Aka, The Macca's Hacka
As part of the intensive boot camp at Brainstation, one of the final projects is to take on multidisciplinary sponsored hackathon that spans the course of 24 hours.
This project was a great learning experience for reasons such as working along-side developers, data scientists, and marketers, but also because of the chance to work with a brand as big as McDonalds.
The Team
Mackenzie Carnovale - UX Design
Adam Dimla - UX Design
Rita Li - Digital Marketing
Mohamed Mohamed - Web Dev
Sean Tan - Web Dev
Nathaniel Poland - Data
Githendra Sagararatne - Data
The Problem Space
McDonald's is one of the leading fast food providers in the world. With 36,000 restaurants in over 100 countries (Business Insider), their reach is immense.
Despite their immense footprint, they were noticing that they had a lack of engagement with new an existing customers with their current loyalty program. In addition, they asked us how they could attain new data in regards to the purchasing behaviour of their customers.
How Might We Increase user engagement and purchase behaviour via intentional digital experiences?
Research
of Millennials & Gen Z consumers spend more with their loyalty programs than Boomers
of consumers say they would engage more with loyalty programs they can easily access from a smartphone.
of shoppers reported that they want brands to have loyalty programs" and over half of consumers surveyed reported that they would consider doing more business with a company for loyalty rewards.
Cassandra - User Persona
Who is Cassandra?
Cassandra is a millenial based in the GTA. She loves hanging out with her friends whenever
she has time outside of her fulltime job.
Due to her busy lifestyle, she often eats out and McDonald’s has been her go to since there’s a restaurant near her workplace.
She likes to commit to brands and companies she trusts, so Cassandra is part of numerous loyalty programs.
She likes the rewards that these programs offer to returning customers and the savings
associated with them.
Goals
- She wants to be involved with an engaging loyalty program.
Behaviours
- She invests in brands she believes in.
Painpoints
- Is not satisfied with the rewards from previous loyalty programs.
User Stories
Voting System Task Flow
The McDonald's App - Augmenting The Experience
Some Quick Sketches || Since we only had a limited time to execute our ideas, we built upon the existing McDonald's app in order to save time, but to also save the company money. Sometimes iterating upon what already exists is much more effect than building from the ground up.
Final Prototype
The McDonald's App | To tie everything together, the item voting screens were injected into the app. To give the voting event importance, it was placed as the first card on the main screen.
Key Features/Aspects
- The voting system gives real-time results to the users about which option is winning
- he existing McDonald's app is utilized instead of building a new app experience to save the company money
- Having two voting options creates a sense of teamwork within the larger McDonald's loyalty community
The Marketing Campaign
To help bring our solution to the market, it has to be communicated to the people in a way they can understand. Since our solution is centered around voting, this where where You Are Not Alone comes in.
Since we are putting two menu items against one another, this creates a sense of team-work and community due to people wanting their item to win "Deal of the Day".
In order to spread the word, there are two avenues we chose: Word of Mouth & Advertising Campaigns.
Word of Mouth
People who participate in the daily meal deal vote can also share their activity to their social media feeds.
They can also share the event with their friends directly via in-app invites.
Ad Campaigns
On platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat, sponsored posts and ad banners are to be utilized.
Other instances can include:
- Instagram stories
- Snapchat stories
- Youtuber Ad-rolls
- Twitch Ad-rolls
Key Learnings
- Hackathons are a great way of honing design skills due to their high pressure nature
- Sometimes the best solution is to iterate as opposed to building something new
- When under pressure and a tight deadline, clear lines of communication are the best tool
Next Steps
- Further development of the in-app experience with developers
- User testing of our prototype
- Consultation with the McDonald's UX and marketing teams
