valuable insights. We carefully reviewed the feedback and made improvements in subsequent iterations.

Join events

Based on the feedback and observations we have received from usability testing, it has become evident that participants find the process of joining an event somewhat indirect. In response to this, we have taken steps to enhance the user experience. Specifically, we have introduced an "Ask to Join" button on the event card, providing users with a more streamlined and direct way to participate in a shopping event. This improvement aims to make the event joining process more intuitive and user-friendly.

Create shopping list

During the process of creating a shopping list, participants encountered confusion when attempting to add items. For instance, they faced challenges in determining whether a desired store stocked a particular item, such as bread. In order to rectify this issue, we have implemented a solution. By integrating the store inventory API, users can now seamlessly locate and confirm the availability of specific items they intend to include on their shopping lists. This enhancement aims to simplify the experience and provide users with accurate information during list creation.

Split Bills

We noticed two main challenges in the bill splitting section: complexity when entering multiple details and confusion with varied taxes, especially for items with different tax categories. To address these concerns, we've made improvements. We've enhanced the item card with action buttons for easy removal or editing, along with a dropdown list for adjusting quantities. We've also streamlined the tax calculation into two steps, improving clarity and simplifying the bill splitting process. Our aim is to create a more user-friendly experience, helping users navigate bill splitting confidently and intuitively.

Check Group Balance

Due to technical constraints, in-app transfers are not possible in this app. Consequently, the most problematic section revolves around this limitation. From the member's perspective, users discovered that they could exit an event without settling their bills. Conversely, event owners faced challenges in ensuring members paid their dues accurately. To tackle these significant issues, we've restructured the payment process. Members cannot leave the group until the group balance reaches zero or the event owner confirms a member's payment. Additionally, members who have paid can inform the event owner of their payment and then proceed to exit the group. These changes aim to address these concerns effectively.

Mockups

Sign In/Log In

Users have two options to sign up: creating an account via email or logging in directly with their Google account. The email address is also utilized for verifying user accounts and resetting passwords. Once users have successfully logged in, they will be prompted to grant permission for notifications and access to their location. The location access is necessary for creating or joining shopping groups.

Discover Shopping Groups

Discover is the home screen when users open the app. Here, users can explore the available shopping events around them after authorizing geolocation to the app.

Group Events

In the Events section, users can act as hosts and create, publish, and edit shopping events. As hosts, they can provide store information, a shopping list, and specify the date and time of the event. They have the authority to accept or reject participant requests and are responsible for dividing the bill after shopping. Participants, on the other hand, can update the quantity of items they need to contribute to the group shopping list.

Split Bill and Track Group Balance

We offer two options for users to split group bills, which can adapt to different scenarios. Additionally, users can utilize the OCR recognition function to split bills by scanning the receipt. This feature assists the host in converting the receipt into a shopping list, enabling them to divide the bill based on the items each member purchased. The Group Balance section enables users to track the payment status. As the host, you can remind members to pay the bill or confirm if someone has already made their payment.

Group Discussion, Notification and Account

The Group Discussion feature enables members of the shopping group to communicate by messages, photos, or images from their gallery or camera. Users can also add group members as contacts which facilitating the expansion of local connections. Notification allows users conveniently check requests, payments, reminders, etc. The Account section allows users to manage their personal data, contacts, and other relevant information.

Branding

Our logo represents the following concepts: community, connection, location, and sharing. It resembles a map location sign and the bright circle inside can be interpreted as a meeting point, a close circle of people, unification, and rallying. Clear lines leading to the center resemble a road, an intersection, which indicates an organized activity.

UI Kit

Typography

The choice of fonts in an application has a direct impact on the user experience. We prioritized readability as a crucial factor. To achieve this, we selected Work Sans as the body text, a large x-height making it comfortable to read in different weights ; Cabinet Grotesque, a modern and specially designed sans-serif font for heading.

Colors

Medium-slate-blue and Red as the supporting color will convey the message “Right” or “Wrong”, “Accept” or “Deny” to users. E.g. in “Group Balance”, if a user paid the bill, the status badge will be with Medium-slate-blue for text and Positive-10 as the background. The Red and Negative-10 combination will convey the message “unpaid” to users.

Iconography

We chose the iconography with the aim of creating a design that is light and intuitive, enhancing the balance of the content. The utilization of outlined icons also complements the typography, resulting in a clear and refreshing visual experience for the app.

UI Components-Buttons

Splink provides a dynamic UI kit that encompasses essential states ranging from normal to long-pressed or potentially risky actions. This comprehensive kit assists designers in adapting the designs to various situations while ensuring consistency throughout the app.

UI Components-Input Fields/ Radio Button/ Checkbox

UI Components-Cards

UI Components-Header/ Footer/ Bottom Sheet

UI Components-Others

Social Media Assets

One Pager, Handout

Marketing Banner