CENTRAL APP
Coupon Improvement
Simplify coupon experience
Background
Discount coupons are integral to driving online shopping in Thailand. However, user complaints highlight areas for improvement in the current Central app coupon feature.
My Role
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Project Objectives
The project aims to refine the coupon experience by analyzing industry standards, assessing best practices, and exploring innovative ideas. It seeks to identify opportunities for improvement, enhancing the coupon feature across online and omnichannel touchpoints in the Central app.
The Challenge
The Central app's coupon system heavily relies on code-based coupons, posing a usability challenge. To streamline the process, what are the top three priority actions to enhance user-friendly coupon application?
The Outcome
The coupon application undergoes optimization by introducing features such as coupon suggestions, emphasizing key conditions, and enabling seamless user interaction. Usability testing reveals a notable 30% increase in user satisfaction as a result of these enhancements.
Stakeholders
Business Unit
Marketing team
Product Manager
Processes
Discover
Define
Design
Test
Research, observe, and empathize to understand and define the problem, exploring a broad range of possibilities.
Synthesize gathered information to define a clear problem statement, narrowing down specific challenges and user needs.
Develop solutions. Exploring creative ideas to address the defined problem.
Test the prototype with users. Collect user feedback for future refinement.
Discover
1) Best practice review
Starting the coupon project, I first check NNgroup's best practices – they're UX gurus. It's like our rulebook for making coupons better, ensuring we're on the right track for a great user experience. Here are some of the key things I learned:
1) Suggest eligible coupons
Once users found an appropriate coupon, they could click Apply and the coupon would be applied automatically. This was a good way to keep users on the checkout page while making it easy to find a good deal.
2) Clear Coupon Condition
Ensure that the offer clearly indicates what restrictions apply. Nothing is more frustrating than expecting to receive a deal, only to find out at checkout that you do not qualify.
2) Interactive coupon
Having users memorize promo code and apply it in the cart can risk sales, especially in a critical checkout stage. Instead, the app should provide coupons that are be interactive and easy to apply with one click.
2) Competitor Analysis
Then, I looked at competitors to see how they manage their coupons in terms of types of coupons, coupon placement, and coupon gamification. This’s to identify areas for improvement in comparison to the market. I’ve broken the key areas of coupon into 3 areas:
Coupon Communication Channels - E.g. In-app, social media and other channels
Where to Find Coupon - E.g. Homepage, coupon page, store page, PLP, PDP, shopping cart
Ways to Apply Coupon - E.g. Coupon code and interactive coupon
Insights
The coupon features in major Thai ecommerce applications, including Shopee and Lazada, draw influence from Chinese ecommerce platforms like Aliexpress. This influence is reflected in the content-rich design and intricate usage patterns of coupons, mirroring the high level of complexity seen in Chinese ecommerce applications.
On the flip side, the Central App embraces a Western-inspired design like Selfridges, showcasing a more straightforward and minimalistic appearance overall. This coupon design approach is driven by the app's focus on a higher-end market, resulting in a layout that places less emphasis on coupons and promotions compared to other ecommerce platforms in the Thai market.
Nevertheless, it is crucial to understand the mental model of Thai users, heavily influenced by major apps such as Shopee and Lazada. This’s to incorporate good practices into the Central App.
3) Internal data
3.1) Interview insights from other non-coupon related projects
When initiating this project, my team members were conducting in-depth interviews for other projects. To maximize this opportunity, I collaborated with the project lead to inquire about coupon-related aspects, ensuring we collect valuable insights during the interviews.
3.2) Survey
I teamed up with the CX team to gather survey data and customer feedback on coupons. This helps us understand user preferences and pain points, guiding our data-driven decisions in the coupon improvement project.
3.3) App store reviews
I gathered insights from Central app reviews on the App Store to gain valuable insights into user sentiments and feedback over the past 1 year. This information is crucial for understanding user satisfaction, identifying pain points, and informing decisions in the ongoing improvement efforts for the app.
Key insights from internal data
Users need eligible coupon suggestion/ auto-applied coupon
Users find coupon conditions complicated
Users need more discounts and promotions
What I learned
It’s better to utilize existing resources to help gain insights quickly and use them to frame the research scope and quickly learn user mental model
Even non-coupon related projects, most of the users see coupon as one of the main part of their online shopping.
4) In-depth interviews (Self-initiated)
The project couldn't move forward due to budget and priorities at the company. So, I decided to do my own research as a side project. To gather insights for this project, I use remote in-depth interview to conduct my research. This’s because:
I want to understand context, user pain points, intent and their personal or professional aspirations in a semi-structured way.
I want to to observe natural usage and any hesitations during that natural usage
Participant selection
10 participants
Age: 20-30 years old
Location: Thailand
Education: Bachelor's Degree
Experience: Shopping online with a promo code applied
Type 1: 5 Existing Central app users
Type 2: 5 Potential Central app users (existing online shopping users)
Examples of Interview Questions
1) Warm Up
Tell me a bit about yourself and your background?
2) Online Shopping
How often do you shop online?
How much approximately you spend per month on online shopping?
What are the key things you look for by shopping online
3) Online Shopping with Promo Code
Have you used coupon when shopping online?
How do you go about using coupon when shopping? (product or coupon first?)
4) Central App
Have you ever used central app?
What do you think about it comes to central app?
What do you use central app similarly or differently from other online shopping apps?
5) Central App with Promo Code
Have you ever used coupon in central app?
How was the experience?
Please show me how you apply coupon on Central app
Please show me how you apply coupon from other apps
Interviews
I conducted 10 interviews with 1 hour per session.
My Pro Tips
1) Intentional Silence
Use intentional silence to prompt deeper insights by encouraging participants to elaborate on conflicting or revealing thoughts.
2) Echo technique
3) 5 Whys
4) Ask closed & open ended questions
5) Intentional Silence
Repeat the last phrase or word in a questioning tone to guide participants into providing more detailed responses.
Uncover root causes by asking "why" five times, moving beyond surface-level issues.
Mix open-ended and closed-ended questions for a natural conversation flow, avoiding guidance and encouraging voluntary insights.
“Always assume that the person you’re listening to might know something you don’t.” This’s the quote by Jordan Peterson that I strongly believe in. Approach interviews with an open mind, seeking clarification and encouraging comprehensive responses.