UX Designer | Academic Project
Alleviate the pressure and uncertainty associated with the gift-giving experience.
Timeline
4 Months: Sept - Dec 2024
Team
Ariba Malik
Joanna Lau
Peter Huang
Yi Liu
Role
Secondary research
User research interviews
Low, mid, and high-fidelity prototypes
Usability testing
Branding
Visual design
Problem
We’ve all been there, wanting to give a meaningful gift, only to second-guess ourselves and settle for something “safe.”
While humans truly value sentimental and experienced-based gifts, many often struggle with gift-giving anxiety and opt to give ones that feel practical but miss the deeper, personal connection.
Challenge
This gap between intention and perception raises an opportunity….
How can we alleviate the stress and uncertainty from the gift-giving process, while helping people create more meaningful, emotionally resonant experiences?
Solution
We wanted to build a product that eliminates the dreaded "what if they don't like it?" feeling during the gift-giving process without losing the surprise and delight element.
Discover
Our extensive research phase consisted of both primary and secondary research to gain insight into the key issues people face during the gift-giving process.
Background Research
To understand existing theories and insights on gift-giving behaviour, we conducted 15 in-depth literature reviews, guided by four main research questions.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor analyses were conducted on 4 pre-existing gift apps, such as Gift.com, Giftadvisor, Tinggly, and Gift Guru to gauge insight on commonalities, opportunities, and gaps.
User Interviews
Leveraging our research from our primary research, we conducted 10 user research interviews to further explore pain points with real-life experiences.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Guided by the research questions below, background research revealed several common insights:
What makes a gift cherished?
Gifts are cherished for thoughtfulness and sentiment. Shared experiences and suprises create lasting memories.
How do people select gifts?
Close relationships inspire personalized gifts. Practical constraints lead to practical, "safe" choices.
What challenges do givers face?
Time, budget, and fear of misalignment with recipient cause stress to gift givers.
How do givers balance intention vs. expectations?
Practicality is prioritized to reduce risk. Recipients value creativity and emotional connection.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Due to lack of direct competitors, we analyzed four general gift-giving platforms, each with unique selling points/features. This helped us determine what insights to act on, and what we can offer to fill any market gaps.
Click each card to view features and gaps.
USER INTERVIEWS
Interviews were conducted with 10 participants that have given or received a special gift in the last 12 months to/from a close relationship. We wanted to understand the experiences, challenges, and behaviours from both perspectives of gift-giving: recipients and givers.
We learned that…
Gifting in romantic relationships is the most important.
5/10 state their main gift-giving relationship is with a significant other
7/10 are more thoughtful and intentional with gifts for closer relationships
The perfect gift is…
7/10 believe the best gift is an experience/quality time spent together
7/10 cherish gifts with meaning (thoughtful, personalized/custom, handmade, emotional)
5/10 emphasized the surprise element is also crucial for a memorable gift
The biggest challenge is the mental hurdle.
7/10 raised concerns and doubts of picking the "wrong" gift
Finances and budgeting is the #1 logistical constraint.
10/10 all mentioned finances and budgeting play a factor in choosing a gift
AFFINITY MAPPING
Swipe to see full interview data (affinity mapping).
Define
USER PERSONAS
Based on our key findings and interviewees, we created two hypothetical users. Meet "The Couple": Gary (The Gift Giver) and Gigi (The Gift Receiver).
PRIORITIZATION MATRIX
I led the team in a brainstorming session where we wrote down every potential features the app could include. Each prompt was evaluated based on its impact and feasibility, allowing us to plot them on the prioritization matrix. This approach ensured that our design decisions were data-driven, focused on high-value features, and aligned with user needs and project goals.
HIGH-LEVEL GOALS
After understanding our users, I was able to take our key findings to create a series of high-level goals which needed to be achieved.
Shared Wishlist
Allows users to collaborate on a wishlist together, each contributing their own items/wishes
Calendar
Enables users to input important dates and set notification reminders for upcoming dates.
Gift Voting
7/10 raised concerns and doubts of picking the "wrong" gift
Finances and budgeting is the #1 logistical constraint.
10/10 all mentioned finances and budgeting play a factor in choosing a gift
Design
User Flow
Due to time constraints, we had to focus on only one user flow that was central to our solution, a.k.a the happy path. Our happy path revolved around the user being able to create and add an item to their collaborative wishlist.
Happy Path
Low Fidelity Sketches
We all illustrated our own interpretation of the happy path as low-fidelity sketches and then came to a consensus on the most ideal screens. I was responsible for consolidating and re-sketching them, as seen below.
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
The sketches were translated into mid-fidelity wireframes. We distributed the workload as evenly as possible, and I designed screens 2-4 and collaborated on screen 6.
Usability Testing and Feedback
We conducted usability testing with 7 participants for our prototype. We also presented our prototype to experts for additional feedback, and I was responsible for the prototype walk through presentation. This provided insight into improvements for our iteration that will make the user experience more seamless.
Key Feedback
Homepage needed a major makeover, the layout is not intuitive and majority of users struggled with locating important tasks
The collaborator screen’s placement in the user flow was confusng
The calendar screen was confusing
With this information in mind and the time constraints still very much...constraining, there was some troubleshooting to be done. We had to take a step back and truly reflect if the chosen happy path was really the right choice.
Iteration
Back to the drawing board! As a group, we agreed to be more specific on what screens are imperative in conveying the solution. We decided to re-frame the user flow through the lens of a pre-existing user adding an item to a pre-existing wishlist.
Recall: Old Happy Path
Refined Happy Path
High Fidelity
As mentioned above, we decided to refine the happy path flow for the high-fidelity prototype and each did a solo mockup of a couple screens. Once the screens were finalized, me and another teammate co-designed the rest of the screens to complete the user flow.
Two major changes include:
1. Home screen got a huge makeover; the layout is much more intuitive!
2. Replacing the shared 5-star rating system with an emoji slider rating and ability to comment feature.
This pivot emphasizes the focal point of our solution. By providing both users with insight into the other person’s preferences, it alleviates the uncertainty, pressure, and anxiety behind gift-giving without taking away the surprise and delight.
Design System
Moodboard
The moodboard was a collaborative effort to decide on a cohesive “vibe” and colour palette using shared vision words. I spearheaded this studio session.
Shared Vision Words
Romantic
Heartfelt
Welcoming/inviting
Joyful
Organized
Intimate
Style Tile
Drawing inspiration from the moodboard, 11 potential style tiles were designed. We decided on the final one as a team and mine was chosen! The updated style tile used for the high-fidelity prototype accounted for accessibility (WCAG test).
Conclusion
Key Takeaway
Reflecting on this project, there were lots of lessons learned. Doing a group project spanning the course of 12 weeks with weekly deliverables was no small feat. It required an immense amount of teamwork, communication, and collaboration, so I was thankful for the opportunity to develop those skills. I learned that the design process is not just pretty UI and there is alot of behind the scenes work that goes into it.