RESEARCH

We did a lot of desk research and were able to conduct 18 interviews with people living in Uganda. Also, Bitback gave us access to some survey results. It was a strong foundation to build the project.

THE AFFINITY DIAGRAM

After three sessions we were able to group our insights into broader topics and draw some general conclusions. We could see different patterns and trends, which guided our work and helped us get a much clearer idea of the user for which we should design. We decided to divide the affinity diagram into several smaller ones around different topics.

All the information gathered from research phase

We put together a very broad problem statement, supported by a hypothesis statement that served as a guide to the development of our solutions.

REFINING THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

To this point, a key question remained unresolved, which had to be answered before moving forward.

WHAT IS THE PRODUCT OFFERED BY BITBACK?

There are several ways to answer this question.

One might argue that what Bitback offers is a platform for the purchase of products, and that it applies cashback as a way to incentivise its use. Under this premise, Bitback’s focus would have to be mostly placed on the products that are offered through the platform. Otherwise, Bitback might be perceived as offering what any other product platform offers, but with discounts. This creates a risk, since users concerned about product prices (be it for Airtime or any other product) will not stop looking for low price offers, and Bitback might not always be the best option.

On the other hand, if cashback is perceived as Bitback’s offer per se, where the purchased products are only a vehicle for it, then it can be marketed as something completely different to any other online shop. When getting a cheaper price for a product, consumers might eventually forget where, how and how much they have saved. However, by making savings visible at all times, their value becomes evident. By turning those savings into the consumer’s “side income” or by putting them into a specific use, their value is even higher.

Therefore, it can be concluded that what Bitback offers is cashback.

KEY GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Diagram for the refining process.

After a thorough revision, I was able to identify the key principles that should guide my solution to the challenge. These are the following:

• Integrate the app into the user's life.
• Make the value of the product evident to the user
• Set expectations
• Optimize app / Build a all-terrain app (primary intent/social/fun)

FOLLOW "THE HOW'S"

All along the way I collected some adjectives describing how the app should be. These "cosmetic" details, guidelines to the achievement of a solution, were many. One caught my attention immediately: trustworthy.

REPHRASING THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

The analyses, gained knowledge and reflections gave me a new vision, which led to the following problem statement:

Or in the How might we...? version :

The “life companion” concept is key: a life companion is someone you trust, who explains things as they are, who is there for you for everything at any time. He/She is besides you in a natural way, integrated in your life, without being imposed.

Without being too different from the original, this perspective created a whole new area to explore and consider.

HYPOTHESIS STATEMENT

FINAL DECISION

The solution was to devise a very simple system. The more you use the app, the more cashback there is. The more the app is used in a group, the more cashback there is. It is a game, it is social, it has cashback as its centre.

Users would have three variables when using the app:

• Money: variable that already exists in the app. It is the amount of money that the user has accumulated in cashback. The more purchases and higher the cashback rate, the more money will each user accumulate.
• Experience points: when you buy through the app, or you are sharing offers with friends, you earn experience points. Accumulating them makes users raise their user level. The system could be something like: novice, apprentice, medium, advanced, professional. This feature brings forward the social aspect of the app, creating an incentive to share offers with friends and to accept towarded offers in order to gain more rewards.
• Cashback percentage: it is the percentage of cashback that you will get in your next purchase. This percentage depends on the level of customer, and on special punctual bonuses. This percentage will be added to the base cashback percentage of each product. For example, Afiya is a new customer and has an initial cashback percentage of 0.5%. She receives a special bonus for new clients of 5% for her next purchase. This makes a total 5.5% bonus cashback for her next purchase. Afiya wants to buy shoes, which have a cashback percentage base of 4%. If she decides to buy those shoes, she can get a total of 9.5% cashback for that purchase.

On top of this system, we can find the social aspect. To get the most out of it, Afiya should use the app not only to buy, but to share offers with friends. When she shares offers, both she and her friends win bonuses. The one who shares is the one who can get more benefits from it. An offer cannot be shared if someone has shared it with you, so finding great offers and sharing them before anyone else can bring more benefits. The system becomes competitive and collaborative at the same time, as well as encourages its continued use. The simplicity of the system is also its strength.

About trustworthiness, it is important to explain the product better. In that direction, some introduction guides are added, as well as information pop-ups and a refurbished “How it works” section (not in the prototype).

This idea brought together some of the finalist ideas, leaving out some features that could be implemented in the future, as additions to this base system.

MOOD BOARD

Bitback had provided us from the beginning with some graphic material that they had been using as a moodboard for their initial app. It also included the logo and the brand colour.

Floral motifs, purple as primary colour and gold as highlight colour, beautiful illustrations very in accordance with the current apps (like those in notion or tripadvisor), they all had to be integrated into the solution.

DESIGN DECISIONS

The technical limitations of the project were very important and they were going to shape considerably the final outcome:

• The app should not be heavy, since most users have devices with limited capacity.
• The app should not generate a high volume of data transfer.

The app was going to be launched for Android, which translated into the following:

• Material design
• Roboto
• Illustrations instead of pictures

Due to the type of app I was developing, I needed to visualize three things: cashback , experience points and sharings. To bring a little more that feeling of a game, I added coral red and green to the color system, to show these last two (gains and cashback percentage were shown with the highlight colour, gold). So, the colour system was the following:

Color system for the app

I searched for some illustrations that came close to what was seen on the moodboard that Bitback had shared with us. I used three groups of illustrations:

• For the illustrations of the product types I used the image ID 1249234 from Stock Unlimited, part of their exclusive material.
• For the illustrations of people, plants, specific products I used the kit Vesta Illustrations, from Craftwork, from the page ui8.net.
• Illustrations of the four logos of the big phone companies operating in Uganda.

PROTOTYPE

The result of the five weeks' work was condensed into a 7-minute presentation, which also included the prototype. You can see the result below:

NEXT STEPS

• Game appearance. The game appearance could be improved in the future, with the addition of avatars, rewards to customize them, badges and some other special rewards. These are typical game elements that could be applied in moderation in order not to turn the app totally into a game. Gamification is about adding game mechanisms, not only elements. Bitback's product is all about money and it is particularly important for it to come accross as a reliable and trustful brand - which could be compromised if it appeared as a game. Therefore, any addition in this direction should be subtle and integrated within the basic system.
• Adaptation. Over time the devices running the app will change. Both technology and the scope of the app will be constantly changing. On one hand, an offline use of the app could be explored. On the other hand, a more complete and dynamic version without picture limitations, and with an almost continuous data transaction (in the current one we try to keep this to a minimum) could also be considered. This would allow to add push-up systems, very limited offers, group games,...

LEARNINGS

• The power of teamwork. The first part of the project was done together with a team. Being able to do the research and part of the definition process with three other colleagues like Idan, Sandra and Daria really made the difference. It was the way of having a very good and strong database to work with, as well as being able to enrich myself with different points of view when discussing the results.
• Empathising is key. In order to pursue a project of this kind, you certainly have to be able to empathise with the society you are designing for. And to be able to empathise completely, it is very difficult to do so from the other side of the world. There are many intangibles that can be assumed, but you cannot understand absolutely everything that it means to live and be a user of a product in Uganda.
• The world of illustrations and its possibilities. Working well with the image system of a website makes the difference, as it will be the ones that will leave those sensations that in the end crystallize into a good experience. In the same way as having good photographs, having good illustrations, as adapted as possible to the product is essential.
• Iterations and testing. In my case, the A/B testing was very important. The level of the final result was very much linked to the quality of these tests.