Helping Rocket clients build their financial future with Rocket Rewards.
Role
UX Researcher
team
Hillary Soletic
Client
Rocket Companies
Timeline
July 2022 (3 weeks)
Type
Contract
overview
Launched in November 2022, Rocket Rewards is Rocket Companies' first loyalty program. While the company consists of an ecosystem of 17 businesses, Rocket Rewards launched serving clients for only one of them: Rocket Mortgage. The following research study investigates scaling Reward capabilities for three additional Rocket companies for a Phase 2 rollout.
Responsibilities
Stakeholder communication & management
Craft research plan
Prepare & conduct usability tests
Analyze findings
Present insights and recommendations to stakeholders
project summary
Context
Rocket Rewards launched in November 2022 with the mission of helping clients save money on their next home purchase. The program rewards members for taking the steps they're already taking as they move toward buying a home.
This case study illustrates a usability analysis to understand the scalability of earning and redeeming points across four Rocket companies. Prior to launch, I ensured program logistics by advocating for user understanding of the newfound service.
My Impact
Through my analysis, I was able to discover a gap in what clients perceived as program legitimacy. With these issues identified, design and service revisions were made to instill client trust.
Aided Transparency
Updated design provided information as to why redemption value varies per goal.
Status indicators added for "in-progress" and "completed" activities and tracking goals.
Extended Discoverability & Ease of Use
Updated design includes sort/filter for "Earn" activities.
Refined Program Logistics
Point distribution widened to provide clients more flexibility with the available rewards that work within their schedule.
Rapid Client Adoption
1 Million+ users & $600,000+ in reward redemptions within 2 months.
research plan
The Ask, the approach, the delivery
Our Rewards stakeholders seek evaluative research to minimize risk before UI web development. Our insights will inform product decisions for the next design iteration of the Rewards dashboard.
Stakeholders
Research Methods
Evaluative research Unmoderated usability testing Rose, Buds, & Thorns
Deliverables
Lucid Board containing all research content
Presentation of raw research to stakeholder
1-page summary report
Scope
rocket Companies Involved
target audience
Located in the U.S. | Ages 18-65 | All genders | Varying knowledge of Rocket Companies | $20k-$200k+ income
User Journeys / Touchpoints Tested
While testing was done for both desktop and mobile, the following research is based on desktop.
"My Rewards" Page
"Earn" Page
research goals
What stakeholders want to know
Most important information and interactions for earning rewards
Point distribution with setting and completing multiple reward goals
What Research wants to learn
What first-time vs. return users need to understand earn activities
What the threshold of cognitive overload is
Usability Test
crafting the usability test
On Usertesting.com, I built two (identical) tests for both desktop and mobile; and released them to 10 participants each.
Scenario building
For this usability test, participants were to impersonate a Rocket Rewards user who is looking to earn points. Test takers began by finding how many points they have earned thus far. Next, they sought to understand their Rewards dashboard; and explore other activities for redemption.
Task 1: Understanding the default goal set
Task 2: Assessing satisfaction of credit explanation
Task 3: Determining interaction expectations and information logic
Task 4: Gauging interaction expectations and activity progress
Task 5: Evaluating interaction expectations and overall satisfaction
synthesis
searching for trends
From the test results and recordings, I was able to gauge prospective clients' thoughts, expectations, and behavior.
Rose, Buds, & Thorns
To analyze the raw data, I employed the research method of Rose, Buds, and Thorns. This technique allowed me to evaluate what's working well (Roses), opportunities for improvement (Buds), and struggles or challenges (Thorns). The below board is of desktop & mobile insights combined.
rose: Highlights & Successes
"My Rewards" page
"Earn" page
buds: Opportunities for Improvement
"My Rewards" page
"Earn" page
thorns: Struggles & Challenges
The more participants interacted with the "My Rewards" and "Earn" pages, the more conflicting viewpoints they experienced.
"My Rewards" Page
Problem 1: point value Changes per Goal
Solution 1: Standardize Point Value per goal
"Earn" Page
Problem 2: Disparity in point distribution per activity
Solution 2: Standardize Point Value per goal
Problem 3: Endless Scroll to view activities
Solution 3: Add sorting & filter functionality
Learnings
Communication breeds the most effective research
This project, and my summer as a whole, was a lesson in cross-team collaboration and communication. The Rewards team was a newly formed team with a lot of moving and shifting parts and team members. What initially started out as generative research into starting a loyalty program morphed into designs needed with fast turnaround times–and created with not enough research. As a Research team, we were playing defense. A lot of our work being done was evaluative, trying to course-correct high-fidelity designs. This underscored the importance of Research starting and remaining a pillar of the design process through the evolution of a product.
