TL;DR
With the newly launched CashLoan product, our goal was to drive awareness, user discovery, and establish strong initial CVR through effective in-app touchpoints. By introducing non-intrusive UI entry points in high-traffic areas, we successfully brought over 200K+ users to the product and achieved a 15% adoption rate within 30 days.
Drove 200K+ visits to the CashLoan product page
Achieved 15% CTR from the homepage feature icon
Delivered a 5% uplift in successful loan applications
This case study will let you assess my skills in these key areas:
Product Thinking
Product Design
Human Centriticity
Data Driven Design
Campaign Strategy
Visual Design
Iconography
Product Market Alignment
. . .
Background
A new product in the fintech lineup is set to be released, called CashLoan. CashLoan lets users apply for personal loans digitally and easily. With low-income requirements, quick approval, and funds disbursement, users can access the funds conveniently anytime.
We always opt to use homepage popup banner to bring awareness to newly launched product since it has the most traffic on the entire app, with the hope that more users would drive more clicks.
But we felt this approach wouldn't be effective as there is more to the underlying problem. Data also backed our suspicion as the trend of CTR decreases with every new product launch. So we sought out to understand why opting for our usual approach of using Popup Banner wouldn't impact significantly to the product adoption rate.
Rethinking the use of Popup
We observed that the majority of our users treat our app as a utility app. This is backed by analyzing event tracking with users mainly utilizing our app to:
check e-wallet balance
pay using QR scan
transfer money to family and friends
reload their TNG Card.
Thus, users have a clear purpose and simply just want to get things done quickly and seamlessly.
However, with the use popup, there are some issues with it such as:
Intrusive
Users tend to dismiss it instead of engaging
Blocks core action
Interrupt main app functionality
High Traffic ≠ High Conversion
Despite high visibility, popup fails to bring meaningful traffic
“Traffic means nothing if it doesn't convert”
Placing a Popup Banner right after the app loads interrupts this flow. It blocks users from performing their intended actions and often leads to accidental clicks, artificially increasing traffic without real intent to explore the product.
This highlights why high traffic doesn’t necessarily mean high conversion. Over time, our data also shows a steady decline in the effectiveness of popup-driven campaigns.
With high traffic but poor targeting towards the right user segmentation, we risk losing potential opportunities.
So, how might we drive awareness, curiosity, and visibility among the right users, with the main goal of increasing CVR and encouraging more users to complete the CashLoan application, without disrupting or distracting them from their primary tasks?
Spotting Gaps to Exploit
One key area on the homepage that is a prime real estate which is always visible and had remained underutilized was the bottom navigation bar. We saw an opportunity to drive awareness without compromising user experience by placing a featured icon here.
This placement offers several advantages:
Exploring Possibilities
So, we explored variations of feature icons to be placed in the bottom navbar.
Variant 1 is similar to the existing Gofinance icon. To make it more appealing we tried to present it with different style. However, we dropped this approach since the color is not contrast enough to catch user's attention.
In variant 2, we tried to use more isometric icon and using other elements to make the color more contrast. Even so, after inspecting on a device, it is too detailed and on normal viewing user will be difficult to identify the elements. not really practical.
In this approach, we tried to keep it simple and straightforward, aligning it with the product itself CashLoan, we emphasize on the cash element. By using bright contrast color and simple looks we make sure user will notice on first glance.
vs
variant 3 achieved 10% higher CTR
A/B test is conducted comparing variant 2 and variant 3. The results showed that Variant 3 achieved a 10% higher CTR, leading us to move forward with it as the final implementation.
In the final iteration, we added a 'new' badge to better emphasize the contrast and indicate a new product.
Revisiting Popup with the right approach
Popup in home page
Most popups are displayed immediately on app entry right at the home page. While awareness and traffic are high, it has low intent.
Broad, untargeted users
Low CTR
Low CVR
Overall less effective despite high traffic
Popup in Gofinance page
We opted to place the popup at the entry point where users can access CashLoan.
Why?
Users who are interested in applying for such loan program are those who are already users of other fintech products. This resulted in
More targeted users
Higher CTR
Higher CVR
More users starting and completing the loan application
A more effective and converting popup
To make the popup even more effective, we further narrowed down the target audience. Based on research and early adoption data, CashLoan showed stronger interest among Chinese Malaysian users.
before the insight
after the insight
With this insight, we refined the popup to better resonate with this segment, making the messaging more relatable, relevant, and aligned with their needs, ultimately improving engagement and conversion potential.
Impacts
During the period of the 30 days which the campaign is going for, we achieved to reach:
Drove 200K+ visits to the CashLoan product page
Achieved 15% CTR from the homepage feature icon
Delivered a 5% uplift in successful loan applications
This project shaped my growth in these key skill areas:
Design System
Systems Thinking
Accessibility
Human Centriticity
Process Optimization
Project management
Tech Documentation
Stakeholder management
Key Takeaways
In this project, I learned that:
listening and understanding to customer/user feedback, needs and behaviors is crucial for building a high-performing product
designing things around existing capability is often the biggest challenge, yet it consistently unlocks new and practical ideas
high traffic doesn’t guarantee conversion. Relevance and precise user targeting drive engagement, which in turn leads to better conversion.
Summary
This project has been a successful addition to our app, allowing users to customize their in-app experience based on their needs. Since this feature covers every page and screen, it is our utmost responsibility to ensure every user enjoys the best possible experience anywhere in the app.
We see this as a long-term success, reducing drop-offs caused by usability issues and making the app more inclusive for all. Ultimately, it helps us deliver on our mission of providing the best and most delighftful travel experience from start to finish. Going anywhere? You know where to book!
Made possible by many
A huge shout out to everyone who has made this project a success.