Timeline
1 month
Role
Designer
Company
Shaw Communications
Overview
Shaw’s Friends Loyalty Program was designed to reward long-term customers—but engagement indicators were poor. Membership sign-ups were low, few users activated perks, and overall participation was stagnant. The goal was to reimagine the experience to drive enrollment, benefit usage, and sustained engagement—all within Shaw’s strict design system and content governance model.
The Challenge
- Low awareness and unclear value proposition: Customers didn’t understand what Shaw Friends offered or why it mattered.
- Fragmented signup experience: Convoluted steps and poor visibility led to drop-offs.
- Rigid branding and layout templates: Design flexibility was limited to improving flows and messaging hierarchy.
My Role and Responsibilities
As the Designer, I led UX and UI improvements while collaborating with Marketing and Engineering stakeholders. My responsibilities included:
- Conducting a heuristic evaluation and reviewing analytics data to identify friction points.
- Creating an experience map to visualize user drop-offs and emotional patterns.
- Developing low- to high-fidelity prototypes and testing them with Shaw customers.
- Presenting insights and recommendations to the Marketing team, aligning on feasible content and UX updates.
- Measuring key performance indicators post-launch to evaluate impact.
Approach
1. Initial Research & Analysis
I synthesized data from analytics tools and internal reports, identifying that most users abandoned the journey before reaching the confirmation screen. Qualitative feedback revealed confusion about benefits and privacy concerns.
2. Redefining the Flow
To address cognitive overload, I streamlined the sign-up process from a three-step modal to a single, guided interface. The entry points were redesigned to highlight exclusive perks earlier in the experience, framing the value proposition upfront.
3. Aligning with Constraints
Working within Shaw’s (at the time) inflexible design system, I focused on microcopy, layout hierarchy, and interaction patterns to create a feeling of freshness without violating brand consistency. I also collaborated closely with Marketing to refine tone and content, ensuring clarity and authenticity.
4. Testing & Iteration
Rapid prototype tests with existing customers helped validate new flows. The updated experience reduced average completion time and increased perceived clarity of program benefits.
Outcome & Impact
Although full metrics were owned by Marketing, post-launch analytics showed a measurable increase in both sign-ups and perk activations. Early feedback from users suggested the experience “finally made sense” and felt more rewarding.
- Sign-ups: +18% within first month
- Perk redemptions: +25% from baseline
- Customer satisfaction: Higher qualitative scores from feedback sessions
More importantly, the refined flow became the new template for other service programs and UX approaches at Shaw, establishing a repeatable UX framework for benefit-based offerings.