Vodafone Rewards

Exploring new opportunities to increase engagement with customers through the new Rewards platform

IN DEPTH
On this page

1. Overview
2. Discovery
3. Define
4. Develop
5. Deliver
6. The Solution
   

ROLE:
Lead Product Designer | Open Reply
UX/UI, User Research, Interaction,
Prototyping & testing, 
Design Delivery, Development Support

Overview

Vodafone set out to launch a rewards platform across 17 markets to boost customer engagement. I was asked to take over the project after a previous team's misaligned requirements, ensuring its successful and timely delivery.

Users wanted simple ways to save money and benefit from the rewards program. Uncovering their core needs and redefining the problem, we created a new rewards platform that delivered substantial ROI and met user expectations.

Through collaborative engagement, we rebuilt strong stakeholder relationships and launched the MVP in 6 months, covering scalable and adaptable 18 user journeys for 17 markets. Resulted in outstanding metrics:

System Usability Score of 87 A+ Grade | Customer Effort Score of 6.2/7

The Problem

During the pandemic, rising living costs drove consumers to seek value through rewards apps.

Discovery research showed that Vodafone's new rewards section could address these needs, but it had to demonstrate clear ROI while offering diverse rewards.

Additionally, fostering a sense of progression and fulfilling other core motivations would be crucial to maintaining user engagement and loyalty.

Discovery

Desk research

Homework tasks

Depth interviews

Research aims

• Define Functional & Emotional Needs: Identify user needs, expectations, behaviours, and perceptions of rewards programs.
• Validate & Refine Personas: 38 participants, matching the existing personas' tech savviness and disposable income, were recruited to enhance these four personas further.

38

Participants

26

Rewards programs

9 key journey phases

Insights

• 8 core motivations: We identified 8 key motivations that drive user behaviour in rewards apps.
• Perceived value is key: If users feel they're not getting a good ROI for their spending or efforts, they abandon the program.
• Different personas, different needs: Some personas focus on practical discounts to manage finances, while others seek indulgent or experiential rewards.

Define

Building user empathy

We expanded four existing personas—from tech-savvy students to retirees—to better understand user behaviours and guide the design.

Our primary persona, Luke, handles multiple tasks swiftly, highlighting the importance of an efficient user experience.

Visualising critical moments

Capturing the thoughts and emotions users experience when searching for and using a reward helped pinpoint "moments of truth," where unclear or cumbersome flows could drive users away. Key touchpoints included:

• Getting started
• Looking for rewards from the homepage and selecting
• Redeeming a reward
• Using the rewards
  

Additionally, introducing features like "Save to Wallet" and push notifications can help users skip specific steps, simplifying the overall journey.

8 core motivations

A sense of progression and achievement is key to keeping users motivated and engaged. We considered all motivations when developing ideas and user journeys.

Achievement

To feel like I am progressing and rewards are attainable

Efficiency

To feel accessing and redeeming rewards is effortless

Control

To decide how and when I want to redeem rewards

Fun

To have a light-hearted diversion from my normal life

Value

To receive benefits for being a customer

Empowerment

To shift the balance of power from the company to me

Confidence

To feel reassured and I'm not missing out

Indulgence

To treat myself or my loved ones

Develop

Home

Search

Navigation

Building the foundation

During the first development phase, we focused on laying a solid design foundation - homepage, search and navigation.

Structuring the experience around mental models

We created a sitemap to visualise how new and existing journeys fit into the broader user flow. It helped ensure users could move seamlessly between different sections of the experience. 

We used a high-level content map to confirm that all content was relevant and comprehensive.

Having an early overview enabled us to develop holistic solutions, accelerate our design process, identify potential gaps or risks, and address them earlier.

Competitive Analysis

I examined popular rewards apps to refine our approach, studying their problem-solving methods, design philosophy, features, categories, and structure. Key takeaways included:

• Compelling visuals & tone: Large images and a fitting tone of voice can inspire users and foster immediate engagement.
• Relevant & attractive rewards: Offers must be clearly stated (price, savings, expiration) and applicable to user interests.
• Trust indicators: Displaying brands and ratings can increase credibility.
• Personalisation & categorisation: Organising offers by categories or personalisation helps users browse easily instead of sifting through a single unstructured list.
• User-friendly navigation: Flexible search options (category, location, keywords, brands) and My Account controls at the top of the screen enhance discoverability.

Balancing engagement & requirements

The homepage must be visually appealing and inspiring while meeting business objectives. My approach was to capture and validate the requirements, then enhance the user experience by focusing on:

• Engaging users on every visit: Presenting diverse, relevant offers for different user personas.
• Browsing experience: Simplifying the process of exploring various rewards.
• Quick access to key areas: Direct links to My Rewards, Favorites, and Mini-Games.

Searching & narrowing down rewards

Ensuring that users can effortlessly find the rewards they want is critical—if they encounter difficulty, they may never return.

To mitigate this, I aligned search and filtering features with user mental models, offered flexible entry points (e.g., categories, keywords, brands, homepage sections) and approached all search journeys holistically for a consistent, seamless experience.

Deliver

Prototype testing

Rapid Testing

Qualitative Testing

Validating & refining the experience

We tested the product at multiple stages in the project:

• Rapid Testing: Validated navigation flows, designs, and user mental models in early stages.
• Moderated Qualitative Testing: Conducted hour-long sessions in the UK, Portugal, and Germany for end-to-end journeys.

The findings indicated no major usability issues, and we made minor design adjustments.

Vodafone Happy is a rewards program that offers cost savings, discounts, and more—various rewards for different needs. Through its user experience, it satisfies the expected 8 human needs.

Whether the users are Vodafone or non-Vodafone customers, various rewards are at the user's fingertip wherever they go - easy to redeem, share the rewards, monitor status and play games to collect prizes.

Getting started quickly

Efficiency, value

No registration or login is necessary. Onboard users by introducing the benefits of Vodafone Happy, personalisation, and a brief tutorial with an option to skip any time.

Glance, redeem or share

Efficiency, control, value, indulgence

Find all necessary information with the key dates and claim the rewards with a single tap. Access the codes later, anytime, through the app or the wallet. Gift the reward by sharing it with loved ones via SMS, email, or social media apps.

Manage rewards with automatic updates

Achievement, efficiency, control, confidence

Vodafone Happy will update users on any status changes. Stay engaged and updated, and never miss out on opportunities. Manage all the rewards and prizes under 'My Rewards".

Daily fun surprise with mini-games

Achievement, fun

Play a mini-game and win a prize. Vodafone Happy offers a selection of exciting games: Spin a Wheel, Pick a Number, Tap & Match, Roll & Go, and Scratch & Collect.

Capturing the Experience

Users were asked to choose 3 adjectives from the list below to describe the experience best.

Empowering, creative, uninspiring, calm, trustworthy, boring, approachable, cutting-edge, old, intimidating, familiar, busy, irrelevant, exciting, unprofessional, impressive, disconnected, does the right thing, inspiring, fresh, magical, delightful, professional, friendly, suspect, patronising, expensive, innovative, cheap, stable.

Project Learnings

• User Empathy: Consistently validating designs with real user insights led to a more compelling, scalable solution.
• Effective Communication: Visuals and clear documentation accelerated decision-making and stakeholder alignment.
• Prioritisation: A strategic plan lets us handle new requirements without compromising deadlines.

Next steps

• Analyse Key Market Metrics: Optimise critical user journeys based on live data.
• Refine Flexibility: Adapt the product for varying market feedback.
• Deep Qualitative Research: Further enhance engagement with features like "share rewards," frequently requested by users.

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