Gainful
What this case study showcases:
Designing for DTC, Product Design
Project Timeline:
5 days in June 2025
Tools:
Figma
CONTEXT
Gainful is a performance nutrition company that specializes in personalized protein powder. They hired me as a Product Designer for 20 - 40 hours a week from May 1st through mid July 2025 to help them solve a number of design issues on their website built in Shopify.
This case study focuses on the Find My Protein quiz.
DESIGN CHALLENGE
Gainful's business model was built on a comprehensive protein quiz that asks users a series of detailed questions to find the right Gainful protein powder for them. While the team found that the quiz helped build trust with existing customers, they wanted a more efficient way to convert new customers.
Our goal was to create a new, shorter quiz experience that focused only on the questions that had the most impact on the final protein recommendation. This version gives a quicker, easier way to get started for new users, especially those less willing to fill out a long quiz, while testing the importance of perceived complexity in building trust and conversions.
I designed Gainful's "Find My Protein" quiz to be an easy and enticing way for users to find their customized protein blend in just 3 questions.
PROCESS
This feature had been on the product team's wishlist for a while, but they lacked the design resources to move it forward. After joining the team, I took ownership of the project and collaborated with Marketing, using their early wireframes as inspiration.
I researched similar quiz experiences, particularly those used by other DTC brands, to inform the solution using UI/UX best design practices. I iterated on the designs in Figma, incorporating team feedback to refine the layout, flow, and visual details.
With our engineer based in Belarus and working on several other projects, I prioritized creating designs that were simple to implement and documenting them clearly to accommodate his limited bandwidth.
I focused on creating a UI that felt approachable and visually distinct while aligning with Gainful's overall brand system within a tight timeline.