01
Challenge
Chit funds involve money, trust, bidding, and long-term commitment, so users need clarity before every action.
All work
Mobile AppCase Study 05
FINTECH / DIGITAL CHIT FUND PLATFORM
Chitsy
Chitsy is a digital chit fund platform designed to make chit savings easier to understand, join, and manage for users who are familiar with offline chit systems but need a simpler digital experience.
Timeline
Product UX & platform design
Role
Product Designer
Focus
Trust UXOnboardingChit DiscoveryBidding Flow
Trust-first onboardingSimple chit discoveryGuided finance experience
Synopsis
The problem worth solving
Chit funds are still largely managed offline through agents, paper records, phone calls, and personal trust. The challenge was to design a digital experience that keeps the familiarity of offline chit funds while making discovery, joining, bidding, payments, and tracking easier for everyday users.
Design Process
A guided product structure for a trust-heavy financial flow
01
Discover
Studied how users understand chit funds, savings groups, trust, bidding, and repayment cycles.
02
Define
Identified the key UX gaps: trust, clarity, onboarding, chit selection, and bid understanding.
03
Ideate
Explored simpler flows for sign-up, chit discovery, ticket details, bidding, payments, and support.
04
Design
Created a clean, guided interface with simple language, clear actions, and reassurance at every step.
05
Review
Checked flows for low-tech users, first-time digital users, and users from Tier 3 / Tier 4 markets.
06
Ship
Prepared structured screens, reusable UI sections, and product-ready design flows.
Key Research Insights
01
Users trust chit funds because of people, not platforms.
02
Financial terms need to be explained in simple, everyday language.
03
Users need reassurance before joining, paying, or placing a bid.
04
Guided flows work better than feature-heavy dashboards for low-tech users.
Opportunity Map
01
Trust
Build confidence through clear information, verification, support, and familiar language.
02
Understand
Explain chit value, duration, monthly amount, bidding, and returns in a simple way.
03
Join
Make it easy for users to explore chits and join without confusion.
04
Manage
Help users track tickets, payments, bids, and upcoming actions clearly.
Screen Breakdown
Key Screen Decisions
The most important screens were designed around moments where trust could easily drop: registration, eligibility, product understanding, long-term tracking, live bidding and support.
Simple Registration
The onboarding start was designed to feel lighter and more familiar for users moving from offline chit systems into a mobile product.
A shorter sign-up flow reduces commitment anxiety
Plain-language fields keep the first action approachable
Visual hierarchy makes the next step obvious
The screen sets an easier tone before finance-heavy tasks begin
Eligibility Check
Verification needed to feel guided rather than procedural so users could understand where they stood before joining a chit.
Step-based progress makes onboarding feel finite
Document expectations are surfaced before submission
The sequence lowers uncertainty around approval
Trust is built through clarity rather than dense compliance copy
Chit Details
This screen brings value, tenure, monthly amount, auction schedule and documents together so users can understand the product before committing.
Monthly contribution and tenure stay easy to compare
Auction timing is surfaced early in the decision flow
Key product details stay grouped into a single readable view
The layout reduces guesswork before users join a chit
Active Chits
Ongoing participation had to stay scannable over time, especially when users are watching due dates, payment states and auction timing.
Each card keeps deadlines and actions close together
Status visibility helps users know what matters next
Payment prompts stay contextual instead of intrusive
The screen supports long-term engagement without clutter
Guided Bidding
Bidding is one of the highest-stress moments in the product, so the interface needed to make live auction behavior feel safer and easier to interpret.
Current bid context stays visible while users act
Ranges and states reduce hesitation during live decisions
The flow balances urgency with reassurance
Users get clearer feedback before placing a bid
Support Hub
For a trust-heavy finance product, support needed to feel like a core part of the system rather than a hidden utility page.
Help entry points are surfaced before confusion escalates
Support options feel structured instead of scattered
The screen reinforces that guidance is always nearby
Confidence grows when assistance is easy to find
User Persona
RK
Ramesh Kumar
38 · Small Business Owner
Goals
Save money through a trusted chit
Understand monthly payment clearly
Know when bidding happens
Track payments and ticket status
Frustrations
Confusing financial terms
Fear of losing money online
No clear view of chit progress
Depends too much on agents for updates
“I understand chit funds, but I need to feel sure before doing it online.”
User Stories
#01
As a user, I want to understand each chit clearly before joining so I know what I am committing to.
#02
As a member, I want to track my payments and ticket status so I don’t miss anything important.
#03
As a bidder, I want the bidding process explained clearly so I can participate with confidence.
#04
As a first-time digital user, I want simple guidance so I don’t feel lost inside the app.
Journey
The product had to stay clear across every long-term participation state
Discover
neutralActions
User opens the app
Learns what Chitsy offers
Pain points
Needs immediate confidence and simple explanation
Understand
neutralActions
Checks chit value
Reviews duration, monthly payment, and benefits
Pain points
Terms can feel confusing without plain-language explanation
Join
negativeActions
Completes onboarding
Finishes verification
Joins a suitable chit
Pain points
Trust and commitment concerns appear before the final join action
Participate
neutralActions
Tracks payments
Receives updates
Joins bidding when eligible
Pain points
Needs reassurance before paying or placing a bid
Manage
positiveActions
Views ticket progress
Checks repayment status
Opens support
Explores future chit options
Pain points
Status visibility and next actions must stay very clear
How Might We
How might we make digital chit funds feel as trustworthy as offline chit groups?
How might we explain bidding, payments, and returns without using complex financial language?
How might we guide low-tech users through important actions with confidence?
Problem Statement
Users understand chit funds through offline trust, but moving the same experience online creates fear, confusion, and hesitation. The product needed a simple and reassuring digital experience that helps users discover, join, and manage chits with confidence.
Hypothesis
If chit details, payments, bidding, and support are explained through simple language and guided flows, users will feel more comfortable using a digital chit fund platform.
Value
The case study was structured around four core product promises
01
Simple Chit Discovery
Clear chit cards that explain value, tenure, monthly amount, and joining details.
02
Trust-first Experience
Verification, support, and reassurance built into key decision points.
03
Guided Bidding
A simplified bidding flow that helps users understand what to do and when.
04
Easy Tracking
A dashboard to track payments, tickets, bids, and upcoming actions.
Competitive Scan
Offline Chit Groups
High trust
Poor tracking and manual communication
Finance Apps
Good digital experience
Often too complex for chit fund users
Loan Apps
Fast onboarding
Not always trust-friendly for savings-based users
User Flows
New User Flow
Splash
Sign Up
PIN Setup
Verification
Explore Chits
Chit Details
Join Chit
Existing User Flow
Home
My Chit
Payment Status
Bid Updates
Ticket Details
Support
Design decisions
Turning trust and clarity into visible interface decisions
02
Approach
I used simple content, guided cards, clear status labels, helper prompts, and step-by-step flows to reduce confusion.
03
Result
The final design makes Chitsy feel more approachable, trustworthy, and easier to use for both new and existing chit users.
Deliverables
01Onboarding Flow
02PIN Setup
03Chit Discovery
04Chit Details
05Bidding Flow
06Payment Tracking
07User Dashboard
08Support Flow
Focus areas
Trust UXLow-tech UsabilityChit DiscoveryBidding ClarityPayment TrackingGuided Onboarding
Project type
FINTECH / DIGITAL CHIT FUND PLATFORM
Timeline
Product UX & platform design
Platform
Mobile App
Role
Product Designer
Final Output
Final UI Screens
The final interface brings together onboarding, chit discovery, active participation, bidding, payments and support into one consistent mobile product experience.
