Shiksha's Portfolio

FEATURE INTEGRATION

24 HR SPRINT

SELF INITIATED

Gullak

An Exploratory Feature integration of Microsavings in Google Pay

inspiration

The Spark

It all began from my friends Whatsapp group one fine weekend:

this casual confession sparked an interesting discussion. As we dug deeper, we realized how UPI had changed our spending behavior. The same platform we used to pay ₹5, is the same platform we use to carry ₹5,00,000 worth of transaction.

Where it all began

Here's what fascinated me: While GPay has made paying bills and splitting dinners incredibly smooth, it also removed those natural moments that once prompted us to save. That ₹15 change from your ₹85 coffee? It used to end up in your gullak, or wallet pouch. Now it just... vanishes.

As a designer, this got me thinking: UPI's success comes from removing friction, but had we removed some good friction too? The kind that made us pause and think about saving? even at a micro level?

Cultural Memory

Growing up in India, the clay 'gullak' wasn't just a piggy bank—it was a childhood institution. Every time shopkeepers returned loose change, those ₹2 and ₹5 coins would find their way into our gullaks, teaching us our first lessons in saving- these were shared experiences across millions of households.

Remember those days when we'd come home and empty our pockets, dropping coins into our trusted gullak? That small ritual of saving was now lost in the digital age.

research

The Behavioral Insight

This led me to do a quick primary and secondary research

This gap between digital convenience and traditional saving behavior presented an opportunity:

solution

Penny for a Thought

I designed "Gullak" (गुल्लक) - A behavioral intervention turning every payment into a micro-saving moment.Here's what makes it special:

Seamless Onboarding

Zero-friction setup within payment flow of Gpay, using the existing patterns and components

Smart Rounding

Dynamic amount calculation smartly aligned with spending habits, and patterns. Along with behavior-based smart triggers

User Control & Behavioral Design

Progressive rewards tied to consistency, Synchronized haptic-visual feedback, and Contextual milestone celebrations while keeping the user still in control

Growth Loop

Streak protection system

with insights, all integrated in the current system

reflection

A Push Ahead

This project challenged me to break free from design perfectionism. Instead of getting lost in complexity, I focused on quick, impactful solutions to real problems I observed around me.

Future Scope

Every culture has its own saving rituals - from Japanese kakeibo to Latin American alcancías - suggesting an opportunity to create culturally-adapted saving experiences within digital payments globally.

With proper research into behavioral economics and long-term user patterns, these micro-saving moments could evolve beyond nostalgia into smart, predictive systems that truly understand and support users' financial wellbeing. Now it's about understanding how these small habits scale across different cultural contexts and financial behaviors.

Thank you for scrolling this far, might as well check out my other works~