Beetroot Portfolio Reroot: Gamifying Good with a Tamagotchi-Style Donation App

Reroot

Beetroot built a secure mobile app for a Ukraine-based NGO to streamline donations and connect donors with local communities. Featuring a Tamagotchi-like gamification experience for doing good, the app includes real-time donation tracking, secure payments, and a user-friendly design that aligns seamlessly with the organization’s mission.

UI/UX Design
Flutter

Challenge

Reroot is an initiative started by Razom for Ukraine in partnership with Rescue Now. Its goal is to support Ukrainian communities, particularly those liberated from the Russian occupation and affected by the ecological crises after Russia’s terrorist attacks.

Reroot does this by distributing fruit tree seedlings and vegetable seeds, empowering people to grow their own food and reduce their dependence on external aid. It’s a powerful way to foster resilience and self-sufficiency, even in the toughest of circumstances, while building stronger community connections.

The organization is also looking to grow its impact by adding new causes that align with its mission of community and ecosystem restoration.

With an established relationship between Beetroot and the organizations behind Reroot, and inspired by their mission, we were excited to jump in and create a mobile app to help Reroot optimize and scale its impact. After all, we even have similar names, so this project is double rooted for success.

The main challenge was to build a platform that’s secure, user-friendly, and connects domestic and international donors with Ukrainian communities in need. The app needed to simplify the donation process, ensure resources reach the right people, and handle high user traffic, all while integrating with existing systems and respecting data protection regulations.

Recap
- The Ukraine-based NGO Reroot needed a secure, user-friendly platform to connect donors with Ukrainian communities, simplify donations, and ensure resources reach the right people while managing high user traffic.
- Beetroot assembled a dedicated development team and used Flutter and Firebase to create an intuitive and engaging mobile app with features like eco-friendly UX design, easy registration, secure payments, and real-time donation tracking.
- The app is available on Google Play and App Store, ready to enhance Reroot’s operations and optimize donor contributions, ensuring smooth integration with the organization’s existing systems.
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Solution

To bring the Reroot app to life, we put together a dedicated team of a Project Manager, a Mobile Developer, a UI/UX designer, and a Business Analyst. We chose Flutter and Firebase as the core technologies to deliver a solution that would be simple, scalable, and secure.

From the start, we focused on making the app easy to use while maintaining high standards of security and transparency. The goal was to create a trusted platform that allows donors, beneficiaries, and admins to connect smoothly, ensuring that every donation has maximum impact.

The app enables donors to quickly register, choose the causes they care about, and make secure payments via Stripe. Beneficiaries can sign up, verify their identities, receive aid, and even post updates to show how the donations are helping—all in a few clicks, thanks to a clean, intuitive interface.

Design

The Reroot app embraces simplicity and sustainability in its UX. We designed the app to be intuitive and efficient, with familiar user flows that reduce cognitive load and support seamless interaction. The minimalistic interface avoids heavy visuals or animations, reducing energy consumption.

The app promotes intentional user engagement, requiring minimal interaction—only
a few minutes a week or month—without overwhelming users with unnecessary notifications or ads. This approach supports sustainable user behavior, allowing users to make contributions when it suits them, reinforcing the app’s purpose of enabling small actions with big environmental impact.

Key features include:
- Circular Design Thinking to maximize sustainability.
- Clean, energy-efficient UI for simple, smooth interaction.
- No dark patterns, ensuring transparency and user trust.

Flow Map

The Reroot app’s flow map is designed around clarity and purpose. From the home screen, users can quickly view donation options and complete a secure payment. Real-time updates, impact tracking, and confirmation screens maintain transparency. Every path in the flow minimizes clicks, screen transitions, and loading times.
Wireframes

The wireframes reflect our focus on minimalism and Green UX, featuring clean layouts, intuitive interaction elements, and clear call-to-action points. Every design choice is made with energy efficiency in mind, ensuring light performance and smooth user experience across devices.

Key features

1. Flexible donation options: Donors can choose where their money goes, whether to a specific area, program, or individual request. They can donate without needing to register, with options for one-time or recurring contributions, and even choose to remain anonymous.

2. Donation tracking and confirmation: Donors can easily track their donations, receive confirmations, and stay updated on how their contributions are making a difference, with real-time progress notifications.

3. Impact visualization: The app includes features like progress bars for donation goals and visual insights through charts, graphs, and success stories, all designed to show how each donation is driving positive change.

4. Motivation and social sharing: Donors can share their contributions on social media to inspire others. Features like progress indicators and visual impact stories are included to encourage further giving. The app is available in both English and Ukrainian.

5. Streamlined payment system: Donations are securely processed through Stripe, with support for both one-time and recurring payments, making it easy for donors to give.

6. Beneficiary and feedback forms: Beneficiaries can apply for aid through a straightforward form, and donors can also provide feedback or explore alternative ways to contribute beyond monetary donations.

Technology

We’re using Flutter for the app’s frontend, allowing us to create a smooth experience across both Android and iOS devices with a single codebase.

For the backend, we’ve relied on Firebase, which gives us the scalability and security needed to support Reroot’s development. Here’s a breakdown of the key components:

Firebase Authentication

Firebase Authentication manages the registration, login, and identity verification processes for both donors and beneficiaries, supporting multiple sign-in methods, including email, social accounts, and phone verification.
Firestore

Firestore handles real-time data storage and syncing, ensuring that everything from donation records to beneficiary profiles updates instantly, with automatic scaling to manage growing user numbers.
Firebase Storage

Firebase Storage stores user-generated content like profile images, documents, and media files that are linked to donations and success stories.
Firebase Cloud Functions

Firebase Cloud Functions run server-side logic, allowing us to automate backend processes like notifications, payment processing, and report generation based on user activity.

Results

We’re excited about the progress so far. The Reroot mobile app is available in the App Store and Play Market.

Given that it’s a key part of Reroot’s operations, we’re working closely with their tech team to ensure everything integrates smoothly, aligns with their existing workflows, and keeps data flowing seamlessly. They’ve been fantastic in providing feedback, materials, and suggestions throughout development.

Reflections on the Project

This project is a great opportunity to get more people excited about donations by making it more fun with game-like features and offering a simple and personalized experience for each user. Knowing that Reroot offers different levels of support for beneficiaries, we aim to make the mobile app their core platform for managing and supporting all initiatives.

Natalia Kazachiner,

Business Analyst at Beetroot
Reroot is a concise, pragmatic and stylish way to invite more donations for the necessary cause. And, no less importantly, this project has the room and efficient foundation to grow in a lot of ways: both as a product and as a platform.

Andrii Iliunin,

Tech Lead at Beetroot
In the world of UX design, the focus used to be on making interfaces visually unique or unconventional in function. Over time, it became clear that while aesthetics still matter, functionality, accessibility, and familiarity are crucial to creating a seamless user experience. With Reroot, we embraced this shift, creating an app that’s simple, intuitive, and purposeful.
It doesn’t demand constant interaction, which reduces energy consumption, but still allows users to make meaningful contributions when it feels right. It’s about design that works for people and the planet.

Mykyta Hrach,

UX/UI Lead at Beetroot
This project is a great opportunity to get more people excited about donations by making it more fun with game-like features and offering a simple and personalized experience for each user. Knowing that Reroot offers different levels of support for beneficiaries, we aim to make the mobile app their core platform for managing and supporting all initiatives.

Natalia Kazachiner,

Business Analyst at Beetroot
Reroot is a concise, pragmatic and stylish way to invite more donations for the necessary cause. And, no less importantly, this project has the room and efficient foundation to grow in a lot of ways: both as a product and as a platform.

Andrii Iliunin,

Tech Lead at Beetroot
In the world of UX design, the focus used to be on making interfaces visually unique or unconventional in function. Over time, it became clear that while aesthetics still matter, functionality, accessibility, and familiarity are crucial to creating a seamless user experience. With Reroot, we embraced this shift, creating an app that’s simple, intuitive, and purposeful.
It doesn’t demand constant interaction, which reduces energy consumption, but still allows users to make meaningful contributions when it feels right. It’s about design that works for people and the planet.

Mykyta Hrach,

UX/UI Lead at Beetroot