Savings dashboard that changed how people saw the app

THE CHALLENGE

The product team was asked to improve retention in the car-maintenance app. Research showed users were not fully aware of the value they were already getting from features they used. So the experience felt transactional rather than rewarding and there was little reason to come back or explore further.

I designed a new dashboard that visualizes how much money users save by using the app, turning value that had been invisible into a motivating, ongoing experience.

Role

Leading product designer, concept to delivery

Worked with

PM, PO, data & engineering, leadership board

Status

Live, iterating

Simple on the surface, genuinely complex underneath.

Behind a single savings number sat real technical complexity: multiple constraints, a wide range of use cases and several distinct user personas. Every part of the flow (how savings were calculated, when rewards triggered) had to be technically feasible, scalable and intuitive for users with very different levels of experience.

That meant significant time aligning with engineering on system limitations, data availability and edge cases, so the final experience looked seamless and also worked reliably across every scenario. Balancing user needs against technical reality was the core of the work.

PROCESS

Starting from research showing users did not recognise the value they already received - I framed this as a visibility problem rather than a missing-features problem.

Identify the problem and the user-value gap

Define the dashboard and gamification concept

I led the ideation process, drawing on deep knowledge of the app and its existing patterns: running early brainstorms, coordinating with PMs and technical teams and presenting the initial concept to the leadership board.

Build the logic with product and engineering

With the product team I helped define the underlying savings logic, combining our domain expertise with engineering input and the data actually available to us.

Design the UI, interactions and prototypes

Once core behaviour was agreed I owned the visual concepts, interaction flows and prototypes: a savings calculation, a progress bar that grows as savings accumulate and a subscription incentive unlocked at a savings milestone.

Align with engineering and support delivery

I presented designs to the technical teams and worked with engineering to validate feasibility, refine calculations and ensure smooth implementation from concept through to shipped feature.

Calculates how much a user saves based on the car-maintenance features they use;

Displays it in a simple, motivating visual format;

Grows a progress bar as savings increase;

Unlocks a subscription incentive once they reach a savings milestone.

WHAT THE DASHBOARD ACTUALLY DOES

RETENTION

Gave users a clear, tangible reason to return: increasing overall retention.

ENGAGEMENT

Users explored previously ignored features, because each one added to their total savings.

PERCEPTION

Reframed the app from a utility into a value-tracking experience.

Made the subscription feel like an achievement rather than a barrier.

REFLECTION

The shift that mattered was not visual. Moving the product from task-based to value-driven created a positive loop — the more people engaged, the more they saved, and the more they wanted to continue — which is a far more durable retention mechanism than prompting people to upgrade.

1