Reward Others
Users can give Dealmoon coins to other's post to be a better community.
Overview
I was in charge of the Dealmoon reward center operation. At the end of 2018, I was proposing the 2019 goals and work plan for the Dealmoon reward center. It's a "localization design", as I have seen this function within other platforms, and has localized it into Dealmoon. The reward others function is designed to meet the goals.
​
The reward others function was launched on June 2019. It has met all the goals I have set, and has enriched Dealmoon's brand. essence significantly.
Role
Product designer
Duration
Apr - Jun 2019
Team
One product manager, two engineers
Tools
Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Zeplin
Problem and Solution
Problem
How can we enhance an online shopping community? Nowadays, Comment, Share, Like are the basic functions within a Website/App. Can we do something else to enhance the community feeling, and increase user interactions?
Solution
I designed a function called Reward Others. Users can give Dealmoon coins to others' posts if they like them.
​
The Reward Others function is at the bottom of each post. There are some preset amounts, or users can choose their own amount. The reward receiver can write a thank-you note to the reward giver afterward. In this case, we have increased Dealmoon coin circulation rate, enriched Dealmoon brand essence, and enhanced the community feeling.
Background
About Dealmoon
Dealmoon provides all kinds of deal information to customers through APP and website. Dealmoon is the NO.1 shopping community for Chinese people who live in the United States, which lets customers share their lives and experiences here.
About Dealmoon shopping community
Dealmoon is the NO.1 shopping community for Chinese people who live in the United States. Dealmoon has a community section, where users can post their articles or posts there. For every post, we will reward customers with dealmoon coins to redeem gifts at Dealmoon Reward Center. Under each post, customers can COMMENT, SHARE, LIKE, SAVE this post.
Project outcome
The circulated coins
in 2 weeks
30,000
Total rewarded posts​
in 2 weeks
10,000
Customers who have used this function in 2 weeks
2,000
Idea Initiation
My goal
When I was working on my 2019 work plan, I have those main goals:
-
More new users
-
Users are more actively involved
-
More interaction among users
Features in Dealmoon community
A new feature shouldn't interfere or disrupt current App ecosystem, but should make use of it. So, to design a new feature, we should get to know the current ecosystem first. Features in the shopping community:
-
Post an article
-
Comment
-
Share
-
Like
-
Save
-
Redeem gifts within the Reward Center
After I listed all the features that people can interact with the community, I realized the coin circulation rate is extremely low. There are four ways to earn coins, but only one way to spend it. I have pulled the data and have done the calculation. The coin circulation rate is only around 3.56%. So, I was thinking, whether its possible to increase the coin circulation rate while I reach my goal of increase user interaction?
Secondary research
I have been browsing some major UGC platforms to see what methods they are using within the user community. And I found out many of them are using the Reward Others function. Users can give tips to the posts or articles they like.
Zhihu
The biggest online knowledge-sharing platform in China
The biggest social platform in China
Thoughts
Having Reward Others in Dealmoon will be a great idea. Users can use Dealmoon coins to reward the posts they like, instead of real currency. As it perfectly fits my two goals: increase user interaction and increase the coin circulation rate.
Fesibility
Although I think Reward Others is a great function, I still need some confidence from the board members and users.
Board members
My concerns for board members mainly focused on:
-
This function will change the perception of the Dealmoon coin into a real currency.
-
It will add another user interaction function, which will cause complicity for operation.
-
This project will occupy some IT resources.
​
I presented this idea to board members with functions, possible outcomes, and successful cases from other communities. And board members have approved to execute this function on a small scale.
Users
Will users willing to give away their Dealmoon coins to other posts? I have done my research from two angles:
Quantitative research & text mining
​
I pulled the data from our backend system to see the number of Comments and Likes among users (Due to NDA, I can't share the data here).
​
Quantitative analysis shows the amount of interaction is high, and text mining shows there are deep connections within the community.
A small scale interview
​
I had a casual asking around with our frequent users about whether they will use the reward others function to give their Dealmoon coins to others. Most of them would do that if it's a small amount of coin.
User research
User personas
After 10 years of operation, Dealmoon has a very stable customer profile, which can be easily categorized into three. However, this function is mainly for our heavy users, which can be represented by Tilda and Ivy.
User empathy storyboard
To really stand in users' shoes, I've created this empathy storyboard, which is a combination of empathy map and storyboard. I found this method very useful for designers to understand users' current situation, their feelings, and thinking process.
Task flow
With a clearer picture of the problems that needed solving, I generated ideas and potential solutions that would meet both user and business needs. I started by creating a task flow of an ideal path a user would take to reward others and being notified when get rewarded.
Low fidelity prototype
After the clear task flow, I created a low fidelity prototype to visualize the function even more.
-
Process of reward others
-
Process of being rewarded
Testing and reiterating
I have tested the low fidelity prototype mainly among Dealmoon staff, and there are few suggestions:
-
The starting amount is too big, which will lower the participation rate
-
People may want to know how to make coins
-
When getting rewarded, people may want to share this news with others
​
Business concerns
When test this prototype with our management team, they raised a few concerns:
-
Tax concerns, since people can use the coin to redeem real gift
-
Fraud concerns, what if uers have multiple accounts and transfer the coins?
Decisions
Here are the modifications we have made:
-
Changed the starting amount to only 1 coin
-
Linked the page of how to make coins
-
Added a share button within the notification center
-
Send out tax file E-mail after reach certain amount
Meet the product
Reward Others was launched on June 5th, 2019.
The process of reward others
The outcome of reward others
The records and notifications
Design operation system
In order to operate the reward others function, we need a backend operation system. Due to my NDA, I can't share the final results here. I have designed the system due to two main considerations:
​
-
See the detail of each reward action
-
filter, organize, and analyze the data
​
The operation backend system is launched in May 2019, two weeks before we launch the main function, so we have some time to do the internal testing.
The launch
Reward Others was launched on June 5th, 2019. And two weeks after launch, we have accomplished:
The circulated coins
in 2 weeks
30,000
Total rewarded posts​
in 2 weeks
10,000
Customers who have used this function in 2 weeks
2,000
What I have learned
My goal for 2019 Reward Center is pretty typical and clear: get new users, build community, boost activity, and use the Dealmoon coin more. I could have chosen to stay in the original box, just to do my daily work to improve the operation work. But I chose to design a new function. In this way, we not only reached my original goal but also enriched the Dealmoon brand and improved customer experience.
​
Cross the line is OK.
I've also worked as a project coordinator for this project. The development of Reward Others involve different departments, some of them I may never have worked together with. But it's necessary to involve them. It will improve other departments' user experience as well, and enrich Dealmoon's brand essence.
​
​
Stay small.
We only keep this function within the community area right now, not with Dealmoon's posts. When involved with a new function, it's better to try the new function on a small scale. In this way, we make sure the main function of the App has not interfered. And we can test the usability and popularity of the new function in a controllable way.
Think outside the box.