Study Case
Zamalkawy App
Shift is a B2B travel retailing platform designed specifically for travel agencies.
The Zamalkawy App was engineered as the ultimate digital hub for millions of El Zamalek Sporting Club supporters, bridging sports news with interactive games, exclusive deals, and e-commerce. Despite a massive user base fueled by club loyalty, the app suffered from severe retention issues. As the Lead UI/UX Designer, I was brought in to overhaul the user experience. I completely designed the new Store and Deals modules from scratch and radically redesigned the Game Hub and core interfaces to transform the platform from a static news reader into a highly addictive daily habit.
The Challenge
The Retention Crisis: The app experienced massive download volumes upon launch, but abysmal retention. Users opened it once for news and abandoned it, resulting in an average of only ~50 active users per hour.
Underwhelming Gamification: The existing Game Hub had a flat, uninspired UI that felt corporate rather than entertaining, failing to grab attention or incentivize play.
Ecosystem Disconnection: The app needed new revenue drivers (Store and Deals) built from the ground up, and they had to integrate seamlessly with the existing news, reels, and match center without cluttering the navigation.
Design Strategy
The primary goal was to fix the churn rate by creating an interconnected, rewarding digital ecosystem.
Injecting Energy into Gamification: I completely redesigned the Game Hub, stripping away the boring layout. I introduced dynamic, vibrant UI patterns that instantly communicated "fun," drawing users in to play mini-games and compete.
Translating Business Requirements into Clean UI: Tasked with integrating the new Store and Deals sections, I designed them from scratch using clean, minimal, and frictionless e-commerce layouts. I ensured these new business features felt native to the app, making browsing and checking out seamless.
Connecting the Loop: I strategically tied the ecosystem together through the points system. By redesigning the UI to clearly show users how playing games earned them points—and how those points translated directly into real-world value in the new Deals and Store sections—I created a powerful hook for daily retention.
UX & Business Impact
By making the app genuinely engaging and rewarding, the redesign completely reversed the "download and delete" trend.
Metric
Before Redesign
After Redesign
Concurrent Active Users
~50 users / hour
Thousands / hour (sustained)
User Retention
Extremely Low
Converted to Daily Active Users (DAU)
Game Hub Engagement
Ignored by majority
Became a primary driver for app retention
Design System
The existing design files were chaotic, plagued by poor color naming conventions, a lack of reusable components, and zero auto-layout. To fix the widespread visual inconsistencies without halting ongoing development, I rebuilt the foundation iteratively:
New Visual Foundation: I introduced a completely new, standardized system for colors and typography to unify the app's aesthetic.
Iterative Component Library: I gradually implemented a design token system alongside a library of reusable components, steadily improving consistency across the new and legacy modules.
Structured Auto-Layout: I rebuilt all screens using strict, structured auto-layout rules. This eliminated guesswork, drastically reduced design debt, and made ongoing maintenance and developer handoff seamless.
Selected Screens
Gamehub
before
After
Home Screen
before
After
Album
Deals
