Overview

My role: Product Designer

Platforms launched on: iOS, Android, Web

My responsibilities: Product Design leadership, product strategy, illustration, motion, UX, UI, wireframes, led presentations and reviews, assisted in planning generative and validation research, design and a11y specs

Stars for everyone - educating customers on a new Rewards uplift

In 2020, Starbucks introduced a new iteration of their Rewards program, rewarding customers for their purchases in even more ways.

Customers could now earn Stars by (1) adding their preferred payment method to the app and paying through there, or (2) scanning a Starbucks ID card on their app and paying with a physical card or cash. Previously, they could only do so through an in-app pre-loaded Starbucks Card.

This was a huge uplift and we needed a way for customers to understand all of its complexities - and how it benefits them. What better place to provide this information than on one of our main Rewards touch points? The Starbucks Rewards webpage.

Updating Bonus Star Offers

Another main mechanic of the Rewards program is Bonus Star Offers. These are essentially “ordering challenges” that customers can participate in on the app to earn Stars even quicker - earning Stars every time they reach a milestone in the challenge, or complete it.

I was tasked with making it more delightful, celebrating customers for their wins and encouraging more engagement with Rewards and Starbucks as a whole.

The problem

Despite our Rewards program offering multiple types of challenges to fit different customer behaviors, customers still rarely complete them, dropping off before they even reach a milestone or after reaching the first.

Customers have expressed that they often forgot about their challenges, either pressing the Start button “just in case” without knowing when they’ll visit a store next, or not knowing that any of their orders made progress in a challenge. This caused them to feel like they weren’t getting much benefit out of Offers.

Within this problem, we identified foundational program mechanic and UX problems that required more research to tackle, but a quick win we identified was the “celebration” experience.

Our goal

In 2020, the Loyalty business had also defined priorities for the year for personalized marketing - and making customers feel appreciated was one of its core pillars.

To accomplish this within the “celebration” experience, we wanted to not only acknowledge customers for their accomplishments in our Offers (encouraging them to make more progress and reap as many benefits as possible from their purchases), but to also do it in a fun way that makes them feel good about their interactions with Starbucks.

Envisioning and strategizing the future of Rewards

Coming soon.