Koha
Designing a mobile experience that turns local shopping into community support
KOHA is a mobile app designed to bring communities together by connecting small businesses, schools, and nonprofits. Developed by iProject in 2017, it gives everyday transactions a purpose and every purchase made at a participating business contributes a small donation to a school or organization chosen by the customer.
As the product and visual designer, I was responsible for the mobile app design and illustrations, creating an approachable and intuitive experience that balanced business functionality with a sense of warmth and community engagement.
The Challenge
KOHA set out to solve two intertwined challenges: helping small local businesses grow visibility while enabling schools and nonprofits to raise funds effortlessly. The platform had to make this process simple, automated, and emotionally engaging. Something users would want to interact with often, not just once.
The key challenges included:
Designing a multi-role experience for families, schools, and merchants.
Keeping a complex ecosystem simple enough for everyday use.
Building trust through transparency and friendly design.
Approach & Strategy
The approach centered on clarity, gamification, and emotional connection. Each user journey, from recording purchases to redeeming rewards or viewing school fundraising goals, was mapped to feel rewarding, not transactional.
I designed core features including:
Onboarding & guided tours to introduce the concept of giving through shopping.
Merchant maps & discovery showing nearby local businesses and their offers.
Rewards system allowing users to redeem points for local experiences.
School dashboards & leaderboards visualizing collective fundraising progress.
Gamified badges encouraging users to invite others and engage more deeply.
Design Execution
The experience was built around a dashboard that unified all actions: from checking points and choosing a school to tracking progress and discovering new rewards.
Micro-interactions like badge unlocks, completion bars, and celebratory animations made the process feel personal and motivating. Each screen followed a clear visual hierarchy, keeping the focus on the user’s contribution and progress.
Outcome
KOHA successfully combined commerce, education, and social good in a single mobile experience.
Encouraged local shopping through positive incentives.
Increased school fundraising participation.
Created an automated, transparent giving system requiring no manual effort from businesses or users.
The warm visual identity and seamless UX helped KOHA stand out as a community-driven app — simple to use, emotionally engaging, and purpose-led.
