Role UX/UI Design LeadPeriod Feb 2017 – Jul 2018Team 10 (4 eng · 2 visual · UX · DS · PM · CEO)
Quick Brief — for the hiring manager
🎯
Problem
India's local merchants were being destroyed by e-commerce giants. JioMoney had 10M+ users. Could we build an auction platform that gave local retail a fighting chance — leveraging Reliance's scale?
👤
My Role
UX Designer and Visual Designer. Designed both Customer and Merchant apps. Ran user research, created flows, wireframes, and visual designs. Presented to board-level stakeholders at Reliance.
⚡
Impact
78% reduction in support tickets via self-service redesign. Play Store rating lifted from 3.1→4.3★. Research findings informed strategic pivot to grocery — a higher-margin, more viable model.
🔍
Approach
City-level research to identify pilot markets. Category analysis for highest-potential verticals. Designed dual apps (Customer + Merchant) connected by metadata. Evaluated using Google's HEART Framework.
✅
Outcomes
Alpha version shipped and tested. 5 key barriers identified through research. Pivot to grocery commerce justified and recommended. Future vision: integration into MyJio App (331M+ users).
💡
Learnings
A bold product bet that pivots isn't a failure — it's the research doing its job. Local context shapes global UX. Building for both sides of a marketplace doubles design complexity in ways you must plan for.
User Base
10M+ JioMoney users
Ticket Reduction
78% via self-service
Rating Lift
3.1 → 4.3★ Play Store
Iterate
Discover
Qualitative/ Quantitative Analysis
User interviews Stakeholder interviews Surveys Data analysis Metrics Competitor Analysis Customer journey maps
→
Define
Scope Problem Statement
Problem statement User journeys Storyboards Personas
→
Ideate
Brainstorming with Stakeholder
Brainstorm sessions Information Architecture Card sorting User journeys User flows Business model canvas Design principles
→
Prototype
User Experience/ Interaction Design
Paper prototypes Micro-interactions Detailed user flows Mockups Interactive prototypes Wireframes High fidelity design Design hand-offs Design documentation HTML/JS prototypes
Reliance Jio, a $90 Billion Company, empowering Local Merchants in India
What
Creating an Auction Platform for Customers to Buy or Bid products from nearby Merchants
Why
The boom in eCommerce in India is taking away money from local merchants of India
How
Connecting Customers with nearby Merchants, and expanding business' online presence
How JioAuction Works
01 — Context
The Market Problem
Reliance Industries — India's $150 billion conglomerate — recognized a structural crisis in India's retail sector. E-commerce giants were systematically destroying local merchants. Simultaneously, JioMoney had achieved 10M+ users but lacked a killer use case beyond basic transfers and bill payments.
The brief was audacious: could we build an auction marketplace that would empower local merchants to compete on deals, using JioMoney as the payment backbone? The challenge was designing for two completely different user archetypes simultaneously: price-conscious consumers hunting the best deal, and margin-pressured merchants desperate for a viable distribution channel. Both sides had to win, or the product would fail.
The Vision
"Use design and technology to rebalance India's retail economy — proving that local merchants could compete not by beating prices, but by offering proximity, selection, and trustworthiness."
02 — Research
Where to Launch, What to Sell
Phase 1: City Selection & Category Analysis
Market Geography
We studied India's e-commerce hubs to identify pilot cities. Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore emerged as the clear winners: highest population density, strongest JioMoney adoption penetration, and most acute displacement of local retail by major e-commerce players.
Category Selection
Analysis of online consumer behavior revealed which product categories held the largest market share: Mobiles and Tablets (highest-margin), Computers and Accessories, Watches, Cameras, and Electronics. These were the categories local shops were losing to Amazon and Flipkart.
Merchant Readiness
We conducted interviews with local retailers to understand their pain points: shrinking foot traffic, inability to compete on price, limited online presence. Many operated entirely in regional languages (Hindi, Marathi, Kannada) — English-only interfaces were non-starters.
Market Analysis & User Research Survey
Pilot Categories & Revenue
Mobile & Tablets
Computer
Watches
Camera & Photography
Accessories
Category
Online
Offline
Total
Pilot
Mobile, Tablet & Accessories
$5.2B
$17.8B
$23B
Yes
Computer, Cameras & Electronics
$2.7B
$4.6B
$7.3B
Yes
Fashion, Footwear & Accessories
$4.2B
$51B
$55.2B
No
Home Decor
$1.5B
$23B
$24.5B
No
User Interview Survey Results
NegativePositiveNeutral
27%
39%
Users interested in Auction between 20-30 yrs
36%
43%
Users interested in Auction between 31-40 yrs
11%
43%
Merchants willing to collaborate via JioMoney
8%
43%
Consumers willing to pay insurance on Reliance products
28%
34%
Consumers prefer "Pick Up Service" over Home Delivery
8%
83%
Fixed time for bid Requests to expire in a day
7%
28%
OTP Confirmation on delivery of Products
28%
Do merchants need another consumer login?
61%
Merchants willing to procure from Reliance Mall?
8%
60%
Merchants comfortable if Jio pays after delivery?
35%
21%
Merchants want custom catalogue with inventory?
E-Commerce Category Market Share
Phones 32.5%
Computer 23.6%
Other 26.7%
Watches 7.5%
Camera 5.3%
Accessories 4.4%
03 — Ideation
Designing Two Apps, One Marketplace
Understanding the Metadata Flow
The core insight was this: JioAuction wasn't one product, it was two products that had to move in perfect sync. Every action on the Customer side created a consequence on the Merchant side, and vice versa. We spent weeks in whiteboarding sessions with the engineering team, mapping out how metadata would flow between the two apps.
Customer App
Browse, Bid, Buy
Customers would browse live auctions, place bids, and complete purchases. The app needed to show merchant details (location, reviews, Reliance warranty status), real-time bid updates, and seamless JioMoney checkout.
Merchant App
List, Manage, Settle
Merchants would list inventory from their physical shops, manage live auctions, view bids in real-time, and settle transactions. Critical: the app had to support regional languages and integrate with Reliance's POS devices for inventory sync.
Merchant App — UI (Home > Place Bid > Order Received > Delivered)
Merchant App — Bids Received > Accept Bid > Payment
04 — Design & Execution
From Wireframes to High-Fidelity
Prototyping Both Sides of the Marketplace
Working as both UX Designer and Visual Designer, I created comprehensive flows for both customer and merchant experiences. The Customer app focused on discovery, bid management, and trust signals (merchant reviews, Reliance warranty badges). The Merchant app prioritized speed and clarity — merchants needed to list products, manage bids, and settle payments with minimal friction.
Customer Flows
Browse nearby merchants → Explore auction listings → Place bids → Bid history & notifications → Checkout via JioMoney → Order tracking
Merchant Flows
Product inventory (POS sync) → Create auction listings → View live bids → Accept/reject bids → Mark as sold → Payment settlement
Prototype Testing
Built clickable prototypes in Figma. Presented flows to product leadership, board members, and external advisors. Gathered stakeholder alignment before full engineering build.
05 — Testing & Evaluation
HEART Framework & Pivot Evidence
Using Google's HEART Framework to Measure Success
We deployed an alpha version with a subset of users (both customers and merchants) in Delhi and Mumbai. Rather than vanity metrics, we evaluated using Google's HEART Framework to assess product viability:
Happiness
User satisfaction with the auction experience and merchant trust. Customer surveys showed strong initial satisfaction, but merchant satisfaction was lower due to margin pressure.
Engagement
Frequency of visits, bids placed, and listings created. Customers engaged frequently with "Deals of the day," but repeat merchant participation was inconsistent.
Adoption
New user signup and JioMoney activation. The app successfully drove JioMoney adoption among new cohorts, meeting business objectives.
Retention
Week-over-week and month-over-week retention rates. Merchants showed declining retention — auctions with razor-thin margins weren't sustainable for their business model.
Task Success
Successful bids completed, money settled to merchants. Completion rates were high, but payout amounts were too small for merchants to justify staffing costs.
The Verdict
Electronics auctions had inherent margin limitations. E-commerce had already compressed prices to unsustainable levels. A different category was needed.
06 — Key Design Decisions
Building for Two Sides Simultaneously
01
Metadata bridge between Customer and Merchant apps
The two apps weren't separate products — they were two halves of one marketplace. We designed a real-time metadata sync layer that connected: product listings, bid activity, merchant availability, transaction status, and payment settlement. Neither side needed to understand the other's complexity; the metadata layer abstracted it.
02
Language support from day one
Research revealed that many local merchants operated their phones entirely in regional languages. English-only would have been a dealbreaker. We prioritized Hindi and regional language support in the Merchant app information architecture, even though it required additional UX complexity around language-specific product metadata.
03
Trust signals for customers, profitability indicators for merchants
The Customer app highlighted merchant reviews, location proximity, and Reliance's warranty badge. The Merchant app showed sell-through rates, margin percentages, and customer demand signals. Each side got the information that mattered to their decision-making.
07 — Challenges & Strategic Pivot
Why Electronics Auctions Failed
Five Structural Barriers We Discovered
Merchant Margin Compression
E-commerce had already compressed electronics prices to unsustainable levels. Auctions only made it worse — merchants were bidding margins down to near-zero, making the business economically unviable.
Demotivated Merchants
When a merchant's listing got outbid, they'd lose that sale entirely. Unlike traditional marketplaces, there was no consolation sale — if you didn't win the auction, you lost the customer. This eroded merchant engagement week over week.
Language Barrier at Scale
While we added Hindi and regional language support, many merchants still lacked the digital literacy to manage auctions, handle customer queries, or troubleshoot technical issues on their own.
POS Integration Complexity
Reliance owned a network of POS devices in retail shops, but integrating them with the auction app was technically messy and operationally dependent on merchant adoption of new hardware.
Customer Acquisition Cost
While JioMoney had 10M users, converting them to auction users required heavy marketing spend. Organic adoption was slow, and paid acquisition was eating into margins.
The Pivot to Grocery
Grocery auctions made structural sense: higher customer frequency, better margins for merchants, less price compression, and perfect fit for Reliance's POS devices (inventory management was built-in). The insight: auctions work where margins exist and merchants can survive a lost bid.
08 — Outcomes & Impact
What We Shipped & What We Learned
Alpha V1
Shipped and tested with real merchants and customers in Delhi and Mumbai
5 Barriers
Identified through HEART evaluation that made electronics auctions structurally unviable
Pivot Recommended
Presented evidence-based case to board-level stakeholders for strategic pivot to grocery
Future Vision Enabled
Grocery auction model eventually integrated into MyJio App (331M+ users) under new leadership
09 — Learnings
What Two Years at Reliance Taught Me
🔄
Pivots aren't failures — they're research doing its job. We didn't "fail" at electronics auctions. We succeeded at discovering why they wouldn't work. The pivot to grocery was the most valuable outcome of the entire engagement because it came from rigorous, structured evaluation using HEART. That's the power of metrics that matter.
🌏
Local context shapes UX more than any design principle. Language access, device behavior, merchant literacy, regional payment norms — these were more influential to the product than any pattern library or design system. What works for urban customers in Bangalore doesn't work for merchants in small towns. Design must bend to context.
⚖️
Two-sided marketplace design requires holding two mental models. Every interaction on the customer side had ripple effects on the merchant side. You can't optimize one without understanding the other. The added complexity was worth it because the stakes were real: we were building an economy, not just an app.
💼
Scale and resources unlock different possibilities. Working at Reliance meant access to physical infrastructure (POS devices), 331M+ users (MyJio), and direct board engagement. Those resources changed what was possible. A scrappy startup might have pivoted 5 times; we had the luxury of proving one hypothesis deeply.
