Bringing the “Group” Back to Groupon
Groupon currently presents a range of individualized experiences, from oil change to rock climbing to eyebrow threading. While these products and experiences may be practical, they aren’t necessarily exciting, or presented to consumers in an engaging way. The new GrouponGO aims to add fun to these experiences by encouraging group activity. For example, college students could use this revamped platform to plan efficiently a budget friendly trip together over school breaks. By adding the “group” to “Groupon,” we present a convenient and inviting platform for collective brainstorming and decision-making.
We’ve All Been There: Common Pain Points
Participating in a group activity stimulates behavioral and reflective pleasure by strengthening group identity. However, group planning requires extensive research and coordination, which can be a strain on individuals and their relationships. We analyze the three main pain points of group planning as the following:
- You may not know what you want to do (confusion/indecisiveness)
- There is an unfair share of research and/or input (frustration)
- You may have different budgets in mind (awkward)
Keeping Up with the Latest Trends
The current Groupon user experience fails to help users navigate their options. For one, Groupon is no longer considered “cool”; although Groupon highlights certain “trending” deals, these do not necessarily reflect what is trending in the real world. An average young adult, for instance, may start brainstorming for a trip to New York by searching #NYC on Instagram, and decide to go see the Vessel or MoMA. They would only use Groupon, then, to receive additional discounts once they have already made up their mind. The new GrouponGO will highlight experiences that are “trending on Instagram” or “trending among your age group” to suggest personalized options for the user.
An Intuitive Interface
GrouponGO further alleviates confusion by directing the user through one question at a time. The old Groupon app is cluttered with incongruous options, each of which has its own picture with its own color scheme. This overstimulation makes the app jarring and fails to sustain the user’s attention. The app categorizes deals by “Featured,” “Beauty & Spas,” “Goods,” “Hotels & Travel,” but this is not helpful to users who may not know what exactly they want to do. GrouponGO’s home page, on the other hand, forces the user to make a series of simple decisions. After the user selects the dates (already decided by the academic calendar) and the location, they are prompted to choose a “theme”: nightlife, tourist, shopping, underground, etc. As the user is presented with options, the app’s interface accommodates their strenuous decision making process through increasing spacing and simplifying the color scheme, enhancing the user’s visceral pleasure.
Swipe for Streamlined Communication
GrouponGO aims to make the group planning process exciting by enabling easy input from all members. The group feature directs users to form groups and share experiences within the app; if people like the shared experience, users can then book the experience directly through the GrouponGO app. Members can easily demonstrate their feelings by swiping left (dislike), right (like), or down (to opt out)–similar to Tinder, a familiar user experience. Users who are not good at researching trips can still give input by “liking” some options over others. Expressing “like” is also easier and less awkward when one simply has to press a button instead of typing out a reasoning. The app will use majority vote to automatically determine what experiences have been approved by the majority of the group, and suggest: “Would you like to book this trip for your group?” Because those who dislike or wish to opt out do not have to provide a reason, GrouponGO streamlines communication and reduces emotional pain points (frustration and awkwardness). The social interaction enables users to experience social pleasure (the more their group “likes” an experience, the more expectations they will have during the trip planning process). The voting process also adds behavioral pleasure for users, who will want to continue using the app to see if others share their thoughts and feelings. By stimulating the users with behavioral and social pleasures, GrouponGO manages to sustain their attention.
Once users book the experience through Groupon, the app will automatically sync events to users’ Google or Apple Calendar. This will allow users to “see all upcoming events,” which heightens expectations for the trip. Finally, GrouponGO aims to sustain users’ attention by enhancing users’ reflective pleasure. GrouponGO’s “Memories” feature will highlight the excitement of trip planning by summarizing the collaborative process. For example: “1 year ago, Nan, Emily, Kate, and you started to plan a trip to New York, NY. Together, you booked 3 museums and 4 restaurants out of the 24 places you looked up…” This feature will emphasize the excitement of group planning. By sharing this video on social media, users can also expect ideopleasure that comes from equating themselves with excitement. GrouponGO promises to fulfill such excitement and leads users to a deeper appreciation of trip planning.
A Brief Summary
With these new features, GrouponGO transforms the Groupon brand from a tired, overwhelmingly practical tool that people use only out of necessity, to an innovative tool that helps people find fun, trendy experiences together. This then makes Groupon not only a useful tool for planning on a budget, it also makes it fun, stimulating, and engaging to use.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a0LVKqvJYfzNWWI6q7gMmSKtZbT5AiqHVRKpz5lUweI/edit?usp=sharing
I think that this revamp does a great job of addressing the lack of younger customers Groupon is suffering from. The “trending on twitter” section at the top immediately establishes the app as a contemporary product relevant to the lives of the people who are likely to use an app in the first place. I also love the idea of building hype for an upcoming group trip by showcasing how many likes items on the itinerary are getting. I wonder if it would be possible to encourage interaction between groups of similar ages on the app?
I love the idea of making Groupon more like tinder in the ability to swipe on deals. It seems like a nice and easy way to plan trips, especially when going on a group trip! My only question is if you can also see places that aren’t on sale if they never go on sale. Because if you’re planning a trip, some places you might want to visit are free or are always a certain price, so it would be nice to include those options perhaps greyed out so people could still add it to their itineraries while not focussing on them!
I could totally see myself using this product, I think it would alleviate a huge burden in coordinating schedules and group finances, which would make it both a socio-pleasure and behavioral-pleasure to use. I also really liked that your group changed the endless scroll feature and sorted opportunities into categories. I also think the single motion gamifies the experience and would add to the behavioral stimulus. The memory feature is also great, maybe there is a way to add a reward or special offer if that group gets together again?
Your team did a great job on this highly visual and interactive presentation. This brand refresh is travel- and social-friendly. I think it’s great how you took the elements of engagement and surprise offered by Tinder and really adapted them to suit the social component of GrouponGO. This feels like a natural and effective refinement of the current product. Psychologically, it’s like a rush of dopamine every time you stumble across something you like, and you perceive it to be a match of sorts. It feels behaviorally engaging and youthful. There’s a strong emphasis on sociality here to capture and sustain attention.
This seems like a great melange of a lot of things people are into: saving money, social media, doing fun things with friends. The before and after design is like night and day. The tinder aspect is very smart and it forces you to go through options that you might want to do with your group. The design layout of the app is very impressive aesthetically and efficiency. Perhaps it could be an interesting idea to include an event group like facebook.
I’m surprised this is not already an included feature. I particularly like how it can be aligned with trends on social media and by demographic. Another feature I like is the send invite/vote feature for a group of friends. This seems like a fun way to plan outings with friends without having to sit together over a laptop and planning conversation. Overall this app is targeting the needs of the younger generation which I think is a smart strategy.
I like the idea of this. However, I wonder whether the added integration actually makes it easier for people to find deals they like. My understanding of groupon was that people use it for individual deals, rather than planning entire trips around groupon availability. Personally, I wouldnt be sure whether the overlap between instagram and groupon deals is high enough to make users find this some thing that it is worth giving attention to in the medium term (rather than “control googling” in the back ;-)). Great work on the layout and the app design though -this is looking very professional!
TH2020