From reward points to
Value

From reward points to

Value

Platform

VS & PINK mobile app, mobile web & desktop

Team

UX Designer (me), UX Researcher, Product Manager, Engineering Lead

Where We Started

Strong enrollment. An invisible program underneath.

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials.
The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

Before redesigning, we dug into the data to understand where users were struggling.

VS & PINK Rewards launched nearly 2 years earlier with healthy enrolment. The program runs at an estimated $21.4M a year but an estimated $6.2M in issued rewards goes unredeemed every year it stays this way. Before redesigning anything, we dug into the data to find where members lost the thread.

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials.
The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

Before redesigning, we dug into the data to understand where users were struggling.

0.9%

of homepage reward-popup taps reward info banner, (9.9M homepage popups)

Rate

84.2%

of acquisition-modal activity is sign-in, not new enrollment

53,933

Total loyalty dashboard page views in a QTR including all entry points

UX Framework

The structure we followed and the 5 weeks it took

Empathized with Users (Apr 17–23)
Scope alignment with Product, then moderated interviews and shopping-bag walkthroughs with real members.

Defined Core Problems (Apr 22–29)
Used affinity mapping and "How Might We" framing

to distill insights into action.

Ideated Solutions (Apr 29–May 9)
Explored different concept directions, flows, and hi-fi options with copy and rationale.

Built & Tested Prototypes (May 12+)
Moderated usability testing on both directions, then stakeholder alignment on a recommendation.

The Show Starts Now!

Before exploring solutions, we ran discovery with active Rewards members. We weren't asking whether they liked the program. We were watching whether they could find it and whether they could tell what it was worth.

Moderated 1:1 interviews

Led by UXR. I set the questions we needed answered and owned translating findings into design direction.

Rate

Task-based walkthroughs

Members narrated their own shopping bag and order review where the sharpest findings came from.

Full-funnel analytics

Popup visits, dashboard views, and click-through by CTA across app, mweb, and desktop.

Qualitative Questions

Quantitative Questions

Research Insight

When did you last check your rewards balance?

Walk me through your shopping bag — tell me what you see.

What do you know about this loyalty program?

Qualitative Questions

Quantitative Questions

Research Insight

When did you last check your rewards balance?

Walk me through your shopping bag — tell me what you see.

What do you know about this loyalty program?

The quantitative items were deliberately task-shaped asking a member to state her own balance is a comprehension test, not an opinion survey. That distinction is what let us measure comprehension again later, against the prototypes.

What she Feels

What she Thinks

What she Says

What she Does

“Has that always been there? I never scroll down.”

“Can you explain this loyalty program to me?”

“Paying for shipping just kind of bothers me.”

Conflates the rewards program with the store credit card.

Isn't sure whether points are worth tracking at all.

Assumes free shipping is the main perk and isn't impressed by it.

Rarely scrolls to the bottom of the shopping bag.

Has been a member 5+ years without fully realizing it.

Waits until order review to think about points.

Mildly surprised when she does spot her balance.

Appreciative of the visual tracker, when she finds it.

Unbothered rather than frustrated the program isn't on her mind.

What she Feels

What she Thinks

What she Says

What she Does

“Has that always been there? I never scroll down.”

“Can you explain this loyalty program to me?”

“Paying for shipping just kind of bothers me.”

Conflates the rewards program with the store credit card.

Isn't sure whether points are worth tracking at all.

Assumes free shipping is the main perk and isn't impressed by it.

Rarely scrolls to the bottom of the shopping bag.

Has been a member 5+ years without fully realizing it.

Waits until order review to think about points.

Mildly surprised when she does spot her balance.

Appreciative of the visual tracker, when she finds it.

Unbothered rather than frustrated the program isn't on her mind.

What she Feels

What she Thinks

What she Says

What she Does

“Has that always been there? I never scroll down.”

“Can you explain this loyalty program to me?”

“Paying for shipping just kind of bothers me.”

Conflates the rewards program with the store credit card.

Isn't sure whether points are worth tracking at all.

Assumes free shipping is the main perk and isn't impressed by it.

Rarely scrolls to the bottom of the shopping bag.

Has been a member 5+ years without fully realizing it.

Waits until order review to think about points.

Mildly surprised when she does spot her balance.

Appreciative of the visual tracker, when she finds it.

Unbothered rather than frustrated the program isn't on her mind.

Current State Audit

What we found in the current experience, what we deliberately ruled out & the targets we set before designing anything.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Where Rewards Show Up

85.2% of rewards banner activity is sign-in, not new members. The one screen that shows real progress, the progress ring sits behind accounts tab.

3 Surfaces, 3 Treatments

What Not to Solve

Targets Set

Where Rewards Show Up

85.2% of rewards banner activity is sign-in, not new members. The one screen that shows real progress, the progress ring sits behind accounts tab.

3 Surfaces, 3 Treatments

What Not to Solve

Targets Set

How Others Do It

We patterned top retail and beauty brands to understand what worked, what didn’t, and where Victoria’s Secret could lead.

Key Takeaways for Victoria’s Secret

These patterns line up with the endowed progress effect (Nunes & Drèze) members engage more when progress feels already underway, not when they're shown a total.

Dollar-Anchored Framing

Leaders express rewards in currency (“$10 reward”), not raw point totals.

Persistent Progress

Progress lives on the page not behind a slider modal, always visible without seeking it out.

Meet the Moment

Reward messaging appears where consideration actually happens — at checkout.

One Visual Language

A single progress treatment reused everywhere, so members learn it once.

Design Concepts

From insights and audits, we proposed 2 core redesign concepts

Accounts

Redesign Login Experience

100%

Page 1

Assets

Layers

Assets

Layers

Michael

Gautam

Siddhi

You

Export

Effects

Stroke

100%

E5E5E5

Mixed

Fill

Click + to replace mixed content.

Background

Layer

Pass Through

100%

Constraints

Mixed

Group

208

Code

Prototype

Design

Option A: Persistent Progress Snapshot

Fixes root cause the snapshot itself. One progress treatment, always visible, dollar-anchored.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Root-Cause Fix

Addresses the Loyalty Snapshot and Loyalty Card opportunity areas directly, rather than compensating around them.

Copy Address

1 Visual Language

Copy Address

Placement

Copy Address

Slower to Ship

Option B: Contextual Reward Nudges

Meets members at order review, the moment research showed consideration actually happens.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Right Moment

Fast to Ship

No persistent component, no cross-surface rework — the cheaper and quicker of the two directions.

Copy Address

Treats Symptom

Copy Address

Interruption Risk

Making the Call

Option A: All 8 participants correctly stated their progress toward the next reward straight after using the prototype. Several asked why it wasn't already like this.

Option B: nudges landed well in the moment, but comprehension of overall standing barely moved (5/8) the underlying inconsistency was still there.

What changed & why

Built from member conversations, metric crunching and more IA drafts than we'll admit, finally this is how she redeems

Consistent progress style

Revolving ring treatment everywhere

Dollar-anchored

“600 points to your next $10 reward” instead of a points total

Rewards promoted

Gives Rewards a top-level nav bar entry point

The Outcome: Real Impact at Scale

We rolled out the redesigned Rewards experience against a control for one full quarter and the uplift was consistent across our key metrics.
The redesign didn't just make Rewards easier to understand. It made the program easier to act on.

0.9%

3.2%

Homepage reward-specific popup engagement

53,933

91,297

Loyalty dashboard page views / qtr

16.2% / 14.8%

27.8%/16%

Modal account creation (mweb / desktop)

The Impact: What It Meant for the Business

Every number below already exists in the current experience. Nothing here requires a deeper discount, a new reward tier or more marketing spend only that members can see what they have already earned.

+12%

of 29,849 newly-onboarded members

redeem a $10 reward

↑14%

AOV lift for

rewards member

What's Next: Scaling What Worked

The first rollout proved the direction. Now the opportunity is to turn it into a consistent Rewards system across the shopping journey.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Expand the

touchpoints

Extend the persistent progress experience from Home into PDP, Bag, and Checkout

Copy Address

Personalize by

member tier

Copy Address

Build one

Rewards language

Thanks for reading

linkedin.com/in/harsh-chauhan04

From reward points to Value

From reward points to Value

From reward points to

Value

VS & PINK mobile app, mobile web & desktop

UX Designer (me), UX Researcher, Product Manager, Engineering Lead

Strong enrollment. An invisible program underneath.

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials. The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

Before redesigning, we dug into the data to understand where users were struggling.

VS & PINK Rewards launched nearly 2 years earlier with healthy enrolment. The program runs at an estimated $21.4M a year but an estimated $6.2M in issued rewards goes unredeemed every year it stays this way. Before redesigning anything, we dug into the data to find where members lost the thread.

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials. The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

Before redesigning, we dug into the data to understand where users were struggling.

The structure we followed and the 5 weeks it took

Before exploring solutions, we ran discovery with active Rewards members. We weren't asking whether they liked the program. We were watching whether they could find it and whether they could tell what it was worth.

What we found in the current experience, what we deliberately ruled out & the targets we set before designing anything.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Where Rewards Show Up

3 Surfaces, 3 Treatments

What Not to Solve

Targets Set

Where Rewards Show Up

3 Surfaces, 3 Treatments

What Not to Solve

Targets Set

We patterned top retail and beauty brands to understand what worked, what didn’t, and where Victoria’s Secret could lead.

These patterns line up with the endowed progress effect (Nunes & Drèze) members engage more when progress feels already underway, not when they're shown a total.

From insights and audits, we proposed 2 core redesign concepts

Fixes root cause the snapshot itself. One progress treatment, always visible, dollar-anchored.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Meets members at order review, the moment research showed consideration actually happens.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Option A: All 8 participants correctly stated their progress toward the next reward straight after using the prototype. Several asked why it wasn't already like this.

Option B: nudges landed well in the moment, but comprehension of overall standing barely moved (5/8) the underlying inconsistency was still there.

Built from member conversations, metric crunching and more IA drafts than we'll admit, finally this is how she redeems

We rolled out the redesigned Rewards experience against a control for one full quarter and the uplift was consistent across our key metrics.The redesign didn't just make Rewards easier to understand. It made the program easier to act on.

Every number below already exists in the current experience. Nothing here requires a deeper discount, a new reward tier or more marketing spend only that members can see what they have already earned.

The first rollout proved the direction. Now the opportunity is to turn it into a consistent Rewards system across the shopping journey.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Thanks for reading

Thanks for reading

Thanks for reading

From reward points to
Value

From reward points to
Value

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials.
The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials.
The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

We rolled out the redesigned Rewards experience against a control for one full quarter and the uplift was consistent across our key metrics.
The redesign didn't just make Rewards easier to understand. It made the program easier to act on.