Unifying checkout across 11 features without breaking the user experience
CLIENT
Pointly
YEAR
2023
OVERVIEW
Pointly — App redesign · Product Designer · Checkout squad
Tags
UX Design, Design System, Checkout, Mobile
Users abandoned their carts and the app barely sold. Customer experience research pointed to three causes: unclear payment options (card, instant payments and points were presented differently across features), complex navigation (each feature had its own checkout pattern, forcing users to relearn the flow) and visual inconsistency (the app still used the old identity, out of step with the new design system).
On the business side, the app accounted for only 3% of bookings, far below the potential of a mobile channel. The goal was to make it the main sales channel.
The challenge
The hardest decision was the unified header. Each of the 11 features had very different contexts, and the temptation was to adapt the header for each one. I did the opposite: I proposed a single pattern that worked in every case (cash purchase, points redemption, subscription, voucher). The rationale for stakeholders was simple: people moving between features shouldn't have to relearn the interface. The header became a global pattern, alongside the new design system.
The most complex scenario was a ride-hailing partner's checkout inside the app, with two separate flows (cash and points), variations by member tier and a partner subscription integration. Applying the same checkout system there proved the architecture worked.
My role
I led end-to-end design for the checkout squad, including the ride-hailing partner flow. I built high-fidelity prototypes and new design system components, presented design decisions to product stakeholders for scope alignment and approval, and worked closely with the PO (business rules), developers (technical handoff), content design (UX writing) and QA (validating what shipped).
An audit of the existing app ("as is") to map the inconsistencies across the 11 checkout flows. A focused benchmark of other loyalty programs and airlines, looking at how they handle mixed checkout (cash plus points). Alignment with the PO to map business rules before any sketch.
Designing for 11 flows at once changes how you compose a screen: a component that works for instant payments, cards and points at the same time needs more abstraction in design, but it delivers real consistency in production and less rework during handoff.
Every feature went through design system review, content design review, a stakeholder presentation and QA follow-up. I worked directly on that last stage, comparing what was built against the delivered prototype.
We redesigned checkout as a system, not as 11 separate projects. Instead of adapting each flow on its own, the bet was a set of payment components and a checkout header that worked in any context: cash purchase, points redemption, subscription or voucher. Someone who books a flight and later redeems partner credits finds the same pattern, which lowers cognitive load and drop-off caused by confusion.
The results below come from the full app redesign, where this checkout played a central role. My role: end-to-end design of the checkout squad, including the ride-hailing partner flow, high-fidelity prototypes, new design system components and decision reviews with stakeholders.
12x
Growth in bookings through the app (from 3% to 36% of the total)
4.6
App store rating (up from 3.8)
+80%
Growth in monthly active users