Topaz
PRODUCT DESIGN
UI/UX
BRAND DESIGN
Loyalty streamlined for customers, effortless for restaurants.
Loyalty systems can be too much hassle for customers to maintain, and an afterthought for small business owners in the chaos of managing a restaurant. Existing loyalty programs are costly and lack customization for restaurants and are difficult to navigate.
At USC's premier startup incubator, LavaLab, me (designer) and a team of two developers and a PM worked to create a solution in a 10-week building sprint. Introducing Topaz, the digital loyalty wallet for customers with customizable rewards for restaurants to tap into their customer base.
ROLE
Sole Product Designer,
Co-Founder
TIMELINE
September -> December 2024,
10 weeks
SKILLS
Product design,
UI/UX,
Brand design,
Motion design,
Pitch decks,
Product validation
TOOLS
Figma,
Adobe Illustrator,
React Native
As customers, we like when the places we go make us feel welcomed and special, where we feel invited each time we come in. Loyalty programs are a unique way of doing so, but for customers like us, it's a hassle.
BACKGROUND
PROBLEM
Loyalty systems can be a logistical nightmare for small grab-n-go restaurant business owners and a headache for customers to manage.
Digital POS systems with loyalty integration were costly for small grab-and-go businesses.
Source: Square
Many existing digital loyalty-centered programs were difficult to customize, costly, and required contracts.
Source: Elephant Foot Stamp
CURRENTLY
Loyalty programs can look like this: scattered paper cards that are hard to keep track of.
UNDERSTANDING OUR USERS
Our team had conducted roughly 80+ user interviews with both customers and small restaurant owners to highlight and validate a problem in loyalty systems.
HOJI Tea Community
@hojiteacommunity
I would use Square's loyalty program in our POS system, but it can get expensive as it takes a huge percentage (~35%) out of the profit.
Boba Tree
@bobatree
We currently use physical stamp cards. For the most part, they work, but customers easily lose them and they need to be replaced.
Boba Friend
@bobafriend
We use both Square and paper stamp cards so our customers can pick and choose which form they'd prefer, but it can get pretty messy.
Amino Avenue
Healthy Boba
@aminoavenuehealthyboba
We use Chowbus as a POS system as of now, and they have a loyalty program of their own. However, there's no customizability in the rewards and it's difficult to navigate sometimes.
Bryan
Owner of a coffee shop
in K-Town
I recently switched back to paper punch cards because of how much it cost it maintain Square's loyalty system, it would take lots of money out of the business.
Jay
Owner of a boba shop in
the Bay Area
I use paper stamps for loyalty, but it's easy for my employees or customers to forge stamps and get free rewards.
SOLUTION
We wanted to tackle two main things: making easy-to-track loyalty for customers and creating user-friendly customizations for restaurant rewards.
TRACTION
At the end of our project, we were proud to announce a handful of design partners we were able to acquire, giving real-life application to Topaz. We partnered with several businesses in the local Los Angeles area.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Integrating with existing POS systems like Square & Toast
Gamifying loyalty between customers with leaderboards/rankings
More testing and user onboarding!
Isabella Eiliya > Sarah Kwang > Mira Bhatt > Christine Lai, tabling @ Demo Day
Topaz was birthed in LavaLab's 10-week product incubator, and in that short time, I was able to learn a lot—in building a startup, it is important to fail fast and fail hard. I also learned the importance of co-founder relationships and building a good product needs a committed and passionate team behind it.
TAKEAWAYS
Sarah Kwang is a multidisciplinary designer based in Los Angeles specializing in design systems and experiences through visual craft. She studied Design at USC and is currently looking to build scalable systemic visuals and interactive stories.
For contract inquiries, PDF portfolio, & case studies, email me at sarahkwang04@gmail.com.