Loyalty programs don’t work in isolation. The most successful programs are seamlessly embedded in the business operations. Customers should interact with the loyalty program in the course of their regular interactions with the business. Defining the right user experience is as important to the success of the program as the design of the program itself.

The UX decisions around a loyalty program can be broken down into three categories.

Enrollment Experience

To participate in the program, members must be enrolled first. The process of enrollment begins with introducing the program to customers and then providing them an interface to enroll into the program.

The user experience will depend on the interface provided for enrollment which in turn will depend on the channel. A sample template for capturing the enrollment experience on the website and at the store is shown in this sheet.

Points earning experience

Loyalty programs incentivize members to perform certain activities by awarding points. The user experience needs to be defined for each activity. Defining the user experience involves answering the following questions:

1. How will members know that they can earn points for the activity?
2. Where will members be able to complete the activity?
3. When will members earn points for the activity?
4. How will members be informed about the points that they earned?

A sample template for capturing the points earning experience is shown in this sheet.

Redemption experience

Members enroll in a loyalty program and earn points so that they can redeem the rewards the program offers. The redemption experience can make or break a loyalty program. Defining the redemption experience involves answering the following questions –

1. How will members know the rewards that they are eligible for?
2. What are the steps involved from initiating the redemption to get the reward?

A sample template for capturing the redemption experience is shown in this sheet