In 2023, Flybuys embarked on a bold strategic transformation to reinvent its mobile app experience, aligning with its vision to become Australia’s leading loyalty program. With mobile as the primary channel for member engagement, the existing app was no longer fit for purpose—lagging behind competitors, burdened by technical debt, and failing to meet rising member expectations. The new Flybuys app was designed to be the digital front door to the program, enabling members to collect and redeem rewards effortlessly.

As the lead designer, I was responsible for:

• Designing UX flows informed by strategic direction and customer insights, ensuring a member-first approach to navigation and interaction.
• Preparing and running baseline IA testing of the existing app using Treejack to validate navigation and uncover usability issues.
• Creating the visual identity for the future app experience, aligned with the evolved Flybuys brand.
• Building the design system in collaboration with engineers, including coded components to support rapid development and maintain design fidelity.

Collaborating closely with:

• The Strategy team to reimagine the future of the Flybuys App and help shape its direction based on business goals and member needs.

As mobile became the primary channel for engagement, Flybuys needed to close the gap between rising user demands and the outdated experience. The new app was envisioned as the Digital Front Door to the program—delivering a seamless, intuitive experience that empowers members to collect, redeem, and manage rewards, while unlocking value across the Flybuys coalition.

To support its goal of growing the active member base from 9 to 12 million by FY28, Flybuys needed to deliver a more personalized, digitally integrated, and brand-aligned experience. Reimagining the app as the primary channel for engagement was a strategic opportunity to drive deeper member interaction, showcase partner value, and unlock the full potential of the coalition.

Timeline: 8 months

Ideation and prototyping

Guided by the Strategy and Customer Experience teams, I translated strategic direction into tangible member experiences.

My contributions included:

• Conducting IA testing of the legacy app using Treejack to identify navigation pain points.
• Creating the visual identity for the future app experience.
• Co-developing a design system for rapid development.
• Designing high-impact future-state concepts to inspire stakeholder alignment.
• Detailing the “Now” package for initial release and collaborating with the Delivery team to hand over production-ready designs.
• Supporting ongoing design decisions through testing and feedback loops. The design work was grounded in key principles: simplicity, to reduce friction and make navigation intuitive; accessibility, to ensure inclusivity across member demographics; personalization, to tailor experiences based on user behavior; and consistency, to maintain a cohesive and scalable interface across the app.

To evaluate the new app’s design and functionality, we conducted unmoderated usability testing using Maze. Participants completed tasks such as activating offers, choosing a reward and setting a goal, providing realistic insights into usability and engagement. Testing revealed strong ease-of-use and enjoyment, indicating high potential for post-launch adoption. Navigation improvements made core features more intuitive, while testing setting a goal flows highlighted friction points that guided refinements. Feedback on visual hierarchy confirmed alignment with user expectations and offered suggestions to enhance clarity and aesthetics.

Defined and executed the app’s detailed design, ensuring light and dark theme consistency, AA accessibility compliance, brand alignment, and technical feasibility, while working closely with lead engineers and the delivery squad to meet requirements and deadlines.

Following months of cross-functional collaboration, with the team we successfully delivered a comprehensive set of validated design concepts that aligned with Flybuys’ strategic vision. These concepts laid the groundwork for a launch of the new app in September 2024. The initial release introduced a completely re-architected platform, supported by a scalable design system and a refreshed user experience. It met the core objective of enabling faster iteration and more agile feature delivery. The base version ensured members could continue engaging with the features they valued most, while facilitating a smooth transition and effective decommissioning of the legacy app.