Interview with: Shawnda Williams, Principal UX & Product Strategy Consultant, Southern Fried Concepts

My background is in UX strategy, design, and digital product leadership. I've been doing this work for over 20 years across industries—from tech to retail to healthcare—but the common thread has always been creating experiences that deliver real value to both the business and the customer. I started out in traditional graphic design and grew into leading multidisciplinary teams across UX, service design, and product strategy.

I got into loyalty program design because it sits at the perfect intersection of behavioral psychology, product thinking, and customer experience. Loyalty isn't just about discounts—it's about building trust, deepening engagement, and turning one-time buyers into lifelong fans. With brands like REI and now Ariat, I've had the opportunity to reimagine loyalty as a strategic growth lever. My sweet spot is helping teams rethink how loyalty shows up across digital and physical touchpoints, and making sure the experience feels rewarding from the start—not just in theory, but in practice.

Honestly, it started with noticing the disconnect between what brands think motivates customers and what actually does. Early in my career, I saw beautifully designed experiences fall flat because they didn't align with real human behavior. What stood out even more was how rarely brands asked customers what "better" actually looked like—or took the time to validate those changes with them. That gap is what pulled me toward behavioral psychology. It offers a clearer lens into what drives decisions, builds trust, and creates long-term loyalty—and it grounds design in something more meaningful than assumptions.

As my career progressed, so did the evolution of loyalty—from punch cards to digital, member-based programs. These days, it's hard to have a retail experience without being asked to join one. But the majority are overly complex, highly transactional, or just... forgettable. I saw a real opportunity to design rewards programs that were not only simple to understand, but also genuinely valuable and emotionally resonant. And when you pair that with omnichannel engagement—meeting people where they are, whether they're shopping in-store or online—you've got the foundation for something lasting.

For me, it's about building loyalty programs that feel intuitive, motivating, and worth coming back for—not just systems that track purchases, but experiences that earn a customer's ongoing attention and advocacy.

One example is the work I'm doing with Ariat to reimagine their loyalty program, Ariat Insider. They had a solid foundation—a community of brand fans and a free-to-join membership—but the experience was mostly passive. There were no points, no tiers, and very few cues to keep customers engaged beyond the initial sign-up.

We applied behavioral psychology principles to rethink how the program could feel more rewarding and drive repeat engagement. For example, we introduced a simple, transparent point system—$1 = 1 point—with the first reward unlock at 200 points. That threshold hits a psychological sweet spot: it's close enough to feel achievable, but spaced far enough to build anticipation. We also layered in small moments of gratification, like welcome bonuses and double-point offers, to create early momentum.

Another key behavior shift was making progress more visible. We added progress indicators and microcopy to let members know how close they were to their next reward. That sense of "I'm almost there" taps into goal-gradient theory and nudges people to complete the journey.

The result is a loyalty program that feels clearer, more motivating, and better aligned with how people naturally think and shop—online or in-store.

For me, creating a seamless omnichannel loyalty experience starts with spending time on the ground—in the store, with the team, and ideally even talking to customers. There's often a disconnect between corporate strategy and what's actually happening in brick-and-mortar retail. To bridge that gap, I make it a point to observe firsthand how store teams operate, what kinds of customer questions they're fielding, and what workarounds they've come up with to solve real problems in the moment.

Retail teams are often the most in tune with the customer—they hear feedback in real time and see patterns corporate might miss. That "tribal knowledge" is incredibly valuable. I try to decode it and translate it into program features or touchpoints that feel natural and useful across both digital and physical channels.

It's not just about aligning systems—it's about understanding behaviors. Whether someone is shopping online, trying something on in-store, or doing both, the loyalty experience should feel connected, intuitive, and rewarding at every touchpoint. And that only happens when you ground the design in how things actually work on the floor—not just how we assume they work from a conference room.

One of the biggest challenges in designing loyalty programs for DTC brands is keeping the customer at the center while avoiding the parody trap—where brands copy what others are doing without asking if it actually serves their audience. There's so much sameness out there, and while best practices matter, they shouldn't replace listening to your own customers.

A good loyalty program can drive real connection and engagement—but a bad one doesn't just fall flat, it can actively turn people away. In my work, I've found that what's often missing is a clear signal of whether the program is genuinely delivering value to the customer. Too often, success is measured by proxy—like repeat purchases or redemption rates—without ever asking, "Is this actually working for them?"

I've pushed for building in customer feedback loops—whether that's in the form of surveys, journey testing, or even a concept like a "Loyalty Program Promoter Score." The idea is to move beyond just bribing customers with perks, and instead, design something they actually want to engage with—because it's useful, intuitive, and meaningful.

Loyalty programs and dark UX patterns unfortunately go hand in hand more often than we'd like—and not because there's some mustache-twirling villain in UX. More often, it comes from well-meaning but out-of-touch executives who are laser-focused on KPIs and short-term wins. I've been in rooms where the push was to prioritize quick lifts in enrollment or purchase frequency, even if it meant confusing the customer or burying the fine print—and I've lost jobs for challenging that mindset.

Balancing user needs with business objectives means advocating for long-term trust over short-term metrics. In one project, I had to push back against a proposal to make the rewards structure intentionally opaque to "encourage" more spending. Instead, I led the team in testing a clearer, more transparent structure—where customers understood exactly what they'd earn and when. The result? Fewer support tickets, higher engagement, and yes—better long-term retention.

It's not always easy, but I believe centering the customer is good for business. The quick wins you get from tricking or trapping customers almost always come with a cost down the line—whether it's churn, mistrust, or brand erosion.

Success in a loyalty program redesign has to be measured on two levels: business impact and customer value. It's easy to focus on enrollment numbers or redemption rates, but if customers don't understand the program—or worse, feel manipulated by it—those metrics can be misleading. I look for a balance of indicators: lift in repeat purchase rate, average order value, engagement with loyalty-specific touchpoints, and direct customer feedback, including NPS or qualitative insights tied to the experience.

At REI, we focused on optimizing digital membership acquisition, closing the gap between the in-store and online join rates. While the co-op membership had strong recognition in physical stores, the value proposition wasn't coming through clearly online. So we centered our redesign around three key strategies: Making the Value Clear, Amplifying Visibility, and Creating a Cohesive Identity.

We integrated real-time value calculators to show customers what they'd "miss" by not joining, used bold messaging and journey interrupters to highlight transactional benefits like dividends and free shipping, and introduced a distinct visual system—including membership color and badging—to reinforce recognition across the site.

The result? A measurable increase in digital conversion rates and stronger visibility of the program across key shopping moments. But more importantly, the feedback we received showed that customers better understood the membership and felt more confident in their decision to join—which, to me, is the clearest signal of success.

Customers are getting smarter and more selective. They're no longer impressed by generic discounts—they want loyalty programs that feel personal, contextual, and rewarding on their terms. AI and predictive modeling will help brands tailor experiences in real time, but only if they're built on a foundation of trust and a clear value exchange.

Another emerging trend is the shift toward interoperable loyalty ecosystems—where rewards or perks can travel with the customer across multiple brands or platforms. We're beginning to see early signs of this with Shopify's Shop Cash, a rewards feature within the Shop app. Customers earn 1% back on eligible purchases made using Shop Pay, and those Shop Cash dollars can be redeemed across thousands of participating merchants within the Shopify ecosystem. It's a small but meaningful step toward loyalty programs that aren't confined to a single brand.

We're not fully there yet, but consumer expectations are clearly heading in that direction—and brands that design for this future will be better positioned to build lasting relationships.