Loyalty program

Case study

An end-to-end walkthrough of the product journey

Context and problem understanding

Liv Up was facing a recurring challenge: users would purchase, enjoy the experience, but fail to develop a consistent repurchase behavior. Retention had become a critical issue for the sustainability of the business, especially given the high customer acquisition costs in the food segment.

This project emerged from an open challenge: increase retention by creating real and perceived value for recurring users.

From problem to opportunity

By analyzing existing research, internal data, and previous attempts, it became clear that the issue was not simply about offering discounts or short-term incentives. The real risk was creating a solution that might work in the short term but failed to generate enough perceived value to sustain long-term recurrence.

A clear example of this was a previous subscription model launched by Liv Up that did not perform as expected. A deeper analysis showed that the failure was not due to execution, but rather a misalignment between user expectations, perceived value, and the complexity of the proposition.

Building understanding and alignment

From that point on, we structured an intense learning phase. While the Product Manager led conversations with stakeholders and internal teams to understand business expectations and constraints, I led the effort to build a deep understanding of the user perspective.

I revisited previous research, analyzed user comments, behavioral patterns, and the language users used when talking about recurrence and benefits. In parallel, I conducted desk research analyzing loyalty programs across different industries, aiming to understand what truly drove continuous engagement — and what quickly lost relevance.

Our goal was to reach a clear point of convergence between user desire and business viability, while also identifying areas of divergence and the difficult trade-offs that would need to be made.

User research

With clearer hypotheses, I defined the research strategy and structured the study in partnership with UX Research and Customer Insights.

We chose a mixed-methods approach:

Qualitative research, led by me
Quantitative research, conducted by the Customer Insights team, with the survey script defined by me

In the qualitative study, I was responsible for the entire process: incentive definition, recruitment, interview facilitation, and synthesis of insights, alternating between moderator and observer roles alongside the PM.

The focus was to understand how users related to benefit programs in general: which ones they used, why they used them, what they valued, what generated distrust, and which barriers prevented continued usage.

The learnings made it clear that users were not seeking complexity, status, or elaborate gamification. The real value lay in day-to-day practicality, a sense of continuous progress, and clarity around how the program worked and how rewards were earned.

Converging toward a loyalty program

Based on these insights, I facilitated alignment and synthesis sessions to converge on a solution direction consistent with both user needs and business objectives.

It became clear that a loyalty program could address the problem, as long as it was designed around well-defined principles: it needed to be simple to understand, accessible to the entire user base, achievable without excessive effort, and supported by benefits perceived as fair, relevant, and sustainable in the long term.

Design decisions and scope definition

From that point on, I led the definition of the product experience. From the start, I advocated that the solution should not rely on complex explanations or high cognitive effort.

I worked closely with the PM and stakeholders from multiple areas to define the program mechanics, including reward rules, benefit validity, redemption moments, and potential gamification elements.

In many of these discussions, my role was to balance business ambitions with research learnings, ensuring the product remained simple, sustainable, and aligned with real user expectations.

Early prototypes and initial validation

With the official formation of the loyalty squad, I began leading frequent co-creation sessions with engineering and the Business Analyst to define the user journey, flows, and high-fidelity prototypes.

Before moving to user testing, I conducted an unmoderated internal test via Maze with participants from outside product, design, and technology teams, intentionally capturing feedback closer to that of a typical end user.

The results showed that the value of the benefit was well understood, but that the program mechanics still required refinement to reduce ambiguity and cognitive effort.

MVP definition

Given the complexity of the product and the level of uncertainty, I strongly advocated for building an MVP focused on validation. Rather than launching a fully featured solution, we prioritized testing the core value proposition: earning benefits and being able to redeem them.

More elaborate gamification features and additional benefits were deliberately deferred to a later phase.

This decision reduced risk, accelerated learning, and allowed us to validate key hypotheses without compromising the quality of the experience.

Branding and program identity

In parallel with MVP development, I partnered with marketing and creative design teams to define the program’s branding, including naming, tone of voice, and visual identity.

This process resulted in Fidelivup.

Launch and iteration

The MVP was launched through an A/B test, allowing us to isolate the impact of the loyalty program from campaigns and seasonality. This enabled a more accurate assessment of the product’s effect on retention and user behavior.

With early positive results, we moved into the evolution phase, incorporating visual elements and improvements that had previously been postponed due to technical complexity.

Continuous discovery

Even after launch, we maintained a continuous discovery cycle. Weekly interviews and surveys were conducted to monitor user perception, identify friction points, and uncover opportunities for new benefits.

This ongoing process ensured that Fidelivup evolved consistently, grounded in data and real user feedback rather than assumptions.

Final reflection

This project reinforced the importance of deeply aligning user perspective with business needs, recognizing that sustainable retention does not come from isolated incentives, but from the continuous construction of perceived value.

It also required me to take on a design leadership role that went beyond solution execution — encompassing product vision articulation, cross-functional alignment, and active influence on strategic decisions to ensure coherence between experience, feasibility, and long-term goals.

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