Gobbl Up
Bridging Web3 and the Food Industry:
A gamified web3 food discovery platform combining crypto, community and real-world value
ROLE
Lead Designer, UX Researcher
CLIENT
Gobbl
COLLABORATORS
Blockchain Developers and Engineers,
UX Copywriter, Marketing Head, Game Designer
IMPACT
400k users
TIMELINE
5 months | June 2024 - November 2024
01 Overview
Gobbl started as a Web3 platform aimed at shaking things up in the food and beverage industry. We started with a blockchain-based food gaming experience, where users could stake and harvest crypto through play-to-earn mechanics.
The platform also established partnerships with renowned establishments such as Papa Johns, Farzi Cafe, and Maggi to help them build a presence in the metaverse and explore new ways to connect with digital-first audiences.
However, in 2023, there was a noticeable decrease in the NFT trading volume due to collector preferences and market demand, coupled with a rise in aggregator fees including commissions and platform fees for restaurants and businesses.
02 Problem
As a web3 platform in 2024, we had certain issues
to tackle alongside:
• The craze for a metaverse experience had died down
• Most web3 products were shifting platforms to cater to a wider audience
• Gobbl itself functioned across multiple platforms and had a scattered audience
Can we bring together food and Web3 in a way that’s fun and valuable for both users and businesses?
03 Solution
A platform that caters to our crypto & web3 enthusiasts, restaurants and foodies while reducing user attrition and overall enhancing the Gobbl experience of gaming and dining.
Introducing Gobbl Up!
An ecosystem combining gaming, networking and dining, where users can explore restaurants, earn rewards, and connect with like-minded individuals.
04 Targeted Users
🎮 Crypto Foodies
-
Active in GameFi, own multiple NFTs
-
Part of multiple gaming communities
-
Frustrated by "grinding" games with no tangible benefits
-
Want more social, IRL experiences with crypto rewards
🍟 Restaurant Owners
-
Owner of a recently launched cloud kitchen
-
Has limited access to tools to engage customers and build loyalty
-
Facing rising customer acquisition costs
-
Trying to seek ways to reduce aggregator fees on different platforms
🖥️ Web3 Enthusiasts
-
Hold ENS, TON, attends ETHGlobal hackathons and other networking events
-
Participate in multiple Airdrop campaigns
-
Face difficulty in finding quality IRL networking in web3
-
Want curated experiences with like-minded people
KEY NEED: A place for gaming, staking, battling- all together, and a seamless crypto-to-real-world value conversion.
KEY NEED: Explore digital collectibles for marketing within existing partnerships and analyzing customer preference data
KEY NEED: VIP access perks to ETH events, seamless transactions, and token-gated dining experiences
05 What are we
trying to solve?
Limited real-world utility for crypto
Our users struggle to find practical, everyday uses
for their digital assets, while few businesses accept
Crypto as a payment option
Scattered Web3 Communities
Our Web3 audience was spread across multiple platforms for staking, harvesting, and gaming, making it difficult to build a unified community.
As part of the research, I interviewed our cohort and analysed existing data while the stakeholders discussed with our restaurant partners. We identified some key needs and pain points, and prioritised the most impactful problems for platform development.
High Dependency on Aggregators
Restaurants face the issue of high fees and a lack of differentiation on aggregator platforms, making it
hard to stand out
Customer Retention Challenges
Our product offerings lacked cohesion, creating a fragmented user experience and restricting NFT upgrades to collectibles with no practical utility
Bridging these gaps became key to unlocking our platform’s potential and creating a seamless and unified user experience.
Can we connect web3 and F&B by driving our audience to engage with local restaurants?
Maybe. 👀
06 Journey
Web3 can be complex and intimidating: there’s no sugar-coating it. It’s a relatively new concept & it comes with so many things that need to be learned to be understood.
So how can we make this onboarding and adoption for our users less overwhelming, more welcoming and easily digestible?
The platform development was planned to roll out in three phases:
PHASE 1: MIGRATION & ENGAGEMENT
Shift existing products and games to Telegram.
Launch a tap-to-earn game to initiate in-game
rewards and transactions.
PHASE 2: GAMIFIED RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE
Let users build their food empire on Telegram and encourage referrals & community growth through interactive gameplay
PHASE 3: WEB3 AND F&B INTEGRATION
Bridge Web3 and F&B with networking & crypto transactions, and enable users to access dining privileges at restaurants in their area
WHY TELEGRAM?
It’s a powerhouse with a vast user base of nearly 950 million people that offers seamless integration with the TON blockchain. Play games, earn crypto, and transact effortlessly—all in one place
WHY TAP-TO-EARN?
Tap-to-earn games on Telegram are changing Web3 by mixing gaming with crypto. They give fun, decentralised experiences where players earn actual rewards, completely changing how we engage in digital entertainment.
07 Designing the Experience
I worked closely with the blockchain developers and engineers to focus on certain features like upgrading and gamifying NFTs, trading, and crypto wallets, while simplifying mental models.
This helped in ensuring an intuitive experience and reducing the number of iterations.
Gobbl Up is built around four core pillars
EAT
Exclusive discounts and privileges
at partner restaurants.
PAY
Seamless crypto payments with cashback and loyalty rewards
Networking events and community-building opportunities
MEET
Gamified dining experiences, including rewards, challenges, and NFTs
PLAY
Structure
While conducting research, prominent web3 apps and games were studied to get an idea of how Telegram apps are structured.
I combined these findings with our existing features to create the Information Architecture.
Ideating and brainstorming
With the platform structure in place, I started ideating to map out the user flows for every feature and ensure the experience remains seamless, avoiding any drop offs
Designing with constraints
Design Process and Thinking
I focused on a rapid design iteration approach, by starting with a few rough concepts based on common usability patterns, then refining them based on internal feedback and assessment.
Understanding the users (without formal research)
Due to time and resource constraints, it was difficult to conduct formal user research. Instead, I relied on industry trends and assumptions based on similar apps to identify potential pain points.
Timeline Crunch
Since the product roll-out was planned in three phases, it didn’t give the team a lot of time to work on the bigger picture.
PHASE 1: TAP TO EARN
Play > Games
Chef Up: Tap to earn points
We launched a Tap-to-Earn game on Telegram featuring Gobbl, the mascot. Users earn rewards by completing tasks or levelling up and can buy boosters for a more engaging gameplay experience.
Boost earnings with power-ups
Option to continue playing
POST LAUNCH INSIGHTS
From a user perspective, gameplay began to feel repetitive, limiting their motivation to continue playing. While rewards provided an initial incentive, the lack of variety and deeper progression made it difficult to maintain interest over time
We expanded to multiple games on Telegram, introducing shared rewards, a leaderboard, and a currency system. Users could now earn Chips in one game and use them in another, boosting engagement and retention
With the launch of Chef Up, we faced an issue of user attrition. Despite offering rewards, a simple Tap-to-Earn mechanic lacked long-term appeal, leading to a decline in active players.
PHASE 2: GAMIFIED
RESTAURANTS
Gamification was at the heart of the platform, encouraging users to explore restaurants, complete challenges, and earn rewards.
As part of the Airdrop campaign, the next step was to expand our Games section while introducing hypothetical restaurants that our users could unlock and upgrade to earn profits.
Restaurants
Build your food empire, boost daily profits, and unlock restaurants by meeting level and dish card requirements
Play > Dine
Restaurant > Upgrade or claim profits
Unlock Restaurant
Purchase dishes to upgrade restaurant
Dishes
The Dishes section lets users manage their inventory,
buy more with Chips (in-game currency), and boost restaurant earnings
Play > Dishes
No dishes? Head to Shop!
Purchase a Cloche to buy 1 or multiple Dishes
Tasks
The Tasks section offers social, referral, and daily challenges to earn Chips, Dishes, and expand your food empire
Play > Social Tasks
Invite your friends to earn rewards
Use these rewards to earn more profit
Dashboard and Invite
Users can connect their wallets, claim TON daily, and track restaurant data on the dashboard, while referrals and rewards are in the Invite tab
User Dashboard
Connect your wallet
PHASE 3: EAT AND MEET
Invite a friend and see your referrals
Higher profits = Bigger rewards
The next step was to introduce real-life dining and networking experiences on the platform.
We started with a pilot program in Dubai, partnering with local restaurants to offer crypto-friendly perks and "bitcoin meals" for dine-in and delivery both.
EAT
Users can browse through restaurants based on their location to access privileges, and use these offers for crypto payments
Eat > Restaurants
Filter through restaurants
Redeem voucher for dine-in
Browse through offers and copy the code
Browse through active and redeemed vouchers
MEET
We launched the Meet feature for our “going out” audience to browse local events and book tickets accordingly
Meet > Events
Event description
Review booking details
Proceed to payment
COMING SOON- PAY
Gobbl Pay is in the pipeline and will be released soon!
A feature that allows users to pay their dining bills with crypto, and offers loyalty programs and cashback, it is the last pillar that completes the integration of web3 in the dining experience.
Post Launch Feedback
We noticed users frequently dropping off right after the Onboarding.
They weren’t exploring the features our platform had to offer.
Upon speaking to a few of them, we noticed a break in user flow- The USP was unclear, and users didn’t know where to start.
How am I earning profits?
A lot to explore with no context
What do these tabs entail?
What’s the difference between Unlock, Upgrade, and Claim?
The Solution
Since we didn’t just cater to our existing web3 users but also wanted to onboard new web2 users, the Onboarding flow had to be seamless and easily digestible.
How? We created a walkthrough tutorial for our FTUs
08 Impact
Growing Airdrop Campaign
Along with marketing efforts, our Airdrop campaign reached a wider audience of 500k, with more participants signing up every day, which meant more referrals
Following the iterative enhancements on refining the interface, enhancing rewards, and expanding the network of partner restaurants, we observed the traffic almost double on Gobbl Up
Increased Feature Usage
We noticed a 20% increase in feature usage, with growing numbers in our Gobbl Community. We saw a spike in our DAU and MAU after gamified restaurants and dishes were launched
Increased Restaurant Participation
Our Dubai pilot boosted restaurant retention, leading to successful “Bitcoin Meal” campaigns based on user feedback
10 The Future
Understanding the Web3 mindset
Designing for the target audience required a deep understanding of blockchain, NFTs, and wallets. Collaboration with the developers, engineers and internal stakeholders helped me grasp the concepts better and work accordingly
The mission to establish a vibrant Web3 community in the F&B space and redefine how we dine, connect, and engage in the digital age remains at the heart of this product development.
Looking back, there are a few learnings I took away from working on this project:
Balancing complexity and simplicity
Web3 concepts can be intimidating to newcomers. Hence the challenge of striking a balance between some complex features and a user-friendly interface was crucial. Focusing on clear instructions and a smooth onboarding flow was key
Gamification to Drive Engagement
Gamification can be a powerful tool to engage users and encourage desired behaviours. This was achieved with extensive secondary research and hands-on testing of various apps