Go Inside The App Design Mind: Thanx v3.0 Is Here

In a new post to the tech blog Medium, Thanx Designer Jason Li gives a behind-the-scenes look at the app design behind Thanx v3.0.

Ever wondered what it’s like to be someone who designs mobile apps? Me too.

That’s why I thought our own Jason Li’s post to the tech blog Medium,”Designing the new Thanx App,” was so cool. Reading through, you’ll get an exclusive, first-hand perspective at mobile app designers and their fascinating process.

Plus, Jason also details several of the choices our team made that led to Thanx v3.0 – an immensely proud achievement for everyone here at our company.

The App Design Thesis Behind Thanx v3.0 – A “No App, App”

As we set out to update the Thanx app, we knew that we wanted to accomplish three goals:

- Update the aesthetic
- Provide better functionality for our partner brands
- Provide better functionality for our consumer users

In our mind, the way to achieve all the of these goals was to focus on the concept of “effortless” for all three:

Create a more visually appealing aesthetic that made the app easier to consume and understand
Showcase our partner brands front and center to make customer engagement even more intuitive
Provide easy-to-use features that integrated Thanx further into consumers’ already existing shopping habits

In essence, we wanted the new Thanx app to be more “push” than “pull.” Whereas some app designers focus constantly on getting people to log in/interact with/use an app more and more – we actually wanted to do the opposite. We wanted our app to put more time back into our users’ days, rather than sucking time out.

And that’s the concept behind Thanx v3.0 – a “no app, app.” The app integrates into our partner brands’ and consumers’ lives, as opposed to forcing them to integrate into our app’s life. We believe that’s the future of mobile app marketing.

The App Design Specifics Behind Thanx v3.0

In Jason’s post, you’ll find intricate, illustrated details about:

- Product Requirements
- Personas and User Scenarios
- User Research
- Screen Inventory
- Design Research
- Wireframing
- Prototyping
- Design Specs

In other words, ideal information for any budding app designer or app design enthusiast. My personal favorite insight happens to be the section on Wireframing. You can see the entire canvas Jason and his mentor/teammate Mark Bult used to create Thanx v3.0. Despite everything being presented in what looks like meticulously-laid-out fashion, Jason states that he would like to have better organization next time. Shows what I know.