A discoverable community that platforms & gamifies social orgs

Props is a gamified community-building and reward platform for social groups, charities, and businesses. It aims to incentivize users to join communities and win “props” by participating in their events.

The goal: transform Props' confusing MVP into a clear, learnable experience that helps users understand what to do, where to go, and why it matters.

Business goals

Props Premium

Advertising

User stickiness

Timeline

3-month engagement

Technical constraints

Responsive design

Before the redesign

Since Props was early-stage, we ran discovery research to identify how Props could boost community engagement in a way that met user needs and reached the right users: 16 discovery interviews, 4 usability tests, a System Usability Scale (SUS) survey, and 6 personas.

Key insights

• →First-time users abandoned key tasks mid-flow
• →Users cycled through every tab trying to guess where to complete tasks
• →Users didn't understand what Props' key features were
• →Organizers completed key tasks only through trial and error

New users needed a smoother path to their first win. Our strategy focused on reducing early friction and making the quest-to-reward loop unmistakable.

1. HMW make a new user understand Props and complete a first meaningful action in < 5 min?
2. HMW surface the right groups/quests above the fold so first-time users always see something compelling to do?
3. HMW reinforce the reward loop to boost user retention?
4. HMW give organizers clear, low-effort creation with immediate confirmation and guaranteed visibility?

User testing showed that the original onboarding was cluttered, unintuitive, and lacked system feedback. We explored 3 onboarding designs to improve visual hierarchy, strengthen reward framing to boost the emotional hook, and sharpen CTAs to boost interactivity.

Cut-scene onboarding

Strengthens Props' branding, evoking Animal Crossing and Pokémon.

Quest-based onboarding

Guides users through experiential learning.

Tutorial onboarding

Provides contextual education for first-time users.

Based on user testing, we ultimately combined a guided empty state with tutorial-based onboarding to both orient users and drive active engagement.

Home (My Groups)

Before

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After

By restructuring the Home (My Groups) section with clear labels, predictable grouping, and reduced scroll depth, we gave users a reliable entry point into their community activity.

Home (Discover)

Before

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After

We reorganized Discover into a structured, scannable system that surfaces high-value groups and quests early, helping users find a first action quickly.

Complete Quest

Before

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After

We redesigned quest completion to feel guided, intuitive, and confidence-building.

Quest Rewards

Before

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After

By enlarging the visuals, simplifying the layout, and categorizing rewards into Prizes and Props, we brought the reward loop to the forefront.

Quests

Before

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After

By redesigning the Quest List with clear hierarchy, simplified cards, and stronger visual cues, we turned a dense, overwhelming list into a scannable flow.

Eventure Profile

Before

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After

By restructuring the Eventure profile around clear hierarchy and social cues, we transformed a visually noisy page into a focused event overview.

Our user researcher ran a final round of RITE testing with 3 participants (2 frequent event-goers, 1 infrequent) across onboarding, navigation, and quest completion.

Why it matters

Each result drives retention:

• →Understanding the value prop in onboarding gives users a reason to come back
• →Reaching an Eventure in two taps helps users reach value faster
• →Completing a quest delivers the reward, a gamification loop that boosts retention

These testing results gave us strong evidence the redesign fixed the core usability issues.

We initially designed Home with two tabs: My Groups and Discover. But testing and conversations with stakeholders flagged this. Because Props eventually needed to scale with premium features, advertising, and leaderboards, we revisited the underlying information architecture.

After evaluating the tradeoffs, we separated Groups and Eventures (originally in My Groups) into two different tabs. While this required changing our initial information architecture, it established a clearer mental model. Resolving this issue now saved money and time, giving us more room for future expansion without fundamentally rethinking the navigation as the product grows.

Product strategy

Reducing ambiguity is often more impactful than adding features. We focused on perfecting in-scope features to ensure the experience of first-time users and the reward loop would be seamless and valuable.

Stakeholder alignment

When feedback conflicted with research or scope, I redirected conversations back to research insights, business anchors, and frameworks like user stories and Jobs to be Done.