A Bet on Social Proof
Recapturing the "Daily Deals” viral spark of Groupon
Company
Groupon
Industry
Ecommerce
My Role
Product Design
my Role
Web & Mobile
Year
2016
I led the design of a high-stakes "tipping point" commerce engine. I transformed a complex "Pending Charge" legal constraint into a gamified, real-time social experience to drive viral user acquisition.
By 2018, Groupon’s growth had stabilized, but the "urgency" that fueled its early success had cooled. We needed to increase Daily Active Users (DAU) and reduce Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) by making the app feel like a "must-check-now" destination.
Recapturing the "Daily Spark"
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By 20XX, Groupon’s growth had stabilized, but the "urgency" that fueled its early success had cooled. We needed to increase Daily Active Users (DAU) and reduce Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) by making the app feel like a "must-check-now" destination.
The Business Constraint:
- The Tipping Point: Discounts only unlock if $X$ people join.
- The UX Friction: How do you convince a user to "buy" something that they might not actually get?
Designing for FOMO
Exploration: Designing for FOMO & Trust
I explored how to balance the anxiety of a "Pending" purchase with the excitement of a group win.
- Real-time Gamification: I prototyped various "Live Deal" progress bars that pulsed and changed color as the deal neared the tipping point.
- Users were encouraged to share the deal so others would buy it, like influencers.
- If the Tipping Point isnt met: What happens if the deal fails? I designed "Soft-Landing" flows to transition users to similar active deals so we wouldn't lose the intent.
- If the user misses out, they can still get notified of tomorrow’s deal.
Designing for FOMO
Driving Mobile App Engagement
I explored how to balance the anxiety of a "Pending" purchase with the excitement of a group win.
- Real-time Gamification: I prototyped various "Live Deal" progress bars that pulsed and changed color as the deal neared the tipping point.
- Instead of a tipping point concept, we launched with a Flash deal concept. simpler, still with the element of fomo, but without the social aspect.
While we launched with a Flash Deals concept instead of the social Live Deals concept, it led the charge for other FOMO related features.
