Salt Labs is a brand new loyalty program for hourly and contract workers. The startup recently raised $10 million in pre-seed funding in order to carryout their vision of gamifying frontline work (TechCrunch, 2023.)
As those who follow my work know, I am always on the hunt for new products that are in the business of making financial wellness and expansion accessible. So you can only imagine my excitement when I came across Salt Labs last week while applying for jobs.
I’ve had a little over a week to acclimate myself with the app and am ready to discuss my experience so far.
Onboarding
I have to say the onboarding flow for Salt Labs was the shortest and smoothest onboarding experience I have ever had.
To sign up all it took was my phone number and a verification code that my iPhone automatically applied from my iMessage.
Seamless. No extra steps. No demographic input.
It was so simple I was in awe. 2 steps in total. 1.5 if you count the fact that I didn’t have to go searching for that verification code.
The only additional question asked during verification was whether or not I was an hourly worker. This aspect was very straightforward and was a quick way to gauge if I was a fit for the app without a long list of questions.
However, I do wonder if when I go to redeem my earnings two weeks from now if I will be hit with all of those extra steps.
Even if this is the case, its smart on Salt Labs part because I’ve already committed two weeks of time, energy, and usage to the product. I’ve now built this relationship with the app and an attachment to my earnings, thus creating more of an incentive to provide all of this tedious information because of course I want my reward that I’ve worked so hard for those past 14 days.
UX Tip: Hit the user with the “annoying” steps after there has been an emotional bond with the product. It makes it harder for them to abandon the task.
Mining
The way that users earn their reward points, or Salt, is to mine it by documenting their work hours daily.
I’ve been mining for about a week and once again, a simple and effortless user experience.
It takes 4 steps in total.
I will say that the homepage is so simple that it lacks clarity on the incentive.
It would be great to have a meter with salt goals including the rewards for each goal point.
Motivation for the user to continue to mine and get excited about mining when they open the app would help to drive consistent product use.
UX Tip: Gamify the experience by setting goals for the user to encourage consistent product use.
Redeeming Rewards
Navigation to the reward redemption page is clear.
However, once I’m on the page, I am a little confused as to what the available redemptions are.
The page falls a little flat and I don’t feel like I’m redeeming rewards.
It should be a celebration. Full of promotions telling me their values and convincing me why I should spend my salt on them.
But that’s not the case.
I would love to see this page embody its purpose in full.
UX Tip: Make sure all aspects of your designs fully embody their overall theme and evoke the emotion that you want your user to feel. This will encourage them to carry out the action that you are aiming for them to perform.
Platform Accessibility
Another thing that is extremely impressive, and that most startups lack at this stage in their development, is that Salt Labs is accessible on all platforms; iOS, Android, and Web.
I can access my account from anywhere with or without my phone. Nowadays with many mobile focused apps this isn’t the case anymore.
I love that this is universally available across platforms.
In Conclusion…
Salt Labs is a truly innovative financial product that's creating a space for individuals of overlooked financial brackets to access financial independence and growth.
The app purposely excludes salary workers that benefit from stocks, sign on bonuses, and other aspects of salary roles that hourly and contract workers don’t have access to in order to expedite their financial wellness journey.
I’m excited to see the progression of this product and the lives that they are going to change.
