[Case study]

OOM

Native mobile app

Three weeks of development, seven weeks end to end; launched on the App Store and Google Play in April 2023.

[Stack]

Flutter, Firebase, Figma, Notion

[Duration]

7 weeks end-to-end (3 weeks of development)

OOM My Carriers — current and returned carrier history

OOM home screen — scan and return reusable carriers, 90 points earned

OOM rewards — redeem points for cash back or community donations

[What it is]

Packaging re-use with three user types

OOM set out to make consumer packaging reusable: people send back their empty glass bottles and jars, OOM cleans and sanitizes them, and brands fill them again. We built the OOM app, a Flutter app with three user types (shoppers, OOM’s own team and partner stores) that follows every reusable carrier by QR code and turns each returned container into points. It took seven weeks end to end, three of them in development, and OOM launched the app on the App Store and Google Play in April 2023.

The problem

When you buy cold brew, wine, kombucha or skincare, you also buy a bottle or jar that is usually used once. OOM’s answer is a pre-fill reuse model. People keep buying products where they already shop, then send the empty packaging back so it can be sanitized and refilled by the brand.

The model only works if returning is easy and every container is accounted for. OOM had to get carriers into people’s homes by mail or through partner stores, take them back at more than one kind of drop-off point, verify what came back and credit the right points to the right person. Three groups of users, each with a different job, had to work from the same record.

[How it works]

Four stages, three weeks of development

We agreed on the core user stories and designs with OOM first, then built the app in four stages over three weeks of development.

User Flows

User type: End user

Sign up and log in with a mobile phone number
Choose how to receive a reusable carrier
Scan the QR code on a carrier
Choose where to return a carrier once it’s full
Earn points for every container returned, plus brand rewards for brand-specific containers
Redeem points for cash, sent straight to the user’s Venmo account, or for donations to selected community organizations

User type: Admin (OOM’s team)

Scan the QR code on each returned carrier
Issue points for each container returned, and for qualifying brand-specific containers
Mail carriers to users who ask for them by mail
See a dashboard with data on every user, carrier and point

User type: Store partner

Hand out carriers from the store
Scan the QR code on each carrier returned to the store

Stack

OOM is a Flutter app on Firebase, designed in Figma and planned in Notion. The QR code on each carrier ties the three roles together. A shopper, a store partner and OOM’s team each scan the same code at their step, and shoppers see their current and returned carriers in the app.

Timeline

Seven weeks end to end: user stories and designs first, then three weeks of development. OOM launched its reuse platform on Earth Day, April 22, 2023, and announced the app on the App Store and Google Play on April 30, 2023.

Outcome

The app shipped to both stores. OOM’s launch announcement walked new users through it: sign up to receive free carriers, fill them with empty bottles and jars at home, drop them off at a local drop-off location, and get a real-time notification when the return is verified and the points are credited. In September 2024, OOM’s review of DreamLabs on Clutch described the app as launched and in use.

[Don’t just take our word for it]