Smarter shopping, measurable growth

Making Deals Easier to Find

TL;DR

We rebuilt navigation, added community and loyalty touchpoints, and automated internal workflows so shoppers find relevant deals faster and the team launches campaigns with less effort. The relaunch increased repeat visits by 25% and sped up marketing execution by 66%.

My Role

I was the sole designer on a cross-functional relaunch. I led UX and product design from discovery to delivery, collaborated daily with PMs, marketers, and engineers, and defined design strategy while optimizing internal workflows.

Background and Objective

Rakuten Rewards, formerly Ebates, is a cashback platform that helps shoppers earn money back at partner retailers. As the user base and offerings grew, navigation and discovery became harder.

Objective: relaunch the platform to improve discoverability, increase engagement with targeted experiences, and streamline internal operations.

Discovery and Research

Goals

Remove friction in finding relevant brands and deals.
Validate a navigation model that scales as categories grow.
Identify opportunities for targeted and community-driven engagement.
Spot internal bottlenecks that slow campaign and content delivery.

Methods and participants

Usability tests: 10 task-based sessions covering find a brand, find a category offer, and redeem.
Analytics review: top searches, navigation paths, and exits from category pages.
Support log review: 200 tickets sampled for recurring issues.
Competitive scan: 8 cashback and coupon products for pattern benchmarking.

Problem Statement

Grounded in the research above, we defined the core problems as follows.

Navigation was unintuitive, so key services were hard to reach.
Users had to search manually for generic deals inside broad categories.
Low content discoverability reduced offer visibility and created missed opportunities.
Lack of targeted and engaging content led to weak engagement and low return visits.
Marketing workflows were manual and repetitive, which slowed execution.

Design Solutions

Enhanced brand and deal discovery
Redesigned core navigation and category structure so users find relevant brands and offers quickly. Surfaced verified, time-sensitive offers above the fold with consistent filters.
Community and loyalty features
Introduced shared deals, reviews, and a forum to encourage participation and repeat visits. Added light loyalty prompts when users are near the next reward.
Workflow automation
Built internal tools and templates to automate banner generation, campaign pages, and marketing emails. Enabled self-serve publishing so seasonal content ships in hours.

Design Impact

Repeat visits increased by 25% with community and loyalty features.
Internal workflow speed improved by 66% through content and asset automation.
Sprint productivity rose by 70%+ without increasing team size.
Content discoverability improved, producing a smoother and more personalized shopping experience.

Reflection

Cross-functional collaboration with compliance and content teams across regions was essential. Improving internal systems created time and space to focus on higher-impact user experiences. This reinforced that great design serves both shoppers and the teams who build and deliver it.

Up next: another project you might like!

Fixing Support Portal Pain Points

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Smarter shopping, measurable growth

Making Deals Easier to Find

TL;DR We rebuilt navigation, added community and loyalty touchpoints, and automated internal workflows so shoppers find relevant deals faster and the team launches campaigns with less effort. The relaunch increased repeat visits by 25% and sped up marketing execution by 66%.

My Role I was the sole designer on a cross-functional relaunch. I led UX and product design from discovery to delivery, collaborated daily with PMs, marketers, and engineers, and defined design strategy while optimizing internal workflows.

Discovery and Research

Goals

Remove friction in finding relevant brands and deals.

Validate a navigation model that scales as categories grow.

Identify opportunities for targeted and community-driven engagement.

Spot internal bottlenecks that slow campaign and content delivery.

Methods and participants

Usability tests: 10 task-based sessions covering find a brand, find a category offer, and redeem.

Analytics review: top searches, navigation paths, and exits from category pages.

Support log review: 200 tickets sampled for recurring issues.

Competitive scan: 8 cashback and coupon products for pattern benchmarking.

Problem Statement

Grounded in the research above, we defined the core problems as follows.

Navigation was unintuitive, so key services were hard to reach.

Users had to search manually for generic deals inside broad categories.

Low content discoverability reduced offer visibility and created missed opportunities.

Lack of targeted and engaging content led to weak engagement and low return visits.

Marketing workflows were manual and repetitive, which slowed execution.

Design Solutions

​

Enhanced brand and deal discovery Redesigned core navigation and category structure so users find relevant brands and offers quickly. Surfaced verified, time-sensitive offers above the fold with consistent filters.

Community and loyalty features Introduced shared deals, reviews, and a forum to encourage participation and repeat visits. Added light loyalty prompts when users are near the next reward.

Workflow automation Built internal tools and templates to automate banner generation, campaign pages, and marketing emails. Enabled self-serve publishing so seasonal content ships in hours.

Design Impact​

Repeat visits increased by 25% with community and loyalty features.

Internal workflow speed improved by 66% through content and asset automation.

Sprint productivity rose by 70%+ without increasing team size.

Content discoverability improved, producing a smoother and more personalized shopping experience.

Reflection Cross-functional collaboration with compliance and content teams across regions was essential. Improving internal systems created time and space to focus on higher-impact user experiences. This reinforced that great design serves both shoppers and the teams who build and deliver it.

Up next: another project you might like!

Fixing Support Portal Pain Points

TL;DR

We rebuilt navigation, added community and loyalty touchpoints, and automated internal workflows so shoppers find relevant deals faster and the team launches campaigns with less effort. The relaunch increased repeat visits by 25% and sped up marketing execution by 66%.

My Role

I was the sole designer on a cross-functional relaunch. I led UX and product design from discovery to delivery, collaborated daily with PMs, marketers, and engineers, and defined design strategy while optimizing internal workflows.

Enhanced brand and deal discovery
Redesigned core navigation and category structure so users find relevant brands and offers quickly. Surfaced verified, time-sensitive offers above the fold with consistent filters.

Community and loyalty features
Introduced shared deals, reviews, and a forum to encourage participation and repeat visits. Added light loyalty prompts when users are near the next reward.

Workflow automation
Built internal tools and templates to automate banner generation, campaign pages, and marketing emails. Enabled self-serve publishing so seasonal content ships in hours.

Design Impact

Reflection

Cross-functional collaboration with compliance and content teams across regions was essential. Improving internal systems created time and space to focus on higher-impact user experiences. This reinforced that great design serves both shoppers and the teams who build and deliver it.