Customer Loyalty App
Pinch is a modern pub looking for a solution to incentivize visits and reward repeat customers
PROJECT DURATION
2 weeks
MY ROLE
Independent UX designer, designing Pinch’s customer loyalty app from concept to delivery
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Conducting user interviews
- Analysing research data
- Brainstorming design solutions
- Creating wireframes, mockups & prototypes
- Conducting usability studies & synthesizing the results
- Accounting for accessibility
- Design iteration & finalization
TOOLS
- Figma
- Photoshop
- Notion
- Google Suite
THE CHALLENGE
Pinch Bistro & Bar, strives to be the go-to spot for get-togethers, game nights, parties & more. As a newly opened pub, Pinch faces the challenge of establishing a strong customer base and driving regular footfall. With more established pubs and taverns in the locality, Pinch needs a solution that effectively incentivizes visits and rewards repeat customers in this highly competitive market.
Pinch struggles to differentiate itself and create lasting connections with its target customer. Without a compelling incentive framework or personalized experiences, Pinch risks losing potential customers to establishments that provide more enticing offers and experiences.
THE GOAL
The goal of the UX design for Pinch Bistro & Bar is to create an engaging and rewarding digital experience that incentivizes potential customers to visit the pub, while fostering loyalty among existing customers.
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
I started the project by identifying the customer base (target audience) of Pinch - “Working professionals who enjoy socialising, drinking and listening to good music in their free time.”
I then listed down the research goals I hoped to explore in order to understand and empathize with the customer base I am designing for. I based my interview questions around these goals.
- What are the needs and motivations of people visiting pubs?
- What are the common factors that lead to a positive pub experience?
- What are the customer pain points that may be solved with the product I’m designing?
- What are the potential use cases of the product I’m designing?
I identified two distinct customer types basis which I created personas and mapped out their customer journeys in order to better understand the goals, motivations and frustrations and explore possible areas around which to focus the design.
Problem statement based on customer type 1: Stephan is a bachelor who needs an easy way to make reservations and place orders at his favourite pub, because he wants a hassle-free dating experience.
Problem statement based on customer type 2: Merlyn is a busy professional who needs an affordable pub with good music, because she wants to unwind after a stressful day at work.
The research revealed 4 key user pain points.
1
Ease
Making a reservation at a restaurant/pub is cumbersome as most times no one picks up the phone.
2
Financial
Regularly eating and drinking at a restaurant/pub is expensive.
3
Information
Lack of information makes for ill informed decisions.
4
Accessibility
It is difficult to read in low light situations like in a pub. It is also difficult to hear.
IDEATING SOLUTIONS & STARTING THE DESIGN
Based on my primary and secondary research learnings, I began creating paper wireframes for possible elements of the customer loyalty app. My focus was to draw out as many solutions as possible which I would then explore to see which ones would be feasible for Pinch's app.
Seen here are paper wireframes for the home page of the app.
Stars were used to highlight desirable elements
When I was done sketching, I broke the solutions down into three main user flows
1. Reservations
2. In-app Ordering & Pub Tab(bill) tracking
3. Loyalty & Rewards redemption
I mapped out these flows in my digital wireframes and linked these screens to create a low-fidelity prototype which could be tested by target customers.
View the Pinch low-fi prototype
USABILITY TESTING
I conducted two rounds of usability studies.
Finding from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study was based on testing a high fidelity prototype. This revealed what aspects of the mockups needed further refining.
These were the usability study findings.
Round 1 Testing
1. Users wanted upcoming event details when making reservations.
2. Users found the rewards redemption flow to be unintuitive.
3. Users wanted to self select rewards.
4. Users were unable to locate their ‘tab’. Some failed to understand the feature.
Round 2 Testing
1. Options needed to cancel or edit a reservation.
2. Users should get notified of upcoming reservations.
3.Information Architecture of rewards page not clear.
Design iterations.
Based on insights from the usability study, information on upcoming events has been added to the reservation screen to help users make a more informed reservation decision. They now can choose when to reserve basis what’s happening at the pub.
The first usability study revealed that a majority of users were frustrated with the inability to self select which rewards they want to use. After the design iteration, users now get a recommendation on the best reward to use, they can see all rewards available to them and select which ones they want.
The second usability study revealed that users were unable to edit or cancel a reservation. This caused frustration among many users. After iterations, users can click on the reservations’ 3-dot menu for these additional options.
HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
(Interactive)
The high-fidelity prototype provided simpler user flows for making reservations, in-app ordering and redeeming rewards and points. The app highlights Pinch’s branding in a clean and consistent way.
Click the above image to interact with the prototype
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS
1. The foreground and background colors of text, buttons and icons have been used as per WCAG requirements for accessibility.
2. Use of Alt text for images to provide context for screen readers.
3. Voice search in menu to simplify navigation and make the design more human centric.
4. Use of haptics to provide sensory cues in low-light situations.
LESSONS LEARNED
As this was my first every project in ux design, I was quite nervous throughout the process.
Am I doing enough research?
Am I asking the right questions?
Am I letting my biases affect my work?
Am I actively thinking of the user at every steps?
Is this the correct way to do it?
The questions and doubts were endless….
While I did overthink alot, the main lesson I learnt was that UX design is an iterative process.. it’s never going to be perfect on the first try. I also understood the importance of keeping the user top of mind at every stage of the process.
POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS
The possible next steps would be to explore gamification elements to make the app more enjoyable and engaging. Elements like 'spin the bottle and win', 'interactive contests', 'predict the match score and win' would add excitement and encourage app use.
