Optimizing Promotion Registration
Reducing friction in a high-value, personalized rewards experience
How Promotions Work
Promotions are time-limited offers that members can complete to earn rewards. Each member sees a personalized set based on their account, and members who aren’t eligible for certain promotions cannot see them, preventing frustration over differences in offers.
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Design Opportunity
Promotions are infrequent by design to maximize impact, but each carries significant revenue potential. Optimizing the registration flow offered a rare opportunity to improve business outcomes while enhancing the user experience. Streamlining the flow could increase successful enrollments and reinforce the credibility and value of UX design within the organization.
* Even with “Remember Me” enabled, the site still required a full login for security, adding friction.
Constraints
The opportunity carried unknowns that required approval for time and budget to investigate feasibility and potential impact. Any proposed changes needed to align with technical capabilities, business goals, and compliance requirements. Collaboration with developers, the rewards team, security, and legal was essential to ensure solutions were achievable, aligned, and risk-free.
Hypothesis
Reducing friction in the promotion registration flow without altering the core promotion mechanics would increase the likelihood of successful enrollment. Simplifying the process would allow users to complete registration more efficiently, improving engagement and driving better business results.
Cross-team Collaboration
The team began with a targeted discovery phase to validate feasibility. This included consulting with stakeholders, and reviewing potential constraints across technical, legal, and business domains.
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Developers
A technical viability assessment was needed to confirm design feasibility and determine the effort required for exploration.
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Rewards
In order to move forward, the project required rewards policy and budgetary vetting from the Rewards team.
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Security Team
The Security team performed a vulnerability assessment to determine if the proposed design posed any organizational risks.
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Legal Team
The project requires legal and regulatory compliance review to ensure adherence to all applicable laws and internal policies.
Discovery
Investigation revealed several critical points of friction within the promotions registration flow. Users had to navigate a multi-step process that required authentication and a clear intent to access the promotions page, creating unnecessary barriers and slowing completion. This complexity frustrated users and limited the effectiveness of promotions as a driver of engagement and revenue. Through interviews, analytics review, and flow mapping, it became clear that the registration process was misaligned with user expectations for simplicity and speed, highlighting a significant opportunity for UX improvement.
Changes Made
Authentication & Eligibility
To improve the registration experience, the flow was redesigned into a single-step, surface-level process that eliminated unnecessary authentication and intent requirements. Originally, because promotions are personalized, it seemed users would need to fully log in to access their offers. After consulting with developers, we discovered that all that was required was the user’s email address to retrieve their personalized promotions, meaning users did not need to enter their password each time. Security reviewed this approach and approved it, as it maintained safe access without exposing sensitive information. From a business perspective, this method was acceptable because the system already stored the email through the “Remember Me” feature, ensuring that no member could see another’s promotions. Legally, this approach was cleared because users only required access to the Terms and Conditions for the promotion, and no sensitive data was exposed.
Information Architecture
From an information architecture perspective, the existing Promotions, Deals & Offers page was retained because its structure naturally supported the new flow and required minimal adjustment. The Promotions Details page was removed from the flow since it did not provide any additional useful information beyond what was already displayed in the header. This simplification reduced friction for users and made the registration process more straightforward, without sacrificing clarity or compliance.
User Behavior Insights
From a user perspective, there was no reason not to register for a promotion. If users saw the registration button, they were likely to click it, because completing the promotion registration carried no negative consequences. This insight reinforced the decision to streamline the flow, as the simplified process aligned with natural user behavior and expectations.
Cross-Functional Validation
The redesign was validated through close collaboration with multiple teams: developers confirmed technical feasibility, the rewards team ensured alignment with business goals, and security and legal teams verified compliance with internal policies. By combining eligibility rules, security safeguards, legal compliance, and a logical IA, the updated process allowed members to register for promotions quickly, efficiently, and safely, demonstrating the impact and value of UX-led discovery.
Impact & Results
The optimized flow enabled direct access to promotions and faster registration without unnecessary barriers. Promotion registrations increased by over 10%, while eligibility rules ensured that members only saw promotions they were entitled to, preventing frustration or comparisons between users. This outcome reinforced the value of UX-led discovery, showing that thoughtful, data-informed design improvements can significantly enhance engagement and business performance without compromising security, legal compliance, or user fairness.
Changes Made
Authentication and explicit intent requirements were removed, allowing members to register for promotions directly and efficiently. The redesign was validated in close collaboration with multiple teams: developers confirmed technical feasibility, the rewards team ensured the approach aligned with business goals, and security and legal teams verified compliance with internal policies and regulations. This cross-functional validation ensured that the optimized flow was not only faster and simpler for users but also robust, secure, and fully aligned with organizational requirements.
Original Flow
New Flow
Results
The optimized flow enabled direct access to promotions and faster registration without unnecessary barriers. This change led to an increase of over 10% in promotion registrations, while still ensuring members only saw promotions they were eligible for, preventing frustration or comparisons. The result reinforced the impact of UX-led discovery on enrollment success.
Reflections
Even small change requests can uncover high-leverage opportunities when examined thoughtfully. Proactive discovery and strategic cross-functional collaboration are critical for delivering solutions that are feasible, aligned, and credible.
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