Physical gifting with PDF printable templates.
Role
Senior Product Designer
Company
Gift Card Exchange
Project duration
June 2023 (4 weeks)
I. Project Overview
GCX (Gift Card Exchange) sole focus was digital gift cards only. We designed a unique solution to include physical gifting. This allowed for a more personal touch compared to digital gifting.
My Role
I was part of the team and responsible for the experience strategy and design for this innovative physical gifting solution. I worked alongside product and developers and a talented graphic designer who focused on the visual design of the PDF Templates.
The Problem
GCX focused only on digital gift cards, missing out on users who wanted a personal, physical gifting option. Research showed demand for in-person gifting, but the challenge was adding it without compromising the existing purchase flow.
01. Digital-only gift cards
02. Users wanted physical gifting
03. Purchase flow built for digital
04. Risk of overcomplicating UX
05. Needed seamless integration
The Solution
We added physical gift cards, keeping the purchase flow simple and enhancing the personal gifting experience. It fitted user needs and kept the platform easy to use.
01. Added physical gift card option
02. Unified purchase flow
03. Clear digital/physical choice
04. Ensured minimal disruption to the existing user interface
II. Design Process
Research
We carried out initial surveys using hotjar to find out if our existing users would be interested in giving gift cards in person and pairing the gift card to a special occasion.
How would you prefer to deliver a gift card?
Question:
If you were giving someone a gift card, how would you most likely deliver it to them?
- A. Digital via SMS – 15%
- B. Digital via Email – 25%
- C. In Person – printed and handed over – 65%
Question:
Would you like to pair the gift card with a specific occasion?
- A. Yes – Birthday, Christmas, Good Job, Congratulations – 85%
- B. No – just give it without an occasion – 15%
Total Respondents: 45
Key takeaways
65%
preferred to gift in person
85%
desired to pair it with an occasion
Customer Journey
I created a customer journey map for the purchase process for Digital and Physical. This assisted the developers in visualising how users navigate through the buying process.
Purchase & Recipient flows
The strategy
Originally we thought having the the gift card pre activated and ready to use.
The problem with this was we would not acquire a new customer and the recipient would not have any interaction with the GCX platform resulting in losing user retention and possible further purchases.
With further research and tech implementation discussions we landed on using the QR code method for it’s straight forward scanning process and user friendly interaction.
Defining the experience
Using the research findings, I started creating wireframes and decided on using PDF A4 Templates as the physical delivery method that were suitable for various occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, recognition etc.
Next step was to split the existing flow to include Digital and Physical for the delivery method.
• Digital – SMS / Email
• Physical – Print at Home
Delivery method – split
I designed the interface featuring a dropdown menu and a carousel for selecting templates based on different occasions. This enabled us to add and modify categories directly from the backend.
Categories & occasions carousel
To personalise the experience, we included an optional section where the user can customise the template by adding either a logo or an avatar to the PDF.
Upload logo or avatar option
Recipient acceptance flow
Upon receiving the PDF Template the recipient scans the QR code.
They are then led to a secure acceptance screen where they can accept buy logging in or creating an account.
Once accepted, the gift card is automatically added to the recipient’s secure digital wallet.
Recipient acceptance flow
III. Final Designs
A selection of some of the PDF templates
IV. Outcome
The PDF templates allowed for a more personal touch compared to digital gifting. This solution not only addresses the need for physical gifting but also enhances the digital experience by integrating seamlessly with our existing digital wallet.
The success lead to a 33% increase in total sales. Customers appreciated the ease of use, where they could instantly download, print, and gift in person.
33%
increase in total sales
Charities
We also partnered with charities who required the gift cards to be activated for recipients who had no phone access. To accommodate this, we developed a feature allowing them to toggle on or off activation.
V. Next steps
Phase 1 – Digital Enhancement
Following the success of our initial efforts, we wanted to expand this feature across our entire digital purchasing process. By utilising the existing creative assets from the PDFs, customers could choose an occasion, the recipient would then receive a SMS or email message corresponding to that occasion
Phase 2 – Design your own
The next significant enhancement involves replacing the current logo and avatar section with a single image upload feature. This upgrade will enable users to fully personalise their PDF templates, a crucial advantage for our business clients making bulk purchases.
