Karmacoin Referral Scheme Design & Build
Technical recruitment consultants, Hurren & Hope, approached us looking for a referral scheme with a difference – a platform that would incentivise people to refer candidates and hiring managers while giving something back to the community. Needless to say, we jumped at the chance to flex our creative muscles and got to work brainstorming ideas for a referral programme that would stand out and reflect Hurren & Hope’s core values.
Our Karmic Concept
Our journey to Karmacoin began with an ideation phase where we used the client’s brief – “quirky, distinctive, the crazier the better!” – as our true north for an initial batch of creative concepts. We then narrowed those ideas down to a handful of favourites to present. After an exciting pitch to the client, we decided the standout option from an engagement and practical perspective was Karmacoin. The concept met all the requirements of the brief and tied in nicely with the company’s ethos of ‘people over profits’.
Getting Creative
With the concept decided, we set about mapping out the functionality and user flows so we could move from paper to pixels and start bringing our ideas to life as high-fidelity interface designs. Karmacoin’s visual aesthetic needed to complement Hurren & Hope’s brand identity, but it also needed to stand up in its own right. Fortunately, H&H’s existing visual style was a good fit with what we were planning for Karmacoin, so we were able to assimilate the colour palette and illustrative style.
Once the UI designs were complete, we moved into the build phase where we soon discovered the functionality we’d mapped out on paper was deceptively simple!
Design > Development Handover
We decided Karmacoin needed to be a custom build as we didn’t want to be hampered by the limitations of WordPress. The backend functionality was written in .NET with an Entity Framework database and SendGrid system emails. The frontend user interface is CSS & HTML, with close attention paid to microcopy, comfort messaging and animated UX embellishments. We also created an intuitive backend admin area to allow the client to easily manage the platform in-house.
Bringing the main website along for the ride…
As part of a separate brand refresh project, we completed a UX and technical audit of the H&H website, which included suggestions for improving consistency, accessibility, information architecture and the overall visual style. We coincided the launch of the revamped website with the launch of Karmacoin and an accompanying email marketing campaign for maximum impact!