About Project
KFC Rewards is a loyalty program designed to increase customer engagement and retention by allowing members to earn points and redeem them for rewards. As the program continued to grow, the KFC Digital team explored new ways to make the experience more accessible, engaging, and valuable across kfc.com and the KFC app.
TL;DR
I worked across several feature initiatives within the KFC Rewards experience, including improvements to the login and sign-up flow, badges, challenges, non-food rewards, and the Funko Fusion promotional campaign. These features helped evolve the loyalty program beyond simple points redemption into a more interactive experience centered around brand engagement.
The Challenge
KFC Rewards had two major experience objectives.
First, members needed a smoother way to access their rewards account. The existing login experience created friction, with the magic link authentication flow becoming a recurring pain point for users. Customer feedback and app reviews indicated frustration with the login experience, and data showed that users were abandoning the authentication flow.
Second, the rewards program needed new ways to keep members engaged after logging in. KFC Digital wanted to introduce features that encouraged repeat interaction, rewarded participation, and expanded redemption beyond traditional food rewards.
Discovery & Research
At the start of the project, the team aligned around business goals, user pain points, technical constraints, timelines, and implementation expectations. This included collaboration with product managers, product owners, marketing, designers, legal, and engineering partners.
For the login experience, we identified magic link authentication as a key source of friction. Users were struggling to complete authentication, and feedback showed that the login flow was negatively affecting the overall rewards experience.
For the broader rewards work, we reviewed available data, past research, and competitive loyalty programs to understand how other brands encouraged participation, achievement, and repeat engagement. This helped identify patterns that could be applied to KFC Rewards, including progress-based actions, collectible states, reward discovery, and promotional redemption mechanics.
Designing The Experience
The design process followed a repeatable workflow across each feature initiative.
User Journey Mapping
I created user journey diagrams to map key flows, including login, sign-up, badge discovery, reward redemption, and campaign participation. This helped clarify which screens were essential, where users might experience friction, and how each feature should connect back to the rewards dashboard.
Wireframing & Prototyping
I explored multiple design directions through rapid wireframing and prototyping. These concepts were reviewed with UX partners and project stakeholders to evaluate clarity, usability, technical feasibility, and alignment with the existing design system.
Testing, Feedback & Validation
Designs were reviewed weekly with the UX team and project stakeholders. Feedback was incorporated into each iteration to move the designs closer to approval and implementation. This helped the team compare options, identify risks, and align on the strongest direction before handoff.
Accessibility Considerations
Accessibility was considered throughout the design process, including clear form validation, readable content structure, responsive behavior, and interaction clarity across web and app experiences.
Improved Login &
Sign Up
Members needed a smoother way to create and access their KFC Rewards accounts. The existing magic link flow created friction, so the team moved toward a password-free OTP authentication pattern.
This allowed us to simplify the entry experience by removing the need for users to create or remember a password. Instead of maintaining separate login and sign-up screens, we unified the experience into one entry point where the backend could identify whether the user was new or returning.
We also placed the sign-up flow inside a modal to help users understand that account creation was still connected to the core experience, rather than feeling like they had been taken away from their original task.
Finally, we redesigned account creation as a more linear, step-by-step flow. Instead of presenting users with a long form, the experience was broken into faster, more manageable steps with inline validation to help reduce errors and abandonment.
Badges
Badges were designed with both locked and unlocked states. When locked, users could preview the badge and understand what action was required to earn it. Once unlocked, the badge became a visible achievement that could be collected and shared.
The strategic purpose of badges was to create a sense of progress and achievement within the loyalty program. Rather than only rewarding users with points, badges gave members a more emotional and collectible reason to participate.
Challenges
Challenges were designed to encourage members to complete specific actions within the rewards experience. These actions could help users explore new menu items, return to the app, or participate in limited-time campaigns.
I worked with the team to define how challenges would live within the existing rewards program, how users would discover them, and how completion behavior would be communicated.
The strategic purpose of challenges was to increase repeat engagement by giving users clear actions to complete in exchange for rewards.
Non Food Rewards
Non-food rewards expanded the redemption experience beyond free food. These rewards included merchandise and in-game downloadable content, giving members more ways to use their points and interact with the KFC brand.
This feature helped broaden the rewards program’s appeal by supporting different types of member motivation. Some users may be motivated by food discounts, while others may be excited by branded goods, collectibles, or digital content.
The strategic purpose of non-food rewards was to make the loyalty program feel more flexible, campaign-friendly, and culturally relevant.
Funko Fusion
The Funko Fusion campaign brought several of these features together into one promotional experience. KFC Rewards members could redeem points for exclusive in-game KFC content, receive a promo code, and collect a related badge within their rewards profile.
This campaign was significant because it marked the debut of badges and non-food redemption rewards within the KFC Rewards experience. It also showed how the loyalty program could support broader brand partnerships.
The strategic value of this work was that it connected rewards, digital collectibles, and partner-based promotional content into one cohesive member experience.
Implementation & Handoff
As the designs moved toward final approval, I focused on preparing the work for development and cross functional implementation.
Responsive Design
The features were designed for both kfc.com and the KFC app, with careful consideration for desktop, tablet, and mobile experiences.
Cross Team Communication
Cross-functional communication was critical throughout the project. I worked with development to understand technical constraints, partnered with Product on goals and requirements, aligned with UX teammates to maintain design system alignment, collaborated with marketing on copy and brand voice, and supported legal review where compliance was required.
UX Annotations
I created clear UX annotations to support implementation. These annotations documented intended behavior, interaction details, states, content requirements, and edge cases. This helped bridge the gap between design and development during handoff.
Impact
This work helped improve and expand the KFC Rewards experience across multiple areas of the loyalty journey.
The login improvements made it easier for members to authenticate without being pulled away from the core experience. The rewards features introduced new engagement mechanics that encouraged users to participate beyond standard points redemption.
Together, these initiatives helped evolve KFC Rewards from a transactional loyalty program into a more interactive digital experience.
Reflection
This project reinforced that loyalty design is not only about rewards — it is about motivation, clarity, and access.
A rewards program can have compelling features, but if users struggle to log in, those features lose value. Similarly, once users are inside the experience, the program needs to give them clear reasons to return. The strongest design decisions came from treating login, badges, challenges, and redemption as connected parts of one larger loyalty journey.