Ketchup is a mobile platform that connects
immigrant small business owners, turning their
business journey into a supportive experience.

Side Project
Ketchup
Sept 2022 - Dec 2022

Contributions
UX/UI Design
UXR

Team
Yuha Kim (UX/UI Design lead)
Lakshmi Ajayan (UXR lead)

Context

How did small businesses adapt to the challenges brought about by the pandemic?

The COVID-19 impact on certain US ethnic groups has particularly hit their businesses. This is because many of their businesses are in industries severely affected by the pandemic. This situation emphasizes the importance of providing specific support.

Target Audience

We met 8 immigrant small business owners in the SF Bay Area to understand their unique concerns and needs

Key Takeaways

Language Barrier Hinders Networking

Limited Time for Personal Growth

Feeling Distant from Others

After conducting in-depth interviews, we found the need to connect immigrant small business owners. However, the existing online options for their connection either disregard their spoken language or fail to account for their limited available time due to work commitments.

So…

Meet Gabriella, who wants to connect with people who can understand her unique experiences as an immigrant small business owner.

Final Design

"Now, let’s walk through
how Gabriella uses Ketchup!"

Approchable

Streamline the onboarding process while still gathering sufficient data to ensure a satisfying matching experience

  • Communicate and connect with people in your preferred language, and flexibly switch to another language when needed.

  • Create your business card, and exchange it with other users. Business card colors represent users’ industries and locations.

  • Voice intros: No photos. No bias. Ketchup picks up keywords from the records to learn about the user’s goals and interests

Efficiency

Valuable connections in just 20 minutes, an efficient networking experience designed to accommodate the busy schedules of business owners

  • Ketchup offers a variety of business-related prompts for users to discuss during connections. Users can change the topic of conversation at any point during the meeting.

  • Ketchup offers the benefits of group connections. This approach provides more accountability, reduces concerns about scams, and resolves awkwardness that may be present in a one-on-one meeting.

Connection

Effectively Save, Manage, and Share contact info with business cards

Motivation

One question a day: Keep communicating and motivating users through a comfortable and rewarding experience

  • The language setting feature has been relocated to the home screen, enabling users to switch between languages more flexibly as they navigate the app.

  • Ketchup keeps users engaged in their networking journey by providing milestone rewards and visualized representation of their networking information.

Ketchup Website

Scroll down on the screen

Design System

Running a small business as an immigrant is harder

Running a small business is hard