Members could earn points, but spending them was not a clear path. This study designs the redemption that closes the loop.
- B2C
- UI / UX
- User Research
- Product Thinking
- Role
- Senior Product Designer
- Platform
- Mobile app
01Overview
Completing the loyalty cycle from earning to redemption.
The product runs two value systems. One holds loyalty points. The other is a spendable balance. This project designed the missing piece: the first way to burn points.
Members already earned points on every riyal spent in the marketplace. Until redemption shipped, the cycle stopped there. Points accumulated. There was nothing to do with them.
Loyalty Wallet
Earn loyalty points, store them, then burn them. Burn was designed, then delayed. AlFursan was the partner at launch.
- Earn
- Store points
- Burn
Spendable balance
Loyalty partners such as Mobily and Qitaf convert into a usable balance, spent on purchases inside the marketplace.
- Partner programmes
- Convert
- Spend
- Role
- Senior Product Designer
- Platform
- Mobile app · Arabic-first
02Problem
Earn was live. Burn was designed — and waiting.
Burn had been designed for a multi-partner ecosystem. Only Earn made it into production.
When implementation of Burn was delayed, Earn went out on its own. Points started to pile up with no way to spend them. Burn then became a launch priority — against a narrower reality: the first release would have one partner, AlFursan.
The work was no longer to invent redemption from scratch. It was to ask whether the existing design still made sense for the product that would actually ship.
- Loyalty points accumulated since March 2024, before any redemption existed.
14.2M+
Loyalty points accumulated since March 2024, before any redemption existed.
01
A catalogue with one item
The original design assumed many redemption partners. Launch had AlFursan only. Asking members to choose a partner was not a real choice.
02
Earn without a path to spend
Members understood earning. They had no mental path to redemption. Points sat unused while the balance kept growing.
03
Two transfer models, one screen
Convert and Burn are different mental models. Competitive reviews showed people get lost when more than one transfer type lives on the same screen.
The original catalogue. At launch, only AlFursan would be live — a list of one.
03Insights
Does the existing Burn design make sense for launch?
Four inputs framed the constraint before any screens were revisited.
Stakeholders
Stakeholder interviews
Launch with one partner. Keep the first release simple. Ship quickly. Earning and redemption are not the same product moment.
Product
Product and analytics
Points were already in members' wallets. The exchange rate for launch was fixed: 12 points = 1 AlFursan mile.
Market
Competitive review
When more than one transfer type shares a screen, people hesitate. Clarity beats completeness at first launch.
Members
User insights
Earning was familiar. Redemption was not. The first Burn had to be immediately understandable, not a catalogue to explore.
04Strategy
Remove the choice that isn't a choice.
Original assumption
A multi-partner ecosystem
Many redemption partners
The design started with a catalogue so members could pick where to burn.
Partner selection as a step
The journey assumed choosing a partner was valuable in its own right.
Launch reality
One partner. Selection added little.
AlFursan only
The first release had a single destination. A listing of one is still a listing.
Skip the empty decision
If there is no real choice, do not ask people to make one.
How might we
Make Burn clear and immediately actionable when there is only one partner.
Original concept — not live
Four steps, starting with a catalogue.
01 Loyalty programme 02 Partner listing 03 Transfer 04 Success
Partner listing is the step removed later. Burn had not shipped yet. This is the designed concept, not a live experience.
01
Simplify
Drop partner selection. The shipped journey is Points → AlFursan Transfer → Success.
02
Clarify
Make the redemption value obvious. The 12 = 1 rate sits on the Transfer screen, with points and miles shown together.
03
Discover
Put AlFursan on the Points screen, and add an entry from Home, so Burn is findable without hunting through a catalogue.
05Experience
Direct entry. Clear value. Confirmation.
The shipped experience is three steps. No partner selection.
Members can start from the Loyalty Programme or from Home. Both lead to AlFursan, then Transfer, then Success.
From the loyalty programme
Loyalty programme
AlFursan
Transfer
Success
From Home
Home
AlFursan
Transfer
Success
Original concept
Loyalty home Shipped
Points
Discover: generic actions become a single AlFursan offer next to the balance.
Shipped flow
Points, transfer, proof.
01 Points 02 AlFursan Transfer 03 Success
The three moments members actually move through.
Clarify
The rate is on the screen that needs it.
12 points = 1 mile is stated on Transfer, not buried in help. Members pick a bundle; 480 points become 40 miles in view. Points and miles stay side by side, so the value is never abstract.
Confirm
A moment, then the record.
Success celebrates the transfer, then shows what members need to trust it: membership number, miles earned, points spent, and a reference — with a way home or into another transfer.
06Outcome
What happened after launch.
The first month showed that members would actually spend the points they had been holding.
- of users with points converted within the first month.
Almost
50%
of users with points converted within the first month.
- technical issues on launch day.
0%
technical issues on launch day.
- drop-off on the exchange from Wallet to spendable balance.
0
drop-off on the exchange from Wallet to spendable balance.
07Learnings
Design for the reality you're shipping.
01
Design for the reality you're shipping
A multi-partner catalogue is the right design for a multi-partner product. It was the wrong first release. The constraint was the brief.
02
A choice only helps when there is a real choice
Partner selection added a step without adding a decision. Removing it made Burn faster to understand and faster to complete.
03
Design for today's constraint without closing tomorrow
The shipped flow is AlFursan-first, not AlFursan-only forever. Partner selection can return when there are partners to select.