Founding More-ish
Founding More-ish
Founding More-ish
Founded and led product strategy, UX, UI, research, branding, vendor onboarding and go-to-market
Founded and led product strategy, UX, UI, research, branding, vendor onboarding and go-to-market
Project details
More-ish Loyalty App
Role
Team
Length
Platforms
Brand
Founder & everything else
Me & technical co-founder
12 months
Responsive web, mobile app & print
#F5A083
—
—
—
—
—
Project details
More-ish Loyalty App
Role
Team
Length
Platforms
Brand
Founder & everything else
Me & technical co-founder
12 months
Responsive web, mobile app & print
#F5A083
product strategy
research & discovery
end-to-end design
user testing
brand design
cross-functional collab
0-1 design
app design
leadership
loyalty
Reimagining loyalty at a community level
More-ish wasn’t about reinventing loyalty tech. It was about building something that actually made sense for the kinds of places people love, cafés, market stalls, pop-up shops, and the communities that grow around them. Before designing a single screen, we got into the guts of how loyalty worked (and didn’t) for the smallest vendors.
Reimagining loyalty at a community level
More-ish wasn’t about reinventing loyalty tech. It was about building something that actually made sense for the kinds of places people love, cafés, market stalls, pop-up shops, and the communities that grow around them. Before designing a single screen, we got into the guts of how loyalty worked (and didn’t) for the smallest vendors.
My role
Ready for review
Wearing all the hats
Led discovery, UX and UI design
Built brand from scratch and ran early validation
Designed loyalty system logic, flows, IA and voucher redemption
Onboarded vendors and built community relationships
Created pitch materials, pricing model and financials
Collaborated closely with my technical co-founder, who led development and supported vendor sales and technical onboarding
Wearing all the hats
Led discovery, UX and UI design
Built brand from scratch and ran early validation
Designed loyalty system logic, flows, IA and voucher redemption
Onboarded vendors and built community relationships
Created pitch materials, pricing model and financials
Collaborated closely with my technical co-founder, who led development and supported vendor sales and technical onboarding
Wearing all the hats
Led discovery, UX and UI design
Built brand from scratch and ran early validation
Designed loyalty system logic, flows, IA and voucher redemption
Onboarded vendors and built community relationships
Created pitch materials, pricing model and financials
Collaborated closely with my technical co-founder, who led development and supported vendor sales and technical onboarding
All the things!
All the things!
Finding out what matters
We started on the ground, speaking directly with independent business owners in Sheffield and Altrincham, cafés, barbers, florists, bakers, and surveying their customers.
Activities:
30+ qualitative interviews with local businesses
150-person survey of local consumers
Informal brand and concept testing with early vendors
Finding out what matters
We started on the ground, speaking directly with independent business owners in Sheffield and Altrincham, cafés, barbers, florists, bakers, and surveying their customers.
Activities:
30+ qualitative interviews with local businesses
150-person survey of local consumers
Informal brand and concept testing with early vendors
Paper cards were a pain, expensive to print, easily lost, impossible to track
Paper cards were a pain, expensive to print, easily lost, impossible to track
Loyalty schemes from POS providers were too costly or feature-bloated
Loyalty schemes from POS providers were too costly or feature-bloated
Vendors wanted something lightweight, branded, and flexible
Vendors wanted something lightweight, branded, and flexible
Price was incredibly important!!!
Price was incredibly important!!!
Many microbusinesses operated irregularly, subscriptions don't make sense
Many microbusinesses operated irregularly, subscriptions don't make sense
users: 78% preferred digital loyalty over paper
users: 78% preferred digital loyalty over paper
users: 68% would visit more often if they knew there was a reward
users: 68% would visit more often if they knew there was a reward
Users didn’t want a separate app for every venue
Users didn’t want a separate app for every venue
Making it pop
I explored a bunch of visual routes, bold, muted, minimal, busy, before landing on something warm, playful and grounded. It had to feel personal, not corporate. It had to be bold and fun. It had to feel independent and local-first.
Along the way, I regularly tested directions with alpha users and vendors, colour, tone, personality, and shaped the brand around what resonated with core audiences.
Making it pop
I explored a bunch of visual routes, bold, muted, minimal, busy, before landing on something warm, playful and grounded. It had to feel personal, not corporate. It had to be bold and fun. It had to feel independent and local-first.
Along the way, I regularly tested directions with alpha users and vendors, colour, tone, personality, and shaped the brand around what resonated with core audiences.
First steps
Ready for review
Defining the MVP
User adds a digital card for a participating venue
They get a stamp when they buy something
Fill the card, earn a voucher
Redeem the voucher at that venue
Businesses pay a penny per stamp on our 'Pay-as-you-stamp' model
That’s it. Simple sign-up. No complex setup. No upsells.
We manually onboarded each business, designed their card individually and gave them a vendor-facing app to issue stamps and redeem vouchers.
Defining the MVP
User adds a digital card for a participating venue
They get a stamp when they buy something
Fill the card, earn a voucher
Redeem the voucher at that venue
Businesses pay a penny per stamp on our 'Pay-as-you-stamp' model
That’s it. Simple sign-up. No complex setup. No upsells.
We manually onboarded each business, designed their card individually and gave them a vendor-facing app to issue stamps and redeem vouchers.
Defining the MVP
User adds a digital card for a participating venue
They get a stamp when they buy something
Fill the card, earn a voucher
Redeem the voucher at that venue
Businesses pay a penny per stamp on our 'Pay-as-you-stamp' model
That’s it. Simple sign-up. No complex setup. No upsells.
We manually onboarded each business, designed their card individually and gave them a vendor-facing app to issue stamps and redeem vouchers.
As wireframey as I get...
As wireframey as I get...
Into the wild
Ready for review
Alpha launch
We launched our alpha with a single cafe in Spaces, Sheffield.
Over 50 users joined on day one.
What we observed:
Users understood the reward flow immediately, no onboarding required
Stamping and voucher redemption worked smoothly
Occasional poor connectivity at point-of-sale led us to design an offline fallback.
Early feedback asked for visibility on how many stamps were left
Users loved the bespoke card design, randomised stamp placement and animations - design mattered more than expected
Alpha launch
We launched our alpha with a single cafe in Spaces, Sheffield.
Over 50 users joined on day one.
What we observed:
Users understood the reward flow immediately, no onboarding required
Stamping and voucher redemption worked smoothly
Occasional poor connectivity at point-of-sale led us to design an offline fallback.
Early feedback asked for visibility on how many stamps were left
Users loved the bespoke card design, randomised stamp placement and animations - design mattered more than expected
Starting to scale, eek
Following the alpha, we expanded across Sheffield and Altrincham.
By peak usage:
100+ active businesses
Over 5,000 users onboarded
8,000+ stamps issued per week
Key retention metrics:
76% of users earned at least one voucher
1 in 3 users returned within 10 days to redeem a reward
Over 50% of businesses reported a measurable uplift in repeat visits
We tracked stamp and voucher data manually, digging directly into the database to understand usage patterns and inform prioritisation. A vendor dashboard was in development, but not yet launched.
Starting to scale, eek
Following the alpha, we expanded across Sheffield and Altrincham.
By peak usage:
100+ active businesses
Over 5,000 users onboarded
8,000+ stamps issued per week
Key retention metrics:
76% of users earned at least one voucher
1 in 3 users returned within 10 days to redeem a reward
Over 50% of businesses reported a measurable uplift in repeat visits
We tracked stamp and voucher data manually, digging directly into the database to understand usage patterns and inform prioritisation. A vendor dashboard was in development, but not yet launched.
And then came Covid.
We launched pre-COVID, and then the world changed overnight. Vendors were panicking, trying to stay open, trying to adapt. Loyalty was suddenly not the priority. Survival was.
We kept talking to vendors, but everything was coloured by stress and uncertainty. That made scaling tough, and prioritisation even tougher. Insights were contradictory. Behaviour was erratic. It wasn’t business as usual.
And then came Covid.
We launched pre-COVID, and then the world changed overnight. Vendors were panicking, trying to stay open, trying to adapt. Loyalty was suddenly not the priority. Survival was.
We kept talking to vendors, but everything was coloured by stress and uncertainty. That made scaling tough, and prioritisation even tougher. Insights were contradictory. Behaviour was erratic. It wasn’t business as usual.
Pandemic-product-chaos
Pandemic-product-chaos
Iteration time
Ready for review
Speed to market flex
Speed to market flex
Post MVP
We kept shipping. Everything added post-launch came directly from feedback loops with users and vendors. We wanted to support our communities. We wanted to be there for our local businesses.
Remote stamping for online and takeaway orders
Community noticeboard so vendors could post updates and offers
Push notifications for reward reminders
Points as an alternative to stamps
Post MVP
We kept shipping. Everything added post-launch came directly from feedback loops with users and vendors. We wanted to support our communities. We wanted to be there for our local businesses.
Remote stamping for online and takeaway orders
Community noticeboard so vendors could post updates and offers
Push notifications for reward reminders
Points as an alternative to stamps
Regret this actually
Regret this actually
Social = acquisition
Ready for review
Social camaraderie
Twitter and Instagram were our main pipeline. I ran regular social campaigns that:
Promoted participating vendors
Drove customer traffic
Created FOMO for businesses not yet on the platform
But more than that, I used social to champion local businesses, not just to show off the product, but to support vendors through an impossible time. I had built real relationships with these guys. And it mattered. There was a moment of true camaraderie, small businesses looking out for each other, resharing each other’s wins, and helping the whole community stay afloat.
It worked. Until it didn't.
Social camaraderie
Twitter and Instagram were our main pipeline. I ran regular social campaigns that:
Promoted participating vendors
Drove customer traffic
Created FOMO for businesses not yet on the platform
But more than that, I used social to champion local businesses, not just to show off the product, but to support vendors through an impossible time. I had built real relationships with these guys. And it mattered. There was a moment of true camaraderie, small businesses looking out for each other, resharing each other’s wins, and helping the whole community stay afloat.
It worked. Until it didn't.
Social camaraderie
Twitter and Instagram were our main pipeline. I ran regular social campaigns that:
Promoted participating vendors
Drove customer traffic
Created FOMO for businesses not yet on the platform
But more than that, I used social to champion local businesses, not just to show off the product, but to support vendors through an impossible time. I had built real relationships with these guys. And it mattered. There was a moment of true camaraderie, small businesses looking out for each other, resharing each other’s wins, and helping the whole community stay afloat.
It worked. Until it didn't.
Outcomes & impact...
delivered a huge ui overhaul, on time
created the go-to design system for Evri
improved design culture and cross-functional collaboration
delivered products that helped shift public perception of the brand
improved the overall usability (even if mostly by aesthetic usability effect)
nailed it
Outcomes & impact...
Zero to launch with real traction
100+ small businesses onboarded
5000+ users
8000+ weekly stamps
Attracted £350k angel investment interestAttracted £350k angel investment interest
Pay-per-stamp as a successful USP
In hindsight…
I built More-ish from scratch, product, brand, UX, business model, operations. It didn’t fail. It launched. It scaled. It worked. I loved it. But the market changed and priorities shifted.
More-ish proved I could lead a full-stack product from insight to launch and make hard, considered calls under pressure. That said, there's some things I'd do differently:
Prioritise the self-serve dashboard sooner to reduce onboarding overhead
Simplify vendor-side offering (e.g. in hindsight the addition of points wasn't particularly high value)
Use NFC for the stamping mechanism to reduce vendor friction, navigating the app mid-service wasn’t ideal
M
Quote
M
Mark Casson
It's the app we've been waiting for.
Quote
M
Mark Casson
It's the app we've been waiting for.
M
Quote
M
Mark Casson
It's the app we've been waiting for.
O
Quote
O
Oliver Allen
I LOVE IT!
Quote
O
Oliver Allen
I LOVE IT!
O
Quote
O
Oliver Allen
I LOVE IT!
S
Quote
S
Seraphin's of Abbeydale
Creating customer loyalty beyond our expectations.
Quote
S
Seraphin's of Abbeydale
Creating customer loyalty beyond our expectations.
S
Quote
S
Seraphin's of Abbeydale
Creating customer loyalty beyond our expectations.
In hindsight…
I built More-ish from scratch, product, brand, UX, business model, operations. It didn’t fail. It launched. It scaled. It worked. I loved it. But the market changed and priorities shifted.
More-ish proved I could lead a full-stack product from insight to launch and make hard, considered calls under pressure. That said, there's some things I'd do differently:
Prioritise the self-serve dashboard sooner to reduce onboarding overhead
Simplify vendor-side offering (e.g. in hindsight the addition of points wasn't particularly high value)
Use NFC for the stamping mechanism to reduce vendor friction, navigating the app mid-service wasn’t ideal
In hindsight…
I built More-ish from scratch, product, brand, UX, business model, operations. It didn’t fail. It launched. It scaled. It worked. I loved it. But the market changed and priorities shifted.
More-ish proved I could lead a full-stack product from insight to launch and make hard, considered calls under pressure. That said, there's some things I'd do differently:
Prioritise the self-serve dashboard sooner to reduce onboarding overhead
Simplify vendor-side offering (e.g. in hindsight the addition of points wasn't particularly high value)
Use NFC for the stamping mechanism to reduce vendor friction, navigating the app mid-service wasn’t ideal