July 2022 - September 2023
Revolutionizing Rewards
Led a team of two designers in developing a centralized credit card rewards platform to increase point redemptions and benefit awareness.
Paving the Way for In-House Design Excellence
I joined as a supporting designer and was appointed lead after successfully advocating to bring the project in-house, achieving a 75% cost reduction over the original vendor proposal. Leading two designers, I developed a plan to prioritize design in requirements building, aligning project objectives with design solutions and ensuring cohesion with the broader platform modernization effort.
Centralize, Educate, and Set the Path.
The project aimed to consolidate key benefits and educate clients on maximizing their rewards, incentivizing more frequent point redemptions.
On a larger scale, this project became a model for true agile delivery and marked the first application of our new visual identity, laying the groundwork for a federated design system model to support future projects.
Behavioral Science
The leading question for our research was: what strategies can we employ to encourage clients to utilize their points?
The Requirements
Business
The system should integrate all point redemption options and card benefits within our secure online banking platform to create a seamless user experience that enhances client engagement, improves feature accessibility, and increases customer satisfaction.
Product
The platform should feature four key elements: a loyalty points tracker for real-time updates, a redemption interface offering, a display area for ongoing promotions, and a dedicated section for card benefits, including travel perks, points multipliers, and insurance benefits.
Goal Gradient
Redemption Options
Card Benefits
Offers
Aligning with Platform Modernization
As the first to adopt our new design system, this project required defining elements in real-time. I introduced a federated design system model to manage assets efficiently across teams, ensuring consistent adoption of the new visual identity and scalability for future projects.
It's Not All Rewards
A key challenge was fostering collaboration and adapting to the unknown. As the first agile project, shifting teams from old workflows required constant oversight, especially amid high turnover. Our research often diverged from business expectations, requiring strong design advocacy to align proposals with goals. Additionally, managing evolving design system components added complexity, increasing feedback loops and requiring close attention to maintain consistency.
Key Metrics
Our user-centered, design-driven approach led to significant business and user engagement metrics post-launch.
+1 Mil
Immediate Point Redemptions
15%
Increase in Redemption Engagement
+2 Mil
Total Unique Visits
20%
Increase in Benefits Utilization
Personal
Reflection
This project was instrumental in my promotion to lead the development of design operations within our experience design team. Overseeing the integration of a new design system while championing agile, design-led requirements taught me the impact of well-structured processes in driving creativity, consistency, and collaboration across teams. It also underscored the importance of effective communication and relationship management—reminding me that while we design for people, we also work with people, both of which require thoughtful design.