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Family Dollar

Designing an iOS and Android app help customers save money.

Family Dollar
Table of Contents

Overview & Problem #

In 2018, Family Dollar set out to launch its first coupon-focused iOS and Android app to modernize savings and improve in-store outcomes. Goals included increasing sales and trip frequency, reducing checkout time, and making couponing more enjoyable for a largely smartphone-novice audience.

Key realities we uncovered early:

  • Many customers relied on weekly ads and painstakingly clipped paper coupons.
  • Coupons were often lost or expired before use.
  • A significant portion of customers weren’t familiar with the App Store and leaned on grandchildren for installs.

I worked as a product designer alongside an information architect, two engineers, a project manager, and a business analyst. I also partnered with Family Dollar’s IT and marketing teams. Although agency-based, we operated as a product team across multiple releases and iterations.

Role #

I led a month-long discovery with key stakeholders to co-create the product vision and define goals, fears, and feature ideas. We prioritized with an effort/impact matrix (favoring high-impact, low-effort work) to align customer needs with the objectives Family Dollar established.

To that end, I:

  • Facilitated stakeholder workshops and vision definition.
  • Built an effort/impact matrix to drive testable priorities.
  • Modeled initial personas from existing research, then validated/augmented them through in-person field interviews.
  • Conducted 75+ customer interviews and in-store tests alongside.
  • Led interaction and visual design across iOS and Android.

Initial mapping of goals, fears, and vision with the client.
Initial mapping of goals, fears, and vision with the client.
Mapping out the customer’s journey and flow.
Mapping out the customer’s journey and flow.
Dot voting on most important features in the client’s discovery session.
Dot voting on most important features in the client’s discovery session.

Approach #

I designed, prototyped, and tested prototypes directly in stores to ensure the app worked for customers who had varying levels of familiarity with smartphones. Some key design decisions came from these sessions:

  • Card-based couponing UI that mirrors the physical act of clipping, reducing cognitive load and making savings feel tangible.
  • Gamification with restraint: a playful “clip” animation and a progress bar that nudged engagement without becoming noisy.
  • Educational onboarding tailored for first-time app users, clarifying core actions before account creation or scanning.
  • Value-first permission prompts that explained clear benefits before requesting access (e.g., camera for barcode scan), improving opt-in rates.

A prototype we tested in stores, this focused on helping customers understand the app.
A prototype we tested in stores, this focused on helping customers understand the app.

Animation exploration for clipping coupons
Animation exploration for clipping coupons
Final animation for clipping coupons
Final animation for clipping coupons
The final version of an onboarding screen that teaches customers how to use the app.
The final version of an onboarding screen that teaches customers how to use the app.
Before asking for permission to use certain features, we presented the value of this choice.
Before asking for permission to use certain features, we presented the value of this choice.

Results #

  • Met yearly download goal in 1 month.
  • +50% lift in average transaction value.
  • 75+ customer interviews and in-store tests conducted.
  • Held a Top 25 spot in Google Play (Shopping) for 18 months.
  • Earned a 4.8★ rating in the App Store with over 500k reviews.
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