BRAND IDENTITY • UI DESIGN • 3D illustration 360 build-to-launch campaign for small business rewards app
Zumi was a fintech mobile app on a mission to drive customer loyalty and foster relationships with small businesses by providing rewards and other incentives—like a digital space for all of the punch cards in your wallet.
I created the brand identity, assisted with visual UI and oversaw the whole project through to an alpha product pilot launch, which included a mobile app and physical pop-up events.
Brand Identity & Design System
I used bright, yet calming blues and greens to convey Zumi’s trustworthiness (important when dealing with money!) and to familiarize our young target audience (college students) with the world of finance apps—without being stuffy. Legible typography was also an important design decision I made, as there is a lot of information to convey to the user, I kept it simple with one sans serif typeface in multiple weights.
YOUNG & PLAYFUL
My team intentionally wanted the app to feel gamified to increase engagement and retention. To make this idea come to life and contrast with the color palette, I created layered 3D illustrations for Zumi’s main graphic elements. Smilies and simple coins keep the illustrations simple and youthful, while the circular 3D logo alludes to the world Zumi is aiming to create: a payment app that can be used anywhere to earn you rewards.
3D ILLUSTRATIONS
ONBOARDING
PAYMENT
REWARDSVisual UI &
User Journey
Users connect their bank account to add funds directly to their Zumi account. They can then use the Zumi card via Apple Pay to pay their favorite merchants, earning rewards every time they do. Various levels of rewards can be unlocked overtime, similar to the Duolingo game system. We tested a few game design systems (slot machines, leveling up, and other randomized incentives) over the course of this project.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The app was a challenging design because it needed to look clean and easy to navigate. I saved the major branding moments, or “moments of delight” as my team liked to call them, for engaging the user upfront during onboarding, during payment and for rewards screens. I also added fun easter eggs with nods to various games (like PacMan above) I added in to empty states and rewards screens.
VISUALS
Pop-Ups
& Marketing
We targeted farmers markets and back-to-school street fairs near the UC Berkeley campus to draw the most attention to the Zumi launch. I designed a series of practical free merch to align with the businesses Zumi was partnered with: thermoses to encourage repeat business at coffee shops, tote bags for local markets/takeaway and stickers for fun and visibility. Merch was given away for free when customers completed the Zumi onboarding process.
LOCATION & STRATEGY
At partnered merchants, I designed and tested various leave-behind flyers and on-counter QR codes to promote Zumi use at checkout. The ultimate goal was to cut through the door noise of businesses (think stacked stickers of Zagat, TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc) We also tested a series of paid ads across Instagram and Facebook, but found word of mouth and in-person interactions with business owners provided the most new user conversions.
VISUAL FOOTPRINT
