A social app where time with friends pays you back
Friends and family share stories, catch up on the news and chat by mood, and every interaction earns Smart Coins they can turn into vouchers and gifts for each other. We designed and built it for iOS, Android and the web.
- Client
- SocialApp Inc.
- Services
- Product design, iOS and Android apps
Overview
SocialApp is a social app for the people you already know. You share stories, catch up on the news and chat by mood, and every interaction earns Smart Coins that you can redeem for vouchers or send as a gift. Our team took it from research to release, designing the product and the coin model, then building the iOS, Android and web apps that grew to 6.6 million people across the US, India and Nepal.
- Platform
- iOS, Android and web · English
- Our role
- Product strategy, User research, UX and UI design, Coin model design, iOS development, Android development, Web development, Backend and coin ledger
- Products
- SocialApp Story, Headline News, Mood Talk, Social Smart Card
- people joined
- 0.0M
- spent in the app per user, every day
- 00 min
- gifts and vouchers bought with coins
- 0
- platforms, designed and built by us
- 0
The challenge
Social media was built for reach, not relationships. People scroll for hours and get nothing back. Fake accounts make bullying easy. And sending a gift to someone you love still means leaving the conversation for another app.
Our approach
From the first interview to millions of users, over four years and one phased rollout.
- 01
Start with people, not features
We spoke to families, students and creators in the US, India and Nepal before we drew a single screen. They told us they wanted to feel closer to people they already knew, and to feel their time online counted.
- 02
Design the coin model like a product
We gave the economy the same care as the interface. We mapped it, priced it against real ad revenue, prototyped it and tested it, so every coin was fair, funded and easy to understand.
- 03
One design system, three platforms
We built native iOS and Android apps and a web app from one component library and one API, so a story, a chat or a coin balance feels the same wherever you open it.
- 04
Launch in phases, then scale
We prototyped every flow in Adobe XD and tested it with users before we built it, then launched SocialApp one product at a time. Each phase taught us something that shaped the next, before millions of people used it.
User research
First we researched to find the real problem. Then we researched again to test every answer. All of it with real people across the US, India and Nepal.
- Method 01
Stakeholder workshops
Aligned the founders, marketing and regional teams on goals, constraints and what success would look like, before any design began.
- Method 02
Competitive audit
A heuristic review of social, messaging and gift-card apps to find where relationships, rewards and gifting fall through the cracks.
- Method 03
User interviews
Semi-structured conversations with students, parents and families living apart about how they stay in touch, share news and give gifts.
- Method 04
Affinity mapping
Interview notes clustered in Miro into themes, pain points and opportunities that the whole team could see and challenge.
- Method 05
Personas and journey maps
Three core personas, the creator, the quiet reader and the gifter, each mapped from first sign-up to first gift.
- Method 06
Card sorting and tree testing
Shaped a navigation where people found Redeem and My Gifts on their first try.
- Method 07
Moderated usability testing
Think-aloud sessions on Adobe XD prototypes: post a story, find your coins, redeem a voucher, send a gift. We measured task success and time on task, then iterated.
- Method 08
Beta pilot and analytics
We tracked the Smart Card beta in CleverTap, which gave us real funnels, retention cohorts and A/B tests on ad timing and reward messages.
What we learned
- 01
Closeness beats reach
People wanted to reconnect, not perform. So SocialApp is built around your contacts and your circle, with no follower counts to chase.
- 02
Time online feels wasted
People felt they gave hours and got nothing back. Earning coins for everyday activity gave that time a visible value.
- 03
Gifting is the missing gesture
Sending a present meant leaving the conversation for another app. So gifting lives inside the relationship, one tap from a story or a chat.
- 04
Trust has to be designed in
Fake profiles and abuse came up again and again. Verified phone numbers keep every account real, while anonymous posting still lets people share honestly.
- 05
A coin needs a clear price
Testers couldn't say what their coins were worth. A fixed rate, an always-visible balance and the value of every voucher shown up front fixed that.
Design process
A double-diamond process in short sprints, with our engineers in the room, so every idea met users before it met code.
- 01
Discover
Research plans, interview guides and synthesis boards in Miro, all in one place the whole team could read.
- 02
Define
Personas, journey maps and 'how might we' statements narrowed the brief to three jobs: stay close, share what you know, give something back.
- 03
Ideate and wireframe
User flows and information architecture for four products, then low-fidelity wireframes for the feed, story composer, Mood Talk, news and wallet.
- 04
Prototype
High-fidelity, clickable prototypes in Adobe XD, with auto-animate for the moments that matter, like coins landing and a gift being sent.
- 05
Test and iterate
Moderated usability tests on every round. Issues were ranked by severity, fixed and tested again before build.
- 06
Build and measure
One component library across iOS, Android and web, built by the same team that designed it, then release analytics that set the next sprint's questions.
Toolkit
- Research
- Miro
- Google Forms
- Zoom
- Design
- Adobe XD
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Prototype and test
- Adobe XD prototypes
- Maze
- Handoff
- Zeplin
- Jira
- Confluence
- Measure
- CleverTap
- Firebase Analytics
- Mixpanel
What it produced
- Personas
- Journey maps
- User flows
- Information architecture
- Wireframes
- Clickable prototypes
- Usability reports
- Component library
The product
Every product feeds the same cycle. Time with friends and family becomes coins, and coins become gifts for the same people.
- 01
Connect
Sign up with a verified phone number and find friends and family from your contacts. No strangers, no follower counts, just your circle.
- 02
Share
Post a photo, video or text story, react to your circle's stories, catch up on the news and start a chat with a mood.
- 03
Earn
Every post, like, comment, share and view earns Smart Coins, for you and for the person who made the story.
- 04
Redeem
Turn coins into vouchers from Amazon Pay, Lifestyle, Max, BookMyShow and more, for yourself or someone else.
- 05
Give
Send a gift card or a gift straight to someone in your circle. When they redeem it, you earn coins back.
Features
Four products and a gifting flow, each designed to strengthen a relationship rather than grow an audience, and each one paying into the same Smart Card.
SocialApp StoryThe composer, topic feeds and a published story, with coins earned on every post. 01 / 05SocialApp Story
Share what you know, and earn for it
Stories are the heart of SocialApp: a place to share knowledge and experience with people who know you. Every post, like, comment and share earns coins, for you and for the person who made it.
- Photo, video and text stories
- Post anonymously when honesty matters more than credit
- Topic feeds, global stories and trending videos
- Coins for creating and for engaging, split fairly between both
0story views on an average day
Headline NewsA full-screen brief, the full story behind it, and a sponsored story between briefs. 02 / 05Headline News
The news in 220 characters
Quick, local and personal. Headline News turns the day's stories into short briefs picked by your interests and location, so you can catch up in seconds and talk about it with your circle.
- Briefs of 220 characters or less
- Picked by interest and location
- Audio narration for listening on the go
- Like, comment and share with your circle
Mood TalkPick a mood, hit send, and the conversation starts itself. 03 / 05Mood Talk
Let your mood do the talking
Some days words are hard. Mood Talk starts a conversation with how you feel, so reaching out to a friend or a parent takes one tap.
- Start a chat by picking a mood: surprise, thank you, you're the best, I'm touched
- One tap to send, no words needed
- Chats delete after 24 hours, because feelings change
- Only for the friends and family in your circle
Social Smart CardYour balance, every voucher priced in coins, and a gift paid for in a few taps. 04 / 05Social Smart Card
One wallet for earning, redeeming and gifting
Every coin you earn lands on your Social Smart Card. From there, turn coins into vouchers for yourself or send them as a gift to someone you love.
- Live coin balance, always one tap away
- Vouchers from Amazon Pay, Lifestyle, Max, BookMyShow and more
- Redeem in a few taps, with the voucher value shown before you confirm
- Leaderboard, rewarded videos and a history of every gift
000MSmart Coins redeemed for shopping and gifting
GiftingCreate an occasion, share wishes with your circle and send a gift in the same thread. 05 / 05Social gifting
Gifts that live inside the relationship
Gifting happens where the celebration does. Pick an upcoming occasion like Diwali or Bhai Dooj, bring in your circle, and everyone shares their wishes in one thread. Tap Gift to send coins or a voucher right there in the conversation, paid for with the time you spend together.
- Upcoming occasions, ready to create in one tap
- One thread for wishes from everyone in your circle
- Send coins or a gift without leaving the chat
- Only the person you're celebrating sees what you gave
0gifts and vouchers bought with coins
- Stories
- Headline News
- Mood Talk
- Smart Coins
- Gifts
- My Circle
Coin model
SocialApp Story needed a reward people could trust. So we built the economy behind it the way we build software: from first principles, with the numbers checked at every step.
Principle 01
We backed every coin
No coin was ever printed. Each one was a share of ad revenue SocialApp had already earned, so the economy could grow with the community without running into debt.
Principle 02
We fixed the price
We pegged 10 coins to ₹1 and never moved it. People could read their balance at a glance, and every voucher had a clear price in coins.
Principle 03
We paid both sides
When someone engaged with a story, we split the reward between them and the creator, and paid creators more for original, effortful work.
How we designed it
- 01
We mapped every action
We audited every tap and screen in the app and sorted them into four groups: creating, engaging, browsing and navigating. Each group got its own ad format and reward rule.
- 02
We priced attention honestly
We started from what advertisers actually paid for an impression, so every coin had real revenue behind it before it reached a wallet.
- 03
We split it by effort
We gave creators a larger share for stories that took more effort: a photo taken in the app over an upload, a longer video over a clip, a considered text over a line.
- 04
We paced the ads
We placed ads at natural pauses, after a run of likes or between stories, and never in the middle of a video. Earning should never interrupt the moment.
- 05
We built in guardrails
We paid creators only when someone else completed a rewarded action, capped rewarded videos, referrals and bonuses, and verified every phone number, so nobody could farm coins.
- 06
We tuned it with real users
We launched the Social Smart Card as a beta, watched how people earned, spent and gifted, and adjusted ad timing and reward splits from the data before scaling up.
The maths behind every coin
Every reward traces back to an ad that was actually served. These are the equations we built the model on, with the real numbers from launch.
- 01
We priced one impression
We started from the rate advertisers paid per thousand impressions and worked down to the value of a single view.
v = CPM ÷ 1,000
CPM = $0.45 ≈ ₹32
v = ₹0.032 per impression
- 02
We kept a thin margin
We held back 10% to run the platform and returned the other 90% to the community as rewards.
r = v × (1 − m)
m = 10%
r = ₹0.0288 per impression
- 03
We turned rupees into coins
At a fixed rate of 10 coins to the rupee, every impression became a precise, predictable number of coins.
c = r × 10
c = 0.288 coins · about 35 ad views = ₹1
- 04
We split each reward by effort
Half went to the person engaging. The other half went to the creator, scaled by a rate we set for each story type, with the remainder funding the platform.
c_viewer = c × 50%
c_creator = c × 50% × k
k = 50% to 100%, by story type
Longer videos: k = 100%
- 05
We spread one ad across many stories
A single like doesn't carry a whole ad, so we shared one ad's creator reward across every story that earned it.
c_per story = (c × 50%) ÷ n
n ≈ 9 likes per ad
Every liked story earns its share
- 06
We applied the same logic to every purchase
On every voucher and gift bought through the Smart Card we took a 10% commission and handed half of it back: some off the price, the rest as coins.
back = price × 10% × 50%
price = ₹10
₹0.50 back: ₹0.25 off, 2.5 coins earned
The rollout
Rather than ship everything at once, we released SocialApp one layer at a time. Each launch proved an idea with real users before we built the next one on top of it.
2017
Research and foundations
User research across the US, India and Nepal, the design system, the architecture and the first sketch of the coin model.
Phase 1
Stories and news
SocialApp Story and Headline News went live with verified sign-up, giving people a reason to open the app every day.
Phase 2
Mood Talk
Chat by mood joined the app, turning quiet readers into conversations with the people closest to them.
March 2020
Social Smart Card
Coins arrived. We launched the wallet as a beta in India and Nepal and tuned ad timing and reward splits from real behavior.
2021
Gifting at scale
By the time the project wrapped up, 6.6 million people had joined and 160,000 gifts and vouchers had been bought with coins.
Built for scale
A social product that pays its users has no room for slow feeds or wrong balances. We built SocialApp to stay fast and exact as it grew into millions of people across the US, India and Nepal.
- engagements recorded and rewarded
- 000M
- story views served every day
- 0
- coins credited to user wallets
- 0.0B
How we built it to hold
- 01
We scaled out, not up
We split the backend into stateless Node.js services behind load balancers and autoscaled them on AWS, so a spike in one market never slowed another.
- 02
We moved media to the edge
We transcoded every video into adaptive renditions and served photos and video through a CDN, close to users in the US, India and Nepal.
- 03
We served feeds from cache
We cached feeds, counters and balances in Redis, so hundreds of thousands of daily story views didn't hit the database each time.
- 04
We made rewards asynchronous
We streamed every like, view and post as an event and calculated rewards off the main path, so tapping felt instant while the ledger caught up in seconds.
- 05
We made the ledger exact
We wrote every coin movement once, as a double-entry record with an idempotent ID, so a retry or a dropped connection could never pay out twice.
- 06
We designed for patchy networks
We compressed images, kept payloads light and queued actions offline, so SocialApp stayed usable on slow mobile connections.
Architecture
Every rewarded action takes the same path on every platform. The app logs it, the rules check it, the ad behind it is attributed, and both people are credited.
01 · Event
- Post, like, comment
- Share, watch, visit
02 · Rules
- Story type and length
- Ad timing
- Daily caps
03 · Attribution
- Ad impression
- Revenue value
- Margin
04 · Ledger
- Viewer share
- Creator share
- Double-entry
05 · Wallet
- Smart Card balance
- Redeem and gift
- iOS
- Swift
- UIKit
- In-app camera and recorder
- Android
- Kotlin
- Jetpack
- ExoPlayer
- Web
- React
- TypeScript
- Responsive web app
- Services
- Node.js microservices
- REST APIs
- WebSockets for Mood Talk
- Rules engine
- Data
- MongoDB
- PostgreSQL coin ledger
- Redis
- Elasticsearch
- Monetisation
- Google AdMob
- Gift card and voucher APIs
- Media
- FFmpeg transcoding
- Amazon S3
- CloudFront CDN
- Text-to-speech for news
- Platform
- AWS
- Firebase phone auth
- Firebase Cloud Messaging
- Analytics
- CleverTap
- Firebase Analytics
- Mixpanel
Product decisions
Some of our best decisions were about what SocialApp would never do. These four shaped the product as much as any feature.
- 01
No strangers, by design
We left out follower counts and public discovery on purpose. Your feed is your contacts and your circle, so sharing feels safe and nobody performs for an audience.
- 02
Anonymous, but never fake
Every account is tied to a verified phone number, yet any story can be posted anonymously. People can be honest without anyone being able to hide behind a fake profile.
- 03
Native apps, one system
We went native on iOS and Android for camera, video and speed, and kept one design system and one API underneath, so three apps shipped with the effort of one.
- 04
One ledger for every platform
iOS, Android and web all write to the same double-entry coin ledger, so a balance is never out of step, whichever device you check it on.
The results
0.0M
people joined, across the US, India and Nepal
- stories shared by the community
- 0.0M
- likes, comments, shares and views on those stories
- 000M
- spent on SocialApp by the average user, every day
- 00 min
- Smart Coins earned by users since the March 2020 launch
- 0.0B
- gifts and vouchers bought with Smart Coins
- 0
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