DANA Bisnis Merchant Referral Program
Role
PM + UI/UX Designer
Year
2026
Platform
Mobile App
Tools
Figma
Description
Designing an end-to-end referral program to help DANA acquire quality micro merchants at scale, from discovery to activation.
DANA is one of Indonesia's leading digital wallet platforms. This project explores how DANA could design a referral program to acquire more quality micro and small merchants for DANA Bisnis — their merchant-facing payment solution. Over 7 days, I designed the full product experience: from how users discover the program inside the DANA app, to how referrals are submitted, tracked, and rewarded, to how referred merchants complete their registration journey. The proposal covers user research framing, Mini Program UX design, an incentive scheme with abuse prevention, and a validation plan with key metrics.
"DANA users and merchants have personal networks full of potential UMKM merchants, but today there's no structured, simple, and rewarding way to activate those relationships as an acquisition channel."
Why Does This Matter?
DANA has an ambitious target to grow the number of active micro merchants on DANA Bisnis within a short timeline. But existing acquisition channels — sales teams, ads, and cold outreach — are too slow, too expensive, and build too little trust to get there alone.
The deeper challenge isn't just reaching merchants. It's that even merchants who sign up often never transact. The gap between "registered" and "active" is where most acquisition efforts fail — and where DANA loses money on acquisition costs without getting the MDR return.
Research & Discovery
How I Thought Through It
I followed a WHO → WHY → WHAT → HOW framework — understanding the people and the problem deeply before jumping to any solution. Every design decision was traced back to one definition of success: a referred merchant who genuinely becomes active on DANA Bisnis, not just one who registers and goes cold.
Who Are The Users?
3 user groups, each with their own motivations and barriers:
Referrers (DANA Users & Existing Merchants) Motivated by reward and helping someone they know. Key tension: existing merchants may hesitate to refer peers in the same category, fearing they're helping a direct competitor catch up.
Referred Merchants Motivated by lost customer FOMO — many have already lost a sale because they couldn't accept digital payment. A trusted friend's recommendation is the trigger that converts that frustration into action.
Key Insights
The best spam prevention isn't a technical filter — it's an incentive structure that makes abusing the system not worth the effort.
Design Process
Before designing any screen, I worked backwards from the business goal. DANA doesn't win when a merchant registers — they win when a merchant actively transacts. So I defined success as: a referred merchant who completes 3 unique transactions + Rp100,000 within 30 days. Everything else was designed to get there.
Three decisions that shaped the solution:
Share first, not form first Referrer gets their link and QR code immediately. No upfront form that could kills participation before it starts.
Redefine "first transaction". A single Rp1,000 self-scan can fake a first transaction and unlock the reward instantly. Requiring 3 unique customer transactions + Rp100,000 minimum makes referral farming economically irrational without adding friction for genuine referrers.
Safety Operational Limit. Merchants can accept payments up to Rp500,000 immediately after registration — creating an instant "aha moment" while keeping withdrawals locked.
Solution
The referral program lives inside a DANA Mini Program called "DANA Ajak Rekan." It covers two complete journeys: the referrer's and the referred merchant's — designed to feel native to the existing DANA app experience.
Reflection
What I Learned
This case study was my first time approaching a product challenge from a PM perspective — thinking about business economics, abuse prevention, and user psychology all at once, not just the interface.
Given more time, I would validate the competitor fear barrier through real user interviews before committing to the design response. I'd also explore whether different merchant categories need different activation windows based on their natural transaction frequency.
