Quick commerce and ride apps leave two high-attention moments empty: the end of the home scroll and the wait for a delivery or ride.
This concept fills both with short games that upsell, earn ad revenue and make the wait easier.
Not affiliated with any app named here.
Why I chose this
Zepto, Blinkit, Swish, Instamart and Rapido all end the home screen with a tagline and white space. Swish adds an illustration, but it's still recall. The wait screen just stacks ads.
Problem identification
People who reach the footer are often browsing for leisure. They want a deal good enough to justify an order. The footer gives them nothing, so they leave for the next app.
"10 min" grows or stalls with no reason shown. The map shows status, but not comfort. The ad banner stuck to it isn't tied to anything the user is doing.
The user is at the end of the page with nothing to do.
The delay can't be explained, so the wait itself has to get better.
A banner next to a map gets ignored.
Research and benchmarking
Most quick commerce footers only say where the app was built. Swish adds a brand recall. On the delivery screen, ads sit below the first fold, under the map and order details, and often look stitched on.
| Where | What's there | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Instamart, Zepto, Blinkit footers | A line saying the app was built in Bengaluru | Nothing to do |
| Swish footer | "Wish it, Swish it" illustration | Brand recall only |
| Delivery screen | Ads below the first fold, under the map and order details | Ads look stitched on, not designed in |
Design goals and constraints
Key design ideas and rationale
There are three main cases to optimise the footer for. Each fits a different kind of app. The games below are tagged by the case they serve.
The user is browsing with nothing left to see. Give them a reason to buy.
The order is placed and the user waits for it to finish. Make the wait better and set up the next order.
Send users from one app to its sister app with an offer on something complementary.
A delivery rider crosses rocky hills, left to right, like Bike Mania or Dirt Bike to deliver the parcel. Every rock and billboard is a brand's ad. Cross a rock, unlock that brand's offer.
The order is on its way. The map and ETA stay on top, pinned while you play. Below, the footer turns into the same catch game: dishes from toing, the sister app, fall with their deals. Catch one and claim it for later.
A courier stands under falling leaves and stones. Now and then a dish from toing, the sister app, falls with its deal on it. Catch it and claim it on toing. Three deals, or one stone, ends the round.
How the ads pay
A banner is seen once and ignored. In Hill Rider, a brand is something you ride over, catch or unlock. That's four slots to sell, each priced by what the user did.
| Slot | What the user does | What the brand gets | Charge by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard | Rides past it | Brand recall | Views |
| Rock | Rides over it | An offer seen in play | Crossings |
| Collectible | Catches it | A deal the user chose | Catches |
| Checkpoint voucher | Reaches it, adds to cart | A sale | Redemptions |
Three wins from one slot: ad revenue for the app, discovery for the brand, and a nudge on what the user was close to buying anyway.
Before vs after
What I'd validate, and where it could go wrong
Final prototype
Reflections
A non-interactive part of the screen, like the footer, can do something for the product and the business.
Ads and upselling annoy users. Made into play, they become something people enjoy, and that helps the business.