Increasing Customer Loyalty

Earn more, feel the rewards sooner.

SHARE NOW was building their loyalty program from scratch — core mechanics already defined when I joined mid-discovery. I stepped in to ensure we'd ship something users would actually engage with, not just output that looked done.

20–22% Revenue increase · Rewards program customers

SHARE NOW · 2021 · 3 months

UX Concept Wireframes Visual Design Stakeholder Mgmt Discovery

Starting Point

The program's core mechanics (points, tiers, colors, names) were predefined but unvalidated and not fully assessed for feasibility. With a tight timeline, I negotiated a short window for qualitative testing to validate assumptions and de-risk delivery.

Key Risks

Clarity

Do points → tiers → rewards make sense and motivate users to drive more?

Awareness

Will users know the loyalty program exists?

Compliance

No auto opt-in (GDPR/T&Cs).

Hypothesis

Driving more and longer trips increases engagement and loyalty.

Signing up for Rewards strengthens retention and repeat usage.

Mechanics

Drive more

→

Earn points

→

Reach higher tiers

→

Unlock better rewards

Initial Concept

Marketing's tier names and colors were set. Within a blue-first brand, "Silver/Gold" created confusion. I secured time to test whether naming and color supported a clear, motivating hierarchy.

Testing — Round 1

Goal

Discover usability problems and assess the impact of the loyalty concept on user motivation.

Set-up

Qualitative usability test
1 in-house session (pilot)
5 external users
75 min / session
Open prototype

Prototype

Learning 01

Low emotional investment in tiers

Users cared most about rewards.

Learning 02

Names and colors

Misaligned with mental models.

Learning 03

Points → Rewards connection

Weakened by tier-first framing.

Iteration

Onboarding

Lead with benefits, downplay tiers.

Status

Make current points/tier clear and discoverable.

Visuals

Harmonize tier names/colors with subtle motifs; clarify headers and cards.

Sketching & Wireframes

UI Improvements

Tier name & color support

Introduced subtle watermark patterns to reinforce tier identity while staying within SHARE NOW's blue-centric palette.

Header & status clarity

Enhanced the dashboard header to clearly communicate current points and tier status at a glance.

Reward cards

Experimented with reward cards to indicate potential gains/losses.

Teaser page

Shifted teaser page focus from tiers to rewards, highlighting immediate benefits for new users.

Testing — Round 2

Goal

Validate potential solutions to previous findings and identify further usability issues.

Set-up

Qualitative usability test
5 external users
75 min / session
Open prototype

Prototype

Learning 01

New teaser page

Clearer, but users were still overwhelmed.

Learning 02

Effort → Reward

Participants better understood the link between effort and rewards.

Learning 03

Tiers & Next Steps

Users could identify their tier and next steps, but progress tracking remained unclear.

Learning 04

Marketing aligned

Clearer benefits; better effort→reward understanding; progress still fuzzy. Marketing agreed to revisit names/colors.

Iteration 2

Teaser & tier calculation

Show sign-up cost, immediate rewards, and visible progress; add background feedback and optional push notifications.

Iteration 2 — teaser and tier calc screen 1

Iteration 2 — teaser and tier calc screen 2

Iteration 2 — teaser and tier calc screen 3

Dashboard & tiers

Expanded naming and color options to reduce mental load while maintaining brand alignment.

Iteration 2 — dashboard and tier screen 1

Iteration 2 — dashboard and tier screen 2

Iteration 2 — dashboard and tier screen 3

Iteration 2 — dashboard and tier screen 4

Reward presentation

Clearer access to both partner and internal rewards.

Iteration 2 — reward presentation screen 2

Iteration 2 — reward presentation screen 3

Points

Added empty states and explicit progress tracking to make the path to rewards tangible.

MVP Launch

The MVP went live with key features, while some (like nudging users) were scoped out due to engineering constraints. These could be added later to further drive behavior change.

28% Sign-up enrollment at MVP launch Room to improve — further optimization planned

20–22% Revenue increase from rewards program customers Customers in the rewards program drove a 20–22% increase in revenue

Deferred Revenue nudges Nudges deferred due to engineering constraints — planned for next cycle

Key Take-Aways

Hypothesis-driven and outcome-oriented approach paid off. We treated early misalignment (tier focus, color naming) as learning, not failure. Validated assumptions quickly, and iterated to emphasize rewards, clarity, and measurable behavior change.

Test early

Delayed UX testing caused frustration but validated critical assumptions.

Prioritize MVP features

Focus on must-haves, iterate quickly.

Collaboration is key

Success relied on marketing, sales, UX research, and engineering working together.

Design for clarity

Users respond best when benefits are clear and tier mechanics are simplified.

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Increasing Customer Loyalty

Defined constraints, undefined viability.

Key Risks

Engagement follows clarity and reward.

Mechanics

Within constraints, test the assumptions.

Discover usability problems and assess motivational impact.

Lead with benefits. Make progress visible.

Validate the iterations. Find remaining friction.

Cut confusion. Spotlight benefits. Stay on-brand.

Ship, measure, iterate.

Validated fast. Iterated with intent.