Mittance Rewards

Creating a rewards program to boost customer loyalty

Mittance is a money transfer app for sending money internationally.

Due to client privacy, the name and branding has been altered.

Our challenge was to create a rewards feature to drive engagement and usage of the Mittance app.

Team/Timeframe

3 UX designers,

collaborative three-week sprint, 250+ hours

My Role

Lead Visual Designer

Process/Methods

This project was done fully remotely

Research & Synthesis

Business and customer interviews, identifying the user, defining the problem

Ideation & Delivery

Building out 3 solutions, rapid prototyping, usability testing

The Problem

The Solution

Mittance needs to implement features to incentivize sending money through the app to increase usage, engagement, and user retention.

By adding a rewards program, Mittance can improve their retention rate and increase value. Users are not rewarded for using the app, so a reward system would keep them engaged and attract new users by incentivizing usage.

Research

1

We started with a competitive and comparative analysis. We were already familiar with a few reward programs, but we wanted to detail a few different types to see what would work best for our users.

2

While analyzing competitors, a series of two surveys were sent out to attempt to understand user's motivations around their core needs.

3

With 8 of the survey responders, we held interviews to find out why they chose and used an app/program, what keeps them coming back, why they keep using it, and if they were motivated by the rewards themselves, or something else.

4

With the information gathered from the surveys and interviews, we were able to create a storyboard and journey maps.

"I hate reward programs that take forever to get a reward. You have to claim the reward because you can choose the type of gift card you want. You can wait or use it at any time."

Survey Responder

Survey Responses

How many times in the last year have you sent money internationally?

Which type of rewards do you prefer?

How quickly would you expect to be able to redeem a reward?

Interview takeaways

I appreciate apps that are aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate.

Rewards need to feel easily obtainable in order to feel worthwhile.

In an effort to understand what motivated people to continue using the app, we sent emails to 1,000+ current Mittance users. The emails were intended to find users willing to be interviewed, but there was difficulty getting those that did sign up to follow through, even with a $10 incentive.

Due to time constraints, our team went back to our survey respondents and interviewed a handful of them. While not the ideal situation, these interviews still provided valuable insights that informed our project moving forward.

I lose interest in a rewards program that does not provide steady feedback.

I am familiar with the basics of rewards/points.

Now What?

Using what we learned from the survey responses and the interviews, we began creating concepts for a reward program. Each team member individually created one concept that could be presented to the client and tested by users.

Ideation

For my concept, I wanted my design to focus on cashback offerings. I also incorporated tiers that would offer better rewards the more the app was used, essentially rewarding users' loyalty and making them feel valued as well.

The fundamental idea of this concept is $1=1 point. After the user gets 1,000 points they are able to cash out their $10 cashback. Once awarded, they go to the next tier, which offers a higher cashback per transaction point system.

Another concept we presented to the client included a stripped-down program that showed only which rewards were redeemable and the progress made toward each reward.

Our last concept was a rewards program that made the process gamified and required users to engage more with the app to progress.

Initial concept wireframe

Delivery

Following is a clickable prototype and an explanation of how we determined what should ultimately be in the product.

Mittance Rewards

When speaking with the client at the beginning of the third week, the conversation shifted from them being open to different types of rewards that were redeemable, to them wanting only either a free money transfer or a cash load. The client also didn't feel the need to continue with the gamified concept, which lead to the merger of the other two concepts. For the final prototype, we merged the concept I created with the basic reward concept.

Reflection

The day we started this project was the first day the stay-at-home order came into effect. It was my first time working completely remote in UX and I was hesitant at first. After completing this project I now see remote working in a different light. Although it had its challenges, I now look forward to more remote opportunities in the future.

Mittance Rewards

Creating a rewards program to boost customer loyalty

Mittance is a money transfer app for sending money internationally.

Due to client privacy, the name and branding has been altered.

Our challenge was to create a rewards feature to drive engagement and usage of the Mittance app.

Team/Timeframe

3 UX designers,

collaborative three-week sprint, 250+ hours

My Role

Lead Visual Designer

Process/Methods

This project was done fully remotely

Research & Synthesis

Business and customer interviews, identifying the user, defining the problem

Ideation & Delivery

Building out 3 solutions, rapid prototyping, usability testing

The Problem

The Solution

Mittance needs to implement features to incentivize sending money through the app to increase usage, engagement, and user retention.

By adding a rewards program, Mittance can improve their retention rate and increase value. Users are not rewarded for using the app, so a reward system would keep them engaged and attract new users by incentivizing usage.

Research

1

We started with a competitive and comparative analysis. We were already familiar with a few reward programs, but we wanted to detail a few different types to see what would work best for our users.

2

While analyzing competitors, a series of two surveys were sent out to attempt to understand user's motivations around their core needs.

3

With 8 of the survey responders, we held interviews to find out why they chose and used an app/program, what keeps them coming back, why they keep using it, and if they were motivated by the rewards themselves, or something else.

4

With the information gathered from the surveys and interviews, we were able to create a storyboard and journey maps.

"I hate reward programs that take forever to get a reward. You have to claim the reward because you can choose the type of gift card you want. You can wait or use it at any time."

Survey Responder

Survey Responses

How many times in the last year have you sent money internationally?

Which type of rewards do you prefer?

How quickly would you expect to be able to redeem a reward?

Interview takeaways

In an effort to understand what motivated people to continue using the app, we sent emails to 1,000+ current Mittance users. The emails were intended to find users willing to be interviewed, but there was difficulty getting those that did sign up to follow through, even with a $10 incentive.

​

Due to time constraints, our team went back to our survey respondents and interviewed a handful of them. While not the ideal situation, these interviews still provided valuable insights that informed our project moving forward.

Now What?

Using what we learned from the survey responses and the interviews, we began creating concepts for a reward program. Each team member individually created one concept that could be presented to the client and tested by users.

Ideation

For my concept, I wanted my design to focus on cashback offerings. I also incorporated tiers that would offer better rewards the more the app was used, essentially rewarding users' loyalty and making them feel valued as well.

The fundamental idea of this concept is $1=1 point. After the user gets 1,000 points they are able to cash out their $10 cashback. Once awarded, they go to the next tier, which offers a higher cashback per transaction point system.

Another concept we presented to the client included a stripped-down program that showed only which rewards were redeemable and the progress made toward each reward.

Our last concept was a rewards program that made the process gamified and required users to engage more with the app to progress.

Initial concept wireframe

Delivery

Mittance Rewards

Reflection