Dyno Deals
See all local discounts within a radius of your choosing.
"Super easy to use and convenient! I'd use this everyday." - Ally, Northwestern student
role
product designer
timeline
10 weeks, Winter 2022
tools
Figma, Figjam
team
Nicole Gunawan
Charlotte Hillary
Ferdinand Moscat
Jade Underwood
Charlie Niccolini
background
As part of a design course called DSGN 208: Design Thinking & Doing, students had to design solutions to real world problems related to COVID-19. Inspired by our local environment, our team decided to design an app that aids small businesses in recovering their profit margins in a post-pandemic world.
problem
Less people are dining in at restaurants post-pandemic, leading many local businesses to struggle financially.
With changing consumer habits and global supply chain challenges causing a significant decrease in sales, a large number of local Evanston businesses have been closing down shop. ​​
​
Therefore, we decided to build a solution that allows for the removal of barriers to eating out / shopping in-person -- ensuring that business owners are able to entice and retain new and old customers respectively.
solution
With Dyno Deals, users are able to see local discounts -- inputted by business owners -- within a radius of their choosing, resulting in increased engagement.
user research
interviews
"In terms of restrictions, all of them have lifted up, so no one’s really scared to eat out. That doesn’t really affect us anymore."
- Eric Young, owner of La Principal
In order to gain insights on the current landscape of small businesses in Evanston, our team sought out to interview both shop owners & potential customers.​​
We compiled our findings on FigJam, where we highlighted notable information, opportunities for improvement, and potential challenges.
​
Through multiple conversations, it became clear that this decline in sales was driven not by stringent COVID-19 restrictions and a fear of contracting the virus, but rather something else.
synthesis tools
We then created an affinity map to group findings into 7 categories -- allowing us to uncover new observations.
.png)
Businesses have closer relationships with local customers
Emphasis on price point due to student status
Small businesses feel more personable
Businesses could've improved marketing strategies post-pandemic
Concerns for customer reaction to COVID-19
Negative impacts on customer acquisition post-pandemic
People changed their habits regarding eating out
insights
Using the data, we were able to gather 3 main insights:
#1: Local Environment Drives Success
#2: Business as a Reward
#3: Consumer Habits Play a Role
How Might We...
We then generated 3 "How Might We" statements in relation to the observations we found, in order to outline a few problem areas we could tackle.
.png)
This is the one we went with as it had the most potential in terms of ideas we could iterate upon
design
prototyping
100% of our 5 interviewees responded positively to our initial prototype.
With our HMW statement in mind, we prioritized solutions that could help long-term with the retention of new customers.
​
Knowing that customers focus heavily on price points, our team thought that a simple discount app allowing users to see deals in their area would incentivize a wider range of individuals to dine in.
iteration
Taking into account feedback from the interviewees was important to us.
From our prototype testing debriefs:
"He mentioned that he liked how he’s able to input any range he wants, and that he would use it to see what popular restaurants were around (which hinted at what users may expect out of an app like this – perhaps we could introduce a sorting feature).
"According to the “suggested for you” text in the mock-up, he would expect there to be a function where users can put their own preferences (e.g what types of food you like, food you’ve been meaning to try)."
"It would be really helpful if users could “do it all” through the app (e.g. make reservations for next week etc.)"
"A social media aspect could be nice – for example, letting people leave reviews, ratings."
"He prefers a Google-Maps-like navigation system, in which users can type directions somewhere and it shows you those places in correlation to where you’re starting, as that’s more important to him."
"Ally suggested that a combination of a discount feature with free samples like proposed by the Farmer's Market idea with the locational app design could be a direction for our group to head in."
"She suggested it include categories of food that one could click on and that there was a flag for restaurants that have special NU discounts."
We redefined the prototype with the following additional features:
Personalized suggestions
Users are able to see suggested restaurants / events based on previous orders and data, resulting in a more optimized experience.
Categories
Users are able to browse small businesses based on categories such as popularity and industry. Events with discounts are also available to browse through.
.png)
.png)
.png)
See events
View the descriptions of specific events and the discounts offered, as well the small businesses involved.
View business profiles
View descriptions of restaurants, along with their ratings, upcoming deals, and menu items. This comprehensive list of features makes it simple for the user to get all the information they need in one place.
.png)
Order from businesses
Users are able to purchase items using Dyno Deals itself, creating a more holistic experience so there's no need to switch between apps.
.png)
next steps
Usability testing & re-iteration of the prototype.
Though we did take into account a lot of the feedback that was given to us, ultimately we were limited by time and could not iterate upon certain features (i.e. a full-fledged review system, symbols to denote student discounts, and a brand new navigation system).
​
Additionally, it is not clear how businesses themselves would use Dyno Deals in the prototype flow, though we intended for them to be able to use the app to input their own discounts. I also want to make the purchasing system more seamless for all types of businesses -- not just restaurants -- as it is unclear whether for example, users can buy tickets to events or receive free samples through the app.
learnings
Learning about the entire product life cycle, and how to design for a specific community.
Prior to this project, I had never done proper user research before (i.e. multiple long interviews), and so I think it was a really valuable process that allowed for a lot of trial and error.