Rewards Catalog
2 Days
Challenge
How might we encourage cardmembers to redeem all of their store credit card rewards before the points expire?
Measurement
We’ll know we’re successful when we decrease the amount of expired rewards points across all clients by 25%.
My Contributions
UX strategy, secondary research, sketches, wireframes, prototypes, user interviews, and usability testing.
My Take
This was mainly a consultation I did for one of my interaction designers. I’m not sure the solution was approved or used longer-term, but there are some good takeaways for how to increase user comprehension with information design and motion design.
A stakeholder interview identifies problems to solve and design considerations.
Business stakeholders would like a less-frictional transition from their store credit card Account Center to the client’s Rewards Catalog website.
Cardmembers are providing feedback that they’re unaware of expiring points.
Cardmembers are frustrated by not knowing how many rewards points they can spend.
Storyboards and sketches explain how users will buy products using their rewards.
I created a series of thumbnail sketches showing the primary user flow and key screens. By quickly iterating on these artifacts, the team can align on not only the desired user experience but also began discussing the detailed functional requirements.
Information Design is critical to helping users understand how to find what they’re looking for.
Original Design
I started with a classic e-commerce layout and kept things simple. The rewards info was next to their card image, and it updated upon adding to the cart.
What we learned from user testing is that people are not browsing by category or even what type of product they’d like. They have a maximum number of rewards points (or dollars) to spend and it’s all about seeing how much cool stuff they can buy.
1. The prominent search bar felt like overkill given that users were not searching for products as a primary means of navigating.
2. It wasn’t clear the card and rewards info was the user profile, and I wanted the available rewards to be more relatable to the products being displayed.
3. Filtering products by categories didn’t feel as useful as seeing which products were within users’ budgets.
Better Design
By moving the number of available rewards closer to the filter functions and adding reward amount options, users can see more relevant products. I also simplified the visual impact of the search without sacrificing discovery or comprehension.
Motion Design and animation help users track how many rewards they have left to spend.
Original Design
Starting with a common product page design: large product images, a clear path to Add to Cart, and related products.
What we learned from user testing is users don’t notice the updated available rewards information when it’s stuck at the top. After buying the first product, they’re also trying to add products that exceed their remaining, available rewards.
1. The updated, available rewards weren’t noticeable after adding a product to the shopping cart.
2. Related products are great, but with a fixed amount of rewards, the focus should be on products within budget!
3. I wanted it obvious that when users add something to their cart, they see only products that are still open to buy.
Better Design
By adjusting the layout and adding visual cues to updated information, we helped users maximize their available rewards.
A template-based approach to designing for multiple brands.
The design has to support a number of clients, each with its own distinguishable branding. With variable content and styles in place, the design adapts to fit the client’s rewards program, including dollar amounts instead of points - all with little-to-no development.
Impact
As with most exploratory design projects, it can be tough to gauge impact - whether for users or the business. What I’m most proud of with this is I was able to take a concept and rapidly test it, and use that information to make improvements that benefit users.
5 out of 5 users were able to successfully add a pair of green socks to their rewards shopping cart. I’ll take it!