Creating a white label loyalty program
Client
CAVU
Sector
Aviation SaaS
My role
Senior UX Designer
Tools
Figma – FigJam – Hotjar – Google Analytics – Google Data Studio – Calendly
Project duration
18 months
Overview
Founded by MAG (Manchester Airports Group) and backed by over 80 years of aviation expertise, they understand the modern passenger like no other. Utilizing this insight, they identify untapped potential at every step of the airport passenger journey – creating more choice for the passenger and more revenue for their clients.
The task involved creating a loyalty program that would add more value to the white label booking product that CAVU offered to airports, globally.
The loyalty program needed to fulfil both the needs of the user and the needs of the business and its plans for scaling.
Our objective was to elevate the user’s journey by incentivizing bookings made through our website. This was spurred by commercial imperatives, particularly the necessity for a loyalty program to enrich our white label product. Securing significant clients hinged on our ability to provide such a program. Moreover, the loyalty initiative aimed to bolster user engagement, foster data acquisition through account registrations, and ultimately boost sales figures.
Research
As a SaaS company, our product was tailored as a white label solution, crafted for global airport usage. Specifically engineered to streamline and oversee airport parking operations, it garnered significant interest from key airports worldwide. However, feedback highlighted a crucial element missing: a customer loyalty program. Recognizing this as a deal-breaker for our clients, the company directors swiftly decided to commission the development of a bespoke loyalty program to seamlessly integrate with our white label solution.
The initial phase of our research entailed conducting a market analysis on pre-existing loyalty programs. Furthermore, we conducted a comprehensive competitor analysis to gauge the landscape of loyalty program offerings in our industry. This exercise provided valuable insights into both exemplary and subpar implementations. Our objective wasn’t to reinvent the wheel but rather to enhance an existing program to align seamlessly with our current user experience framework.
With the preliminary research phase concluded, the next step was to formulate inquiries for the general public. Leveraging Hotjar, we implemented a pop-up on the confirmation pages of both our UK and US sites, inviting participation in a 30-minute interview in exchange for a $30 Amazon voucher.
Findings
We ran surveys on two of our websites, one in the UK and one in the US, this resulted in 400 responses from US users and 200 responses from UK based users.
Additionally, 30 interviews were carried out with users from both the US and the UK to gain insights into their expectations regarding loyalty programs – such as preferences between points or monetary rewards.
Adopting this approach allowed us to inquire about the loyalty programs they currently engage with, as well as their sentiments towards them, identifying aspects they admire or dislike and the reasons behind those sentiments.
Quantitative research - finding out the 'what?'
Manchester Airport (UK)
Stanstead Airport (UK)
Airport Parking Reservations (US)
Pain Points |
Takes a long time to accumulate enough point to use them |
I don't so much like ones that offer tiny rewards (10% off after 10 purchases which takes years to accumulate) or in which you're only significantly rewarded if you spend huge amounts of money first. |
Airline and hotel reward programs because it's very difficult to use them enough to get anything useful back. |
Points systems - takes an age. prefer card with instant savings advertised. |
I don’t really like where you get to choose money off for example 20% off at Halfords or 15% at champneys. I prefer to get vouchers that i can spend or cash. |
Too small reward, not worth the hassle. |
I don't like when they are too complicated to use. |
I don’t use ones that have many steps or ask me to spend money on things I’m not going to buy normally. |
The credit cards that give you cash back but restrict how you can claim that cash back. Most have changed that but some still have restrictions. |
Digging deeper into rewards
We conducted extensive research on credit cards and the rewards they offer to customers.
Additionally, we ran user interviews to gather insights into their credit card usage, the rewards they receive, and their likes and dislikes about their current rewards programs.
Qualitative research - finding out the 'why?'
Example user questions
Insights from user interviews
Moving the project along to the design phase
Following the compilation of results from user interviews, low-fidelity wireframes and the establishment of a UI flow, I convened a meeting with the heads of product, commercial, operations, and UX to present my findings and proposed strategy for achieving the company’s objectives while ensuring an optimal user experience.
Lo Fi wireframes
During this session, a strategic decision was reached to prioritize the development of a B2B loyalty program initially, deferring the B2C counterpart for the time being.
This shift in focus directed all efforts towards refining our B2B offering. By prioritizing the implementation of a B2B loyalty program, we ensured that CAVU’s white label product boasted a comprehensive feature set, rendering it an attractive proposition for airports seeking seamless integration of loyalty programs with our platform.
Our new initiative kicked off with an ideation session. This allowed us to pool all our ideas onto the wall, facilitating a voting process to discern which ideas aligned best with the data gained from user interviews and insights provided by the Operations Director, who contributed insights from the business’s growth strategy.
Key outcomes from a collaborative ideation workshop
Building on the ideation session, I was assigned the responsibility of creating a prototype with a dual objective:
1) Provide stakeholders with a tangible asset; appropriate for showcasing during a shareholder board meeting.
2) To conduct user tests utilizing the prototype, thereby garnering additional data and insights crucial for refining the product before advancing it to the development stage.
Moreover, the primary objective of the loyalty program from a business standpoint was to incorporate functionalities into our white label product, features that several pivotal clients identified as potential deal-breakers. The loyalty program was meticulously crafted to seamlessly integrate, augment the current workflow, and elevate the value proposition of our white label product. However, its design ensured it wouldn’t directly compete with the forthcoming loyalty program aligned with CAVU Rewards, which was scheduled for development after the completion of this project.
B2B Loyalty prototype
After developing a functional prototype for the B2B loyalty program, I conducted thorough testing with 15 users through 30-minute interviews. During these sessions, users followed prescribed instructions while providing continuous feedback on their experience.
The results from these user tests were overwhelmingly positive, indicating a strong resonance with the prototype. Additionally, I gained invaluable insights and feedback, which informed subsequent iterations before presentation to the heads of UX and product.
Armed with a tested prototype and a comprehensive report detailing usability, pain points, and successful features, I submitted these materials to the company’s directors and shareholders. Their response was notably positive, with minor queries and change requests that were promptly addressed, leading to further enhancements in the B2B loyalty design.
The subsequent phase involved integrating a new checkout summary, flexible payments and an express checkout flow, that I developed in parallel with this project for another product owner. The goal was to further refine the user experience and increase conversions.
Subsequent to implementing these adjustments, additional user tests were conducted to delve into the functionalities of express checkouts and to gauge interest in a flexible payment option. Concurrently, surveys were distributed across two of our US sites and two of our UK sites.
The feedback gathered revealed that over 90% of users expressed a lack of interest in utilizing the flexible payment option. Given that this feature was initially proposed by one of the directors, I compiled a comprehensive report utilizing data from user tests and surveys. This report strongly indicated that incorporating the flexible payment option would not align with the best interests of our users, thereby recommending its exclusion from our product.
Being that the company slogan for CAVU is, “we know the passenger like no other” we had to listen to what our users were telling us and build a product that included all the features they wanted and exclude the features they didn’t want.
The prototype mentioned above incorporated a personalized feature. Drawing from insights gathered from thousands of survey responses and numerous user interviews, we discovered that our users were highly receptive to the concept of entering their flight number at the outset of the process. Subsequently, upon initiating the search, they preferred to have all relevant products and services curated for them, rather than having to manually search for each item pertinent to their journey.
Our research unveiled that many individuals are first-time travelers to airports, often unfamiliar with the layout or unsure about prioritizing between speed and cost. Leveraging this data, we crafted a product that leveraged their flight information to customize a travel experience tailored to their destination. Furthermore, we integrated filters to empower users to prioritize factors such as price or convenience according to their preferences.
Conclusion
These informed decisions, communicated directly to directors, catalyzed the integration of new features into our white label product that otherwise might have been overlooked.
Concurrently, board-level decisions underwent rigorous testing and scrutiny, leading to the dismissal of redundant concepts based on invaluable insights gained from the UX department.
The UX department at CAVU was relatively young and still trying to establish its position within the company and its position within the decision making process.
The process of making and elevating decisions from UX to higher echelons such as the head of product, commercial division, and shareholders had not been previously undertaken.
I take great pride not only in the individual contributions I made but also in the collaborative efforts fostered within the UX team and across various departments within the company. Additionally, I’m proud to have implemented processes that were previously absent, thereby enhancing our overall workflow and decision-making framework.