Cogenta / Mobile Apps and Website

Sccope iPhone Application

Videos of basic product search and wishlist functionality

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

When Apple announced the iPhone app development platform in 2008, I was excited by the endless opportunities that mobile technologies could bring to the world and wanted to be part of it. A few months later, I was lucky enough to land my first mobile design position within a start-up outside of London. I was hired as the lead mobile designer to work on a mobile website and native mobile apps for BlackBerry, iPhone, Vodafone 360, and T-Mobile Web’n’Walk.

The mobile app was a shopping comparison app called Sccope. While out and about, shoppers could search for a product or scan a barcode to get instant price points across all UK retailers. They could easily compare prices and make purchasing decisions on the spot. The long-term vision was to integrate with a mobile payment system that would allow shoppers to make a purchase directly from the app and have their product delivered the next day. The app included other features such as wishlists, hot deals, price history, and price-drop alerts.

The app was very popular in the UK. The iPhone app reached #1 in the UK app store. The BlackBerry app won the 2010 CrackBerry Editor’s Choice Award. The Vodafone and T-Mobile apps were preloaded on all compatible phones. Cogenta also decided to white label the app and struck a deal with mobile carrier O2 to be its mobile shopping application, which integrated with the O2 wallet.

ABOUT THE CLIENT

Cogenta began as a start-up company in 2006 and was acquired by GFK in 2014. Before the acquisition, Cogenta was the leading provider of retail and pricing intelligence for the UK and Europe’s top retail brands. Its B2B web application provided tools for retailers to track competitors’ activities and included product price tracking, stock availability, and product specifications. With its vast data system already in place, Cogenta decided to take its pricing information to consumers through mobile shopping and price-comparison applications.