Discount Club Startup
Designed the end-to-end user experience, brand identity, and onboarding flows for a retail-meets-crowdfunding startup. Created a cohesive strategy to position Discount Club for a successful soft launch and capital raise.
Client
Discount Club
Industry
SaaS Startup
Service
Product design
Brand Development
Duration
6 months
A new kind of "profit-sharing" platform with an altruistic mission.
Discount Clubs is a retail meets "GoFundMe" startup that helps organizations create a new income stream with a turnkey supercharged discount program. Businesses give employees access to everyday deals from their partners and receive a 25% rebate on Discount Club's commission. Additionally, they offer all charitable organizations the ability to keep 100% of the commissions we collect.
The challenge
Discount Clubs came to me with only a rough, low-fidelity artboard—no logo, visual identity, live platform, shopper or manager onboarding flows, nor any plan to showcase how clubs could save for charity. My task was to build a cohesive brand and user experience that would support a smooth soft launch and drive investor confidence for their capital raise.
The solution
I designed a clean, fun homepage that introduces Discount Clubs as a quirky yet trustworthy hub for shoppers, then built an end-to-end onboarding experience and management tools to empower club managers to engage their communities and track rebates seamlessly.
Discount Club homepage – I designed a clean, fun landing page that introduces Discount Clubs as a quirky yet trustworthy hub, showcasing helpful services and deals for shoppers.
Club Manager Onboarding and Tools – I created an end-to-end onboarding process and built management tools that empower club managers to engage their communities, boost participation, and monitor rebate totals seamlessly.
Small Business Partnership Example – I developed a sample partnership landing page using a mock partner’s branding to demonstrate how Discount Club’s platform customization features can adapt to any business’s identity.
Product Display and Organization – I crafted intuitive product display pages with easy sorting and navigation, and added dedicated slots for sponsored deals to drive additional advertising revenue.
Interstitial – As a bonus touchpoint outside the original scope, I added an interstitial page reminding users that their purchases support charitable giving—reinforcing Discount Club’s altruistic mission and brand voice.
The design process
1. Research & Brand Definition
“How do we make Discount Clubs feel delightfully different?”
Competitive Analysis: Benchmarked against Honey and Tickets-at-Work to spot unmet needs.
Stakeholder Workshop: Whiteboarded with founders to uncover: user personas, brand tenets, mission messaging, business goals, and competitor insights.
Brand Pillars: Synthesized into three guiding themes—Fun • Community • Altruism—that would steer every design decision.
2. User Journey Mapping
“Let’s smooth the path from curiosity to click.”
Persona Journeys: Sketched flows for each key user type, highlighting all sign-up touchpoints.
Friction Audit: Flagged pain points—long forms, unclear next steps—and removed them.
Path Prioritization: Partnered with the DC team to select the highest-impact journeys (e.g., Charity Club onboarding, Employee Club sign-up).
3. Visual Design & Accessibility
“A vibrant look that works on any screen.”
Mood Boards: Curated imagery, bold typography, and playful icons that capture the brand’s quirky spirit.
Color Palette: Bright, energetic tones that echo the fun-for-a-cause ethos (and invite clicks!).
Responsive Layouts: Designed desktop and mobile screens with an accessibility-first mindset—clear hierarchy, legible type, and touch-friendly buttons.
4. Feedback & Iteration
Stakeholder Reviews: Ran rapid-fire sessions to validate flows and refine microcopy.
Onboarding Optimization: Streamlined the manager setup flow based on team insights.
Sub-Brand Identity: Crafted distinct looks for Employee, Charity, and Loyalty Clubs—each weaving in a gentle nudge to donate rebates to causes that matter.
the results
The completed project MVP and scale included the development of the following pages and flow:
Discount Club homepage – I designed a clean, fun landing page that introduces Discount Clubs as a quirky yet trustworthy hub, showcasing helpful services and deals for shoppers.
Club Manager Onboarding and Tools – I created an end-to-end onboarding process and built management tools that empower club managers to engage their communities, boost participation, and monitor rebate totals seamlessly.
Small Business Partnership Example – I developed a sample partnership landing page using a mock partner’s branding to demonstrate how Discount Club’s platform customization features can adapt to any business’s identity.
Product Display and Organization – I crafted intuitive product display pages with easy sorting and navigation, and added dedicated slots for sponsored deals to drive additional advertising revenue.
Interstitial – As a bonus touchpoint outside the original scope, I added an interstitial page reminding users that their purchases support charitable giving—reinforcing Discount Club’s altruistic mission and brand voice.
