Passion project: Informative price comparison app

Where innovation and passion met

Wakyn was initially inspired by my parents and the way they shop to ensure they get their favorite products at the best price even if it means going to multiple stores in one day. After moving out I found myself doing the same thing when I went shopping, standing in the middle of a store trying to Google the same product from different stores just to make sure I wasn’t missing out on the best price. That was when the concept of Wakyn was born.

Everything begins with an idea

Phase 1. Understand

After multiple rounds of ideation it was evident that research was going to play a key role in creating this product. My research began with looking into current competitor apps, what they had to offer, and what the current user concerns were. From this research I was able to deduce that there was not one specific app that worked for the users the way that they should and that there weren't any apps that did what I was looking to do, which further drove my excitement around creating this app. The research also included exploring South African grocery delivery apps to gain insight and inspiration from their features and user interface designs.

Phase 2. Curate

Through this insight and knowledge gained from the research I began to process map what was to become Wakyn. This step allowed me to fully explore the functionality, usability, features and components I wanted my app to have and how I could make it possible. These process maps then informed my wireframes where I was able to fully flesh out each and every aspect of my app with the intention of ensuring that the end-user was at the forefront of each decision.

My next step was to carefully craft the user interface design, my aim was to curate something beautiful, sleek, and modern that was easy to navigate and understand. Being an informative app the main goal throughout my design was to ensure that all the information was designed with a purpose and given the correct hierarchy to assist the user in understanding the most important pieces of information even at a quick glance.

Phase 3. Animate

I strategically took my time to animate a high-fidelity prototype to assist in demonstrating the purpose, functionality and usability of the app. This type of prototype would allow me to showcase my design and idea to its full extent with most, if not all functionalities, being prototyped for demonstration purposes. I consider this project to be one of my passion projects because I, myself, took this project from an idea to a fully-fleshed out production ready product with the goal of one day getting it developed.

Phase 4. Assess

The user testing I completed for this project wouldn't be considered your normal user testing. I allowed those closest to me who had no idea I had created this, including my parents who inspired this idea, to explore the prototype for themselves and I received overwhelmingly positive feedback (it might have been slightly biased but for this case I'll take it). By watching them I was able to see how easily they navigated throughout the prototype without any help or prompts from me, and that in itself felt very positive for me. The user testing might not have been conventional but the feedback and reaction I received reinforced that there is a need for an app like this especially with the cost of living crisis South Africans are currently facing.

You can explore Wakyn for yourself, simply click here.