Zuvy- Empowering Local Merchants

Building India’s Biggest SME Digital Ecosystem

Zuvy is an AI-powered digital ecosystem designed to empower India’s micro and small businesses. As the Lead Product Designer, my responsibility was to conceptualize, design, and validate a scalable platform that makes digital transformation accessible for millions of merchants, distributors, agents, and customers.

 

The goal:
Digitize every local shop in India and create a hyperlocal marketplace powered by AI, visibility, and real-time data.

Details
Role:

Lead Product Designer

Project name

Zuvy

Platform:

Mobile App + Web Dashboard

Tools

Figma, Photoshop, Invision, Milanote, Notion, Illustrator

Involvement:

Visual Design, UX Research, Wireframing

Problem Statement

India has 63+ million MSMEs, but:

  1. 90% have no digital presence
  2. 70% still rely on cash books, diaries, and memory
  3. 95% cannot access advanced tools like CRM, ads, or analytics
  4. Many platforms are complex, expensive, or require technical knowledge

Merchants need:

  1. Simple onboarding
  2. Voice-driven interactions
  3. Visibility within their locality
  4. Inventory + sales management
  5. Customer reach without paying heavy commissions
  6. A platform that supports local delivery
  7. Zero-friction digital adoption
  8. This shaped our product direction.

The Opportunity

The rise of:

  1. Voice AI adoption (35–40% YoY growth in India)
  2. ONDC ecosystem
  3. Smartphone penetration in Tier 2–6 cities
  4. Government push for digital MSMEs
  5. Demand for hyperlocal commerce
  6. created a massive opportunity to build the SME Super Platform for India.

This gives players a clear roadmap instead of confusion.

My Role as Lead Product Designer

Strategic Responsibilities
  • Product vision shaping with founders
  • Information architecture for 8 personas
  • Roadmap alignment with tech & business teams
  • Research-driven design decisions
Design Responsibilities
  • User research & persona mapping
  • Process flow, journey mapping, task analysis
  • Interaction design (mobile + web)
  • Creating reusable design systems
  • Prototypes (low-fi to high-fi)
  • Usability testing & iteration
Collaboration
  • Worked with PMs,CTO, engineers, AI team, marketing, and founders
  • Conducted weekly design reviews
  • Ensured consistency across dashboards & apps

Understanding User Personas

Zuvy has one of the most complex ecosystems.
I defined 8 core personas, including:

  1. Distributor
  2. Merchant
  3. Local Agent / BDE / BDM
  4. Regional Manager (RM)
  5. Zonal Manager (ZM)
  6. HQ / Admin
  7. Ops & Finance Team
  8. General Visitor / Customer

Each persona has unique goals, permissions, and workflows.
This shaped the entire IA and navigational model.

Design Challenges

1. Low digital literacy

Solution:
Voice-first design, reduced cognitive load, simplified screens.

2. Complex business logic

Solution:
Created hierarchical dashboards, persona-based permission layers, and simplified workflows.

3. Hyperlocal discoverability

Solution:
Built merchant storefronts similar to Instagram + Maps.

4. Trust-building

Solution:
Testimonial screens, legal surfaces, proof interfaces, QR lifecycle transparency.

5. Scalability

Solution:
Atomic design system, modular components, scalable grids.

Research Insights

Zuvy has one of the most complex ecosystems.
I defined 8 core personas, including:

From merchant interviews:

  1. They want visibility, not complex tech
  2. They prefer voice input over typing
  3. They want calls, not online payments (initially)
  4. Trust is built through proof, not features
  5. Simple onboarding determines adoption

These insights shaped the MVP.

Designing the Product Roadmap

Phase 1 — Merchant Digital Storefront
Phase 2 — Voice-Led Sales Management
Phase 3 — Customer App (10km Hyperlocal Discovery)
Phase 4 — Add-to-Cart + Local E-commerce
Phase 5 — Paid Advertising Marketplace