My client's business was centered around an online redemption platform tailored for the use of a reward point currency earned through accolades, accomplishments, training completion, and tenure awards. This platform specifically targeted HR departments of retail companies that placed a strong emphasis on employee retention. By offering incentives for positive employee actions, my client positioned their platform as a strategic investment aimed at improving overall employee outcomes aligned with the retail company's objectives.
The redemption platform consisted of a secure portal login, granting users access to an ecommerce landing page branded to look like their employer. Through this page, customers could browse a curated catalog of products that could then be redeemed by spending accrued points. My client directly managed the fulfillment of redeemed products, acting as a drop-shipper. Their profits were derived from the margin between the item purchase cost and its redemption point value, thereby incentivizing them to invest in enhancing the ecommerce experience to drive increased customer redemption rates.
To respect the privacy and proprietary business strategies of my client, information regarding their identity will be kept generic.
During the project kickoff phase, we engaged in a comprehensive series of discovery workshops with our client. These workshops were designed to cover a wide range of aspects, including systems of record, business rules, and stakeholder interviews. In this collaborative environment, my role involved facilitating workshops with a diverse group of project stakeholders, including C Suite executives. Our primary objectives during these workshops were to ideate on customer journeys, define Required MVP Features, establish Roadmap Objectives and Improvements, and Identify User Roles.
To lay a solid foundation for the improved ecommerce redemption platform, we employed design thinking exercises that allowed us to compile a comprehensive list of requirements. It is worth noting that our client specifically requested that we forego extensive user research, as we already possessed valuable insights from the existing platform metrics that guided our improvement efforts. Instead, we opted for a Proto-Persona approach, leveraging the expertise of stakeholders who drew upon their deep customer knowledge to collectively brainstorm fictional yet highly relevant personas. With validation by the Executive Team, we proceeded to assign these personas to corresponding customer journeys, ensuring the development of an exceptional user experience.
The initial challenge of the project revolved around enhancing the user interface (UI) of the platform. It was crucial for my client's platform to align with the web brand presence of their customers, providing an immersive experience where employees felt as though they were accessing an official portal from their respective retail employers while redeeming their points. The previous platform offered limited customization options and this restricted level of customization led to dissatisfaction among some retailers who desired greater control over the platform's appearance. As a result, my client had to engage external developers to customize the solution prior to its launch, resulting in delays and troubleshooting.
To overcome this challenge, we recognized the need for a much more flexible and customizable platform solution. Our approach involved meticulous design of UI elements using a Design System that could adapt to the brand style preferences of each retailer. We developed a comprehensive Wizard tool that empowers program managers within our client's organization to effortlessly select from a wide range of colors, shades, and typographic styles. This enables them to create customized instances of the platform that truly reflect the unique brand identities of their retail customers, without relying on additional development assistance.
The redemption platform was designed to replicate the familiar and seamless experience of consumer-facing ecommerce platforms. Customers were provided with a traditional ecommerce customer journey, which encompassed fundamental steps such as product search, browsing through category and conducting comparisons, selecting product variants, adding items to the cart, and proceeding to checkout. However, due to the unique nature of our client's business, the integration of innovative UX solutions became crucial at every stage of the redemption process.
Users could opt to always have a progress bar to indicate how close they were to earning an item. We could strategically trigger emails upon users reaching specific milestones, encouraging continued engagement in behaviors that would earn them additional points.
We considered the requirements of a user role, specifically the "high earner, low redeemer." These individuals had a tendency to accumulate points over extended periods with the intention of redeeming them for high-value items. Acknowledging their preference for monitoring their progress towards product redemption, we implemented various tools to provide visual cues and capitalize on marketing opportunities to foster sustained engagement. On the Product Listing and Detail pages, we introduced status indicators that visually depicted how close users were to achieving their desired redemptions.
We incorporated the option for users to create a Favorites list, which not only facilitated tracking their progress but also presented avenues for targeted marketing initiatives. By leveraging marketing automation integration, our client could strategically trigger emails upon users reaching specific milestones, thereby encouraging continued engagement in behaviors that would earn them additional points.
By equipping users with checkout tools that empowered them to allocate points and decide on their desired expenditure, we expanded their flexibility in selecting the timing and method of their redemptions.
In specific scenarios, the platform introduced a unique payment feature that allowed users to combine earned points with traditional payment methods to cover the remaining balance if their point budget fell within a specified percentage range of the total redemption value. This innovative approach significantly lowered the hurdle for redeeming high-value items, which netted optimal margins for my client. By equipping users with checkout tools that empowered them to allocate points and decide on their desired expenditure, we expanded their flexibility in selecting the timing and method of their redemptions.
We took a proactive approach by introducing a "Search for what I can afford" feature that let users quickly identify products that fell within their immediate purchasing capacity
Unlike traditional e-commerce sites, users were subject to budget constraints in relation to their earned points. To address this, we strategically incorporated user experience features that centered around product cost. Understanding that the search function played a crucial role in product discovery within the platform, we took a proactive approach by introducing a "Search for what I can afford" feature, complete with minimum and maximum point value parameters.
This feature allowed users to quickly identify products that fell within their immediate purchasing capacity. Its implementation stemmed from the recognition of a significant user role referred to as the "high earner, high redeemer," who accumulated points at an accelerated rate and frequently redeemed lower-value items.
By integrating the "search for what I can afford" functionality, we streamlined the customer journey for these users, resulting in more efficient and seamless product redemptions.
A portion of the product offerings were not available for individual purchase but rather presented as themed packages. Users needed a simple error-proof way to select variants of multiple products.
Within the fulfillment platform, a portion of the product offerings were not available for individual purchase but rather presented as themed packages, such as the "Grill Master" or the "Golf Lover." These packages consisted of multiple items bundled at a discounted point cost. On the product pages for these packages, users were required to select variants of multiple products before being able to add them to their cart. This particular user experience had previously resulted in confusion on the old platform, highlighting the critical need to ensure clarity in the selection process. Given the absence of a straightforward return policy due to the nature of gift redemptions, it was important to facilitate accurate choices for users in terms of sizes, colors, and features.
To streamline operations and increase efficiency, we collaborated closely with the merchandising team to create requirements and extract the old error-prone pricing engines calculations to develop a new robust pricing engine integrated into the backend of each platform instance.
This pricing engine seamlessly integrated with their Product Information Management (PIM) system, enabling it to access the complete product catalog and retrieve accurate purchase cost information. The engine facilitated the creation of price books, which contained customized pricing strategies for different product types, becoming the driving force behind profitability and overall success for each instance of the redemption platform.
I designed and oversaw the development of a user-friendly dashboard that provided convenient access to the pricing engine's tools and features. Users now had the ability to create price books and define diverse pricing strategies for their product catalog. The dashboard also allowed users to experiment with new pricing approaches by adjusting calculation values using presets or custom inputs.
Through these calculations, the engine intelligently flagged items that deviated from designated profit margins, prompting users to address discrepancies. However, the pricing engine also allowed manual overrides at the individual item level, granting users the flexibility to modify selling prices or offer products at a loss when strategically warranted.
As a UX Designer, this project presented numerous challenges that pushed the boundaries of my expertise. It required me to consider design systems, unique ecommerce user experiences, and the visual execution of complex mathematical equations. The project resulted in three refined executions to improve the redemption platform. It is currently in production with new instances being rolled out regularly. These achievements underscore the success and increasing adoption of the platform, solidifying its position as a strategic investment for our client and their retail partners.
Looking for a Digital Designer to take your project to the next level? Let's Chat.