The Zenly Experience — a product case study
By: Josh Nelson
Tags: Product Design, Tech, User Experience, Case Study, Apps

The Zenly Experience — a product case study

Design is all about finding balance, and we could all learn from Zenly on how to do that.

“The Zenly Experience” with a phone mockup

So first, what is Zenly? Essentially, it’s a better way to keep track of your friends & family. You can view location, send messages, and a ton of other cool things. The team at Zenly went above & beyond with their added features, so let’s take a look.

three phone mockups of a the zenly onboarding

The first experience with Zenly is the onboarding flow. Now, I am a HUGE believer that onboarding is one of the most important features of an app. Zenly’s was so simple, but enjoyable I honestly didnt want it to end. The playful copy, big font, and dynamic cursor sets the tone for the Zenly experience.

three phone mockups of Zenly onboarding

During this process you also get a taste of the amazing 3D illustrations that are common place within this app. Simple, clear copy that has a personality matched with eye catching illustrations make for the perfect onboarding experience.

Three phone mockups of Zenly empty states

Once you’re in any new app, empty states are everywhere. This is one of the most overlooked areas of an app that has a huge impact on experience. The Zenly team nails their empty states. I almost didn’t want to even add friends or messages so I could see these clean screens.

Once you do start adding friends, you get greeted with a clean bubbly interface with rounded buttons and the standard thick font. Where this experience become great is the success screens.

When you add a friend, you unlock new emojis that fall onto your screen. Zenly knows the success of their app is dependent on you adding your friends, and to do that, they make that process desirable. This was so fun and cool to watch, I wanted to keep inviting people just to see these emojis.

Continuing with sharing, this is the best use of sharing screens I’ve seen in any app. Again, Zenly knows how important it is for you, and their business that you share the app, and they do an amazing job making that experience enjoyable.

These are three of their share screens. Filled with Zenly brand illustrations, motion, colors, and feel. These are so cool and well done that it makes posting them on your IG story feel artsy, very well done.

Two phone mockups with maps

At the core, Zenly is an interactive map. To try and reinvent this, they went above and beyond in some of their novelty features within the map. For ex, flights, COVID tracking, temperature, and other cool lenses make just using the map fun too.

One phone mockup showing the footprints screen

One of the more interesting Zenly features is the Footprints section. This is a way to keep track of where you’ve been, a pretty cool feature if I’m honest. But throughout the entire app, this is the only screen that feels off brand… why the neon-foresty green???

The last thing I’m touching on in the app is the profile & COVID tracking features. The profile, is as clean and simple as it gets, bubbly elements, no clutter it works great for the brand.

two phone mockups with profile and covid features

Where Zenly shines in my opinion, is with the COVID feature. This app main use case is when people are out and about, but yet they are gamifying staying home to stop the spead of COVID. And as every other screen in the app, it is enjoyable to be on. @Zenly you guys nailed this.

Now, I wanted to focus only on the mobile experience, but the Zenly website is too good to ignore. This is the most enjoyable website I have ever been on. Every single page, illustration, use of motion and simplicity literally makes you want to go through it multiple times.

https://vimeo.com/430399695