NICOMARTINEZ

Mittance Rewards

Creating a rewards program to boost customer loyalty

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

ROLE

Lead Visual Designer

TIMEFRAME

Collaborative three-week sprint, 250+ hours

PHASES

Research & SynthesisBusiness and customer interviews, identifying the user, defining the problem
Ideation & DeliveryBuilding out 3 solutions, rapid prototyping, usability testing 



Illustration

PROBLEM

Mittance is a money transfer app for sending money internationally.
Mittance needed to implement features to incentivize sending money through the app to increase usage, engagement, and user retention.

CHALLENGE

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

Phase 1

Research

1

Competitive and comparative analysis

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

Surveys

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

3

Interviews

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

Journey maps

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

Survey Results

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

Illustration

Which type of rewards do you prefer?

Illustration

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

Illustration

Interview Takeaways

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

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

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

"I hate reward programs that take forever to get a reward. "

Phase 2

Ideation and Client Feedback

Initial concept

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.

Client Feedback

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 led to the merger of the other two concepts. For the final prototype, we merged the concept I created with the basic reward concept.

Illustration

Design system

A thorough design system provided by the client allowed us to design quickly and efficiently using pre-existing styles and components.

Illustration
Illustration
Illustration

Phase 3

Delivery

Illustration

The main rewards screen in the app would show the users' current progress and rewards level. The user could also redeem rewards on this screen.

The user would be asked to confirm their redemption before it would be applied to their next transfer.

Illustration
Illustration

When sending the next money transfer, the user would see that their reward (in this case, a waved transfer fee) will be applied.

Lastly, the user will see that their reward was applied before they confirm the transfer amount and send money to the recipient.

Illustration
Illustration

The user would also always have the option to view their progress and see what the next level will be as they continue to send money and earn rewards.

Prototype

Mobile prototype

Conclusion + 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.
Using a design system was a helpful way to quickly and efficiently build out the screens. The only downside was that the client's original system was created in Sketch, but we had started with Figma for the project, so we had to import all the screens.
With the design system and component library, the team was able to build out different reward concepts and test quickly while keeping everything uniform. There were a few changes we had to make to the system after the client handed it off to us to update it to be WCAG compliant.

Case Studies

Other projects

Project Open Hand UX Designer Project

Project Open Hand

WEBSITE

Website redesign with the goal of increasing volunteer sign ups for the nonprofit organization.

Illustration

One4All

WEBSITE / MOBILE APP

Designed a new app and website for a startup that allows users to invest in their favorite influencers and content creators.