GIVIO

Givio Gift App

A gift card management platform that allows users to personalize, send, track, and manage gift cards effortlessly.

Product

Smart & Secure Gift Card Management Platform

My role

I led a user-centric product development process, incorporating insights from extensive user research and competitive analysis. By leveraging data-driven decision-making and Goal-Directed Design methodology, Givio was developed to provide a secure, flexible, and personalized gifting experience, ensuring convenience for users while enhancing the emotional impact of gift-giving.

Problem statement

Gift givers and recipients struggle with a fragmented, impersonal, and inconvenient gift card experience. Managing and tracking gift cards is often difficult, leading to forgotten balances and missed gifting occasions.

User Research & Market Analysis

My reesearch for Givio identified key user needs and pain points related to gift card management. Three primary user groups emerged: Frequent Gifters needing reminders and secure payments, Occasional Gifters wanting AI-powered suggestions, and First-Time Users requiring easy onboarding and fraud protection. Research methods included surveys, interviews, and competitive analysis. Findings led to prioritized features such as automated reminders, gift tracking, personalization, and secure transactions. Validated solutions include a Smart Gift Assistant, group gifting, and fraud protection, enhancing the gifting experience with automation and security.

User persona

James Jones, a 29-year-old Marketing Manager in Los Angeles, frequently sends digital gift cards for birthdays, holidays, and work events but struggles with missed gifting dates, personalization, and tracking multiple platforms. He prefers fast, secure transactions and AI-powered recommendations but faces limited payment flexibility and security concerns. While he uses scheduling tools for work, he lacks the same for gifting. His goals include an all-in-one platform for managing gift cards, automated reminders, personalization options, and integrated payment solutions like Apple Pay and PayPal with enhanced fraud protection.

Proposed Feature: Smart Gift Assistant

To enhance personalization and ease of use, I proposed the Smart Gift Assistant, an AI-powered feature that suggests personalized gift cards based on user behaviour, recipient preferences, and upcoming occasions.

Why This Feature?
- Users struggle to choose the right gift card.
- Many forget important gifting dates (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays).
- Personalization options in existing platforms are limited and static.

How It Works:
- AI analyzes past purchases and user preferences to suggest the perfect gift card.
- Sends reminders for upcoming occasions with one-tap purchase options.
- Allows users to schedule and auto-send gift cards based on recurring occasions.

User Stories & Acceptance Criteria

Personalized Recommendations 
"As a user, I want to receive personalized gift card suggestions so I can choose the perfect gift easily."  AI suggests relevant gift cards based on past purchases Users can accept, modify, or ignore recommendations

Gift Tracking & Management 
"As a user, I want to track my sent and received gift cards so I don’t forget balances or expiration dates."

Users see all sent/received cards in a dashboard Expiring cards trigger auto-reminders

Scheduled Gifting & Reminders 
"As a user, I want to schedule gift cards in advance so I never miss an occasion." Set recurring gift card deliveries AI-powered reminders notify users of upcoming events

Competitive Analysis

Major Competitors & Their Strengths

Product Strategy & Feature Prioritization

Core Features of Givio
Using impact vs. effort prioritization, we identified the top 7 most critical features:
Top-Priority Features (🔹 High Impact | 🔸 Medium Impact)

🔹 Gift Card Personalization – Custom messages, images & themes 

🔹 Gift Card Tracking & Balance Management – Real-time balance updates 

🔹 Scheduled Gifting & Reminders – Auto-send gift cards & occasion alerts 

🔹 Multi-Payment Integration – Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal & more 

🔹 Security & Fraud Protection – 2FA, encrypted transactions & alerts 

🔸 Group Contributions for Shared Gifting – Invite others to contribute 

🔸 Digital & Physical Gift Card Flexibility – Send via SMS, email, or ship

Wireframe

Trade-offs, Risk & Success Metrics

Trade-offs

- AI-generated recommendations may sometimes be inaccurate, requiring manual adjustments.
- Overwhelming notifications could lead to feature fatigue.
- Balancing automation and user control is key to maintaining trust.

Risks
- Privacy Concerns – Users may be uncomfortable with AI-driven recommendations.
- Feature Adoption – Users might not engage if recommendations aren’t compelling.
- Overloaded Interface – Too many features could reduce simplicity

Success Metrics
- Engagement Metrics Increase in gift card purchases per user Growth in AI recommendations interactions
- Retention & Usage Metrics Reduction in abandoned gift card selections Increase in repeat gifting behaviour
- Security & Trust Metrics Decrease in fraudulent transactions Higher adoption of secure payment options (2FA, encryption)

Roadmap & Next Steps

Phase 1: MVP Development (3 months)
- Core features: Gift personalization, tracking, scheduling, and payments
- Security & fraud protection implementation
- Basic AI-driven Smart Gift Assistant

Phase 2: Social & Engagement Features (6 months)
- Launch Social Gifting Feed
- Introduce group gifting contributions
- Expand AI recommendations

Phase 3: Scaling & Growth (12 months)
- Partner with more retailers for gift card variety
- Add advanced analytics for personalized gifting insights
- Expand to international markets