JULISSA HIGGINS
WORK
ABOUT
SUMMARY
Redesign Afterpay’s loyalty program for a global audience of 16M users and 100K+ merchants.
WHAT IS
PULSE REWARDS?
The Pulse Rewards loyalty program rewards Afterpay’s most loyal users for responsible spending. Users received points for on-time payments made, not dollars spent.
USER RESEARCH
COMPETITIVE AUDIT
DESIGN WORKSHOP
MODERATED USER TESTING
COMPONENT LIBRARY
KEY RESULTS
VISUAL EXPLORATIONS
UBER
STARBUCKS
KEY TAKEAWAYS
DISCOVERY
DESIGNS
LAUNCHED
Australia, New Zealand, US, UK
DURATION
6 months
ROLE
UX Design · UI Design · Content Design
PARTNERS
PM, Eng, Marketing, PMM, Legal, Risk
PRODUCT GOALS
Reward users for responsible spending, deepen our relationships with merchants.
(1) Increase opt-in rates
(2) Increase active users
(3) Increase GMV
DESIGN GOALS
Design a loyalty experience that builds trust, makes value clear, and scales with users.
(1) Reward responsible spending with clarity and trust
(2) Surface value and create momentum at every tier
(3) Build systems that scale across user maturity and markets
Our goal was to understand what mental frameworks users had for loyalty programs and which benefits they valued most.
I led an 8-person workshop with other designers and cross-functional partners to do preliminary explorations of the landing page.
We chose benefits based on high perceived value to users and relative low cost to Afterpay
🗓
On-time payments
=
✨
Rewards
01
Savings offers, payment flexibility, and free shipping have the highest perceived value
02
Afterpay users have strong mental models of responsible spending
03
Consumers value more installments over higher spending limits
👩
8 total users
(4 US, 4ANZ)
01
All participants were able to claim and use an offer successfully
02
Some users reported being confused with the wording in info drawer
03
Original tier names didn’t resonate well with all users
Pulse Rewards
Pulse Rewards
Unlock next offer
30 points
Unlock Diamond
150 points
Last day to unlock rewards
July 1
100 Points
Platinum
you’ll be here in no time! head back?
100
Platinum
Next Offer
Diamond & Offer
Offer
Mint
Offer
Offer
Offer
Offer
More ways to earn points
Extra points help you unlock rewards even faster.
20
Make your first in-store purchase
40
Make a second purchase
20
Buy from a sustainable business
20
Buy from a small business
20 extra points earned
Show all benefits
Platinum benefits
Get the most out of your rewards.
Diamond benefits
Unlock to enjoy these additional benefits.
🔒
Be the first to know about new sales
⏰
Change payment dates
💳
Get access to gift cards
🛍
Get exclusive offers
Exclusive gift cards
Buy gift cards and pay for them in 4 parts.
Sephora
Starbucks
Amazon
Featured offers
You can claim 1 offer.
Claimed offers
You don’t have any offers right now.
If you have open orders, make on-time payments to earn points.
Make payment
$10 off
Ulta Beauty
23 days left
$15 off
Nike
28 days left
Shop
Orders
Card
Profile
9:41
38%
Global
opt-in rate
1M+
Weekly
impressions
+10%
Incremental
GMV
Perceived value (1 - 10)
Cost to Afterpay ($)
First to know about price drops
Early acces to new products
No payment at checkout
Savings offers
Change payment dates
Status match w/ retailer
Access to app beta
Higher spending limit
VIP parties and events
> 4 installments
Free shipping
Use Afterpay at any retailer
500 points = $5