Mobile app to organize and celebrate the gifting process
How might we make the gifting process organized and more enjoyable?
When Gifters encounter a holiday, or special occasion, they need to get a gift for their intended recipient. Gifters want to give something that the recipient would enjoy. So, gifters start shopping, but the shopping process is long, never consolidated in one space, and the gifter doesn’t receive satisfaction until after the recipient reacts positively to the gift.
The user journey of a Gifter often takes a path as follows:
According to a survey of 1132 U.S. consumers conducted by PackageHopper, 78% of respondents planned on giving between 1- 19 gifts for the 2021 holiday season. This shows the large amount of Gifters going through the challenging gifting process (more often than not, multiple times a year).
With the high frequency of gifting and the challenges that come with the gifting process, Gifters can find themselves having a stressful experience.
User Pain Points
In my survey, respondents report many frustrations during the gifting process:
However, 75% of respondents reported that the best part of gift-giving is at the end when the Gifter sees the recipient show positive reactions to the gift. Gifters have to struggle before they experience delight at the end of the process.
Through my user interviews, I uncovered a common theme among peoples’ gift selection strategies. People often rely on visual cues to decide what to get. This could mean shopping in person to physically see items in front of them, taking pictures of gift items for reference, or viewing YouTube videos/social media for ideas.
When I asked people about their gifting process, I also realized that people use disjointed tools and strategies to help them decide on a gift. For example, a person could find themselves taking notes (either digital, or handwritten), using pictures (self-taken, or internet provided), going to the internet for ideas, or shopping online - all just to get one gift.
Based on the research and feedback, I recognized that the Gifter experiences a gap in satisfaction between the time it takes to decide on a gift, select a suitable gift, obtain the gift, and when the receiver ultimately gets the gift.
Additionally, the Gifter would benefit from having a consolidated place of reference to organize their thoughts on the gifting process.
Gifty is a mobile app solution that helps Gifters organize their shopping process in one space and congratulates the Gifter as they accomplish each step of the gifting process.
Users of Gifty will be able to:
Static Images:
After completing the product spec, the next steps would be to build an MVP for Gifty.
After the MVP is created, testing the MVP with potential users and gathering their feedback is critical to the iteration process. Understanding how these users would use Gifty can help the MVP get closer to its ideal state.
The cycle of user testing, getting feedback, and refining the MVP will be constrained by the resources and time available. Knowing this, it is important that the Gifty team prioritize the efforts that would bring users the most value.
Research
“The 2021-22 Gift-Giving Report.” PackageHopper, PackageHopper by MyUS, 1 Nov. 2021, https://packagehopper.myus.com/blog/2021-22-gift-giving-report/.
Mikec, Veronika. “How Do Shopping Habits Differ among Various Generations of Consumers?” GiftUp, 30 Nov. 2021, https://www.giftup.eu/blog/shopping-habits-generations/.
Sahni, Amit. “How Each Generation Shops in 2020.” Salesfloor, 23 Aug. 2022, https://salesfloor.net/blog/generations-shopping-habits/.
1. Take Tangible Steps Towards the Goal
Time goes by fast in the Co.Lab Sprint. To be successful, I had to understand what the top priority of each week was and work backwards from there. For example, if the submission for a particular week is synthesized research, then I would break down the steps: gather preliminary research, conduct surveys and interviews, then analyze the results and share them!
2. Progress (Regardless of Size) = Big Win!
Doing something new (like product management) is not easy and comes with its own challenges. Giving myself the grace to learn and explore this space really made Co.Lab fun and manageable. By making small, consistent efforts towards completing my PM portfolio, I was able to refine my communication skills and take this learning experience into my future endeavors.
3. Build in Public
AKA - share my story and experiences! Prior to Co.Lab, I’ve never given much thought about documenting my experiences on a public forum. I now understand that there is much to be gained by sharing. After building in public, I was able to connect to more people (peers and mentors), and grow my personal brand as someone dedicated to their personal growth and development!
