Kraken Deals App
A mobile concept app connecting local merchants with customers through location-based deals — designed to inspire visits and drive in-person engagement.
Project Overview
• Role: Solo Designer + Developer
• Platform: Mobile (Android prototype)
• Tools: Figma, Jetpack Compose, Firebase
• Status: Concept exploration
• Goal: Create a system where merchants can target deals in community spaces (e.g., farmers markets) and users redeem them via QR code in-store.
• Platform: Mobile (Android prototype)
• Tools: Figma, Jetpack Compose, Firebase
• Status: Concept exploration
• Goal: Create a system where merchants can target deals in community spaces (e.g., farmers markets) and users redeem them via QR code in-store.
Problem Space
Merchants often struggle to connect with local customers where they actually spend time. Traditional coupon systems lack targeting and often fail to drive foot traffic.
I explored:
• How might merchants place deals where their ideal audience already is (e.g., organic restaurants advertising at farmers markets)?
• How might customers have a seamless way to redeem those offers without signups or friction?
• How might customers have a seamless way to redeem those offers without signups or friction?
Solution Summary
Kraken Deals enables merchants to publish geo-targeted offers that surface in nearby community spaces.
Key Features:
• Merchant-driven offers: Local businesses publish time-bound deals tied to their ideal audience.
• Geo-triggered discovery: Customers see deals near them (e.g., at a farmers market).
• QR-based redemption: Users show a unique QR code in-store to redeem.
• User-first design: No lengthy accounts; offers are quick to discover, save, and use.
• Geo-triggered discovery: Customers see deals near them (e.g., at a farmers market).
• QR-based redemption: Users show a unique QR code in-store to redeem.
• User-first design: No lengthy accounts; offers are quick to discover, save, and use.
UX Design Considerations
• Mobile-first flows: Designed for quick use on the go (swipeable offers, QR at checkout).
• Clean UI: Bold, modern visual design with strong affordances for scanning and saving.
• Merchant perspective: Prototypes included merchant flow for creating and publishing deals.
• Trust signals: QR-based redemption designed to feel secure and verifiable.
• Clean UI: Bold, modern visual design with strong affordances for scanning and saving.
• Merchant perspective: Prototypes included merchant flow for creating and publishing deals.
• Trust signals: QR-based redemption designed to feel secure and verifiable.
Challenges + Tradeoffs
• Adoption gap: Balancing merchant onboarding with user growth.
• Discovery vs. spam: Needed to filter for relevance so users weren’t bombarded.
• Simplicity vs. depth: Chose MVP flows (discover, save, redeem) instead of complex loyalty systems.
• Discovery vs. spam: Needed to filter for relevance so users weren’t bombarded.
• Simplicity vs. depth: Chose MVP flows (discover, save, redeem) instead of complex loyalty systems.
What I Learned
• Designing for two-sided markets (merchants + users) requires balancing very different needs.
• Simplicity matters: quick discovery + redemption is more valuable than feature bloat.
• QR-based flows can build trust if paired with clean, accessible UI.
• Future iterations would require real-world testing to validate assumptions.
• Simplicity matters: quick discovery + redemption is more valuable than feature bloat.
• QR-based flows can build trust if paired with clean, accessible UI.
• Future iterations would require real-world testing to validate assumptions.
Screens & Flow
