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Designing the top-performing channel experience

Details

2024

Research, Product strategy, Competitor analysis, Cross-functional strategic alignment

Overview

In FY24, I led discovery through user interviews, competitor benchmarking, and journey analysis, revealing the app lagged behind other channels due to limited investment. These insights shaped a strategy that drove a revamp of key shopping experiences with a new design system, experimentation and industry-standard mobile patterns.

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DISCOVERY

The problem - identifying what's wrong with the app 

Historically, no research had been done for the Cashrewards mobile app. As a result, the app has no defined product strategy and was a carbon copy of the web experience, offering no significant differentiated value to customers. Without a clear purpose in the overall channel mix, it risked being an underperforming touchpoint rather than a driver of growth.

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I was tasked with validating internal assumptions and hypotheses about the app and understanding how members use the app
and how it feeds into members shopping journeys. I led a discovery study, conducting in-depth interviews with 7 engaged members, to surface needs, behaviors and opportunities for creating a more purposeful and competitive app experience.

My work included:
 

  • User research: led 1:1 interviews with 7 engaged members to map motivations, pain points and app usage behaviors.

  • Competitor benchmarking: Analysed leading cashback and retail apps to identify gaps and best practices.

  • Journey analysis: Evaluated how the app fits into end-to-end shopping journeys and where it underdelivers.

  • Stakeholder alignment: Validated internal assumptions and presented findings to C-level to define the app’s strategic role.

  • Roadmap influence: Translated insights into priorities that directly informed the app squad’s roadmap and focus areas.

DISCOVERY

Understanding app users 

The interviews revealed that members largely use the app in transactional, utilitarian ways—validating deals, searching for specific merchants, or responding to prompts from external channels like email or OzBargain. Broader features (e.g. Shop page, In-store, Favourites, More section) remain undiscovered or unused, highlighting low feature awareness and limited stickiness. Push notifications were also under-utilised, weakening the app’s role in driving stickiness.

From a strategic perspective, this surfaced a critical gap: the app lacked a differentiated role within the overall Cashrewards ecosystem. Rather than being a daily destination, it was reduced to an occasional validator.

 

I framed these findings to the C-suite as both a risk (channel underperformance) and an opportunity (to reposition the app as the primary driver of member engagement).

DISCOVERY

How competitors differentiate their apps

I conducted a competitor analysis focused on how leading cashback and retail platforms positioned their apps relative to their web experiences. The goal was to understand how each competitor differentiated the app’s value — whether through mobile-first features, exclusive offers, or unique engagement loops — and what made the app a destination in its own right.

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This analysis highlighted that while Cashrewards app mirrored the web with little added value, competitors were leveraging their apps to create distinct, habit-forming experiences, reinforcing the need to define a stronger role for the Cashrewards app in the overall channel mix.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Cashrewards members struggled to see the app’s unique value, as it largely mirrored the web experience. It lacked mobile-first design principles - such as clear hierarchy, scannable text, and intuitive mobile interactions - making it harder to use on-the-go.

Additionally, outdated branding and limited personalisation left the app feeling generic and disengaging, weakening its role as a compelling channel for members.

DISCOVERY

Identifying the engagement gap – app as a utility tool 

Discovery interviews revealed that members primarily used the app for searching specific merchants or checking cashback balances. Beyond these transactional tasks, members weren’t engaging with the app’s broader features or shopping journeys.

This highlighted a critical gap: the app was perceived as a utility tool, not a shopping destination. As a result, members weren’t experiencing the full value of Cashrewards, and the app wasn’t fulfilling its potential as a primary engagement channel.

Strategic implication

To shift the app from utility to destination, I proposed that we need to:
 

  • Differentiate it from the web experience with mobile-first design and personalised value.

  • Simplify and elevate shopping journeys to encourage browsing and discovery.

  • Introduce habit-forming engagement loops beyond balance-checking.

DISCOVERY

Design goals – charting a clear, strategic path forward

To ensure the discovery work translated into clear direction, I defined a set of design goals. These acted as guiding principles for the app squad, aligning stakeholders on what success should look like and shaping subsequent initiatives like the Merchant Page redesign and the personalised For You hub.

Focus on user and mobile-centric design

  • Reduce friction points for users navigating the app and think 'content-first'.

  • Creating intuitive, easy-to-navigate interfaces that align with user behaviors and expectations while aligning to HIG and Material Design conventions.

  • Enable personalisation to increase relevance and engagement

Create a consistent design language

  • Create consistency by implementing a scalable design system to streamline collaboration between designers and developers and ensure consistency across the app.

  • Simplify dev-handoffs by creating modular, well-documented designs and components.

Driving data-driven design and experimentation

  • Enable data-driven design decisions and ensuring designs are measurable through Amplitude.

  • Foster a culture of iterative design and experimentation, testing and refining features to continuously improve the user experience.

By combining qualitative and quantitative insights, I was able to highlight the most impactful areas for personalisation and frame them in terms of both user value (making the experience easier, more rewarding, and more relevant) and business value (driving app stickiness, increasing redemption, and deepening member-merchant connections).

SOLUTION

Executing the strategy to make app the #1 converting channel

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METRICS / RESULTS

🎉 Successfully becoming app-first

SUPR-Q results – surpassed Web in user experience

  • ​At the beginning of FY24, the app had a score of 3.81/5 [Average to slightly above average user experience (76.2%)]

  • The hope was that in 12 months time we'd see an uplift to 4/5. Excellent user experience (80%)

  • This year (Feb 2025), app has a score of 4.3/5 = Excellent user experience (86%). We also had 4,561 responses for app in comparison to 321 from last year due to offering an incentive.​

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Results – Increased engagement and #1 converting channel

  • 30% increase in app MIUs – 23% above target

  • App became the #1 converting channel 

  • App user retention over key retail periods is higher than Web retention.

  • Shop conversion transactions is more consistent and now 8% higher on app​

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