HOMEDEEPAK S.
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Case study 01 · Self-initiated · Live app · 2026

SCAMZEN.

A safe practice phone for spotting scams, in English and Kannada. About 2 minutes per scam, no login.

every brand in it is fictional. no real one was harmed.

Role

Research, UX, UI, front end

Platform

Mobile-first web app

Timeline

About 4 working days

Live

scamzen.vercel.app →

ScamZen on a laptop: a cosy room with 12 scam notes pinned to a notice board and the scam phone on the desk

The room on a laptop: 12 scams pinned to a notice board, and the scam phone on the desk. On phones the notes stack one per row.

00 · In 30 seconds

THE SHORT VERSION.

The problem

Scam warnings are rules people read once and forget. The people most at risk rarely read them at all.

What I made

A wall of 12 common scams. Live one on a practice phone, pick what you would do, then see the 3 clues.

What testing changed

My wife couldn’t use it in English. Now every button, question and clue also speaks Kannada.

01 · The problem

RULES DON’T STICK.PRACTICE DOES.

Most scam advice is a list. Real scams don’t arrive as a list. They arrive as a message, at a busy moment.

The usual warning

  • —  Don’t share your OTP.
  • —  Don’t click unknown links.
  • —  Don’t install apps a stranger sends.
  • —  Don’t panic. Verify first.

Read once. Forgotten by the evening.

How it really arrives · 3:36 PM

+91 98XXX XXXXX · not in your contacts

Dear customer, your electricity will be disconnected tonight at 9:30 PM due to unpaid bill. Call electricity officer immediately 98XXX XXXXX.

Pending amount Rs 10 only. Pay now to avoid disconnection: citypower-bill.co/pay

Same scam inside ScamZen, scam 1 of 12. City Power is fictional.

02 · The flow

ONE SCAM,ABOUT TWO MINUTES.

People open it from a WhatsApp link, usually for the one scam they just got. So every scam is one short loop.

  1. 1PICK A NOTE

    Step 1: the wall of scam notes on a phone, the first one says START HERE

  2. 2LIVE IT, THEN PICK

    Step 2: the fake electricity message in a chat, and four choices: what would you do?

  3. 3SEE WHAT HAPPENS

    Step 3: what happens next after picking Call this number, with the safer answer

  4. 4SPOT THE 3 CLUES

    Step 4: the chat dims and the three clues light up, clue 3 is the payment link

Then: next scam  ·  Safety guide  ·  Help 1930. Nothing locked, nothing to log in to.

03 · Three decisions

THREE CALLSTHAT SHAPED IT.

Dim the phone.Light up onlythe clues.

Why

My friend said “too many overlays”. The clue sat about 500 px below its mark, under 4 stacked layers. Now the chat dims, the clue words light up, and one sheet sits right under them.

Before · Oct 19

Before: the clue sits a long scroll below its mark, under stacked layers

After · Live

After: the chat dims, the clue words light up and one sheet sits right under them
the mark up here, its clue a long scroll down. now: one screen.

One noteper row.One placeto start.

Why

My wife opened it and couldn’t pick one thing to look at. On phones the wall now shows one note per row, and the first one says START HERE.

Before · Oct 19

Before: a busy grid of scam notes with no clear place to start

After · Live

After: one note per row, the first one says START HERE

Kannada,because Englishstopped her.

Why

Buttons, questions and clues now speak Kannada, about 1,600 words. The scam messages stay in English, because real scams arrive in English.

ಕನ್ನಡ · the wall

ScamZen wall in Kannada: the notes, buttons and help text all in Kannada

ಕನ್ನಡ · inside a scam

Inside scam 1 in Kannada: the question and answers in Kannada, the scam message still in English
the scam stays in English: real ones do.

04 · The result

WHAT SHIPPED.

Live and mobile first, built to run on cheap Android phones inside WhatsApp’s browser.

12

scams to practise

2

languages: English + Kannada

0

logins or personal data

13/13

first visits came from phones

Early numbers, small sample, shown as they are.

Try it live →

05 · Where I used AI

I DIRECT.AI EXECUTES.

The calls on this page were mine. AI wrote the code and the drafts; I reviewed every round on my own phone.

MY CALLS

  1. 01Which 12 scams, and how real they feel
  2. 02Fictional brands, no login, no fail state
  3. 03The room, the notes, every screen
  4. 04What to change after each test: my wife, a friend, my own phone

AI’S PART

  1. 01Wrote the code from my written specs
  2. 02Gathered the research on each scam
  3. 03Drafted the Kannada text, about 1,600 words
  4. 04Measured every clue at 390 px in a real browser

Next case study · 02 of 03

Linkwell

A Wi-Fi app for shop owners in India. The full app, 112 screens, sign-up to billing.

or ← back to home

Linkwell home: billing Wi-Fi working in all 3 shops, with a plain status for each shop

The decision

One question first: can my shops take payments?

status in plain words. owners aren't IT people.