The Pancake Parlour
Loyalty App UX/UI

Brief: Improve the UX for a loyalty app used by 500K+ members.

Challenge: Platform limitations and tight deadlines meant not all design requests could be implemented. This required me to rethink flows and iterate quickly with overseas developers and the head of strategy.

Solution / Approach:

  • Created prototypes in Figma and UI assets.

  • Iterated with developers to adjust designs to platform constraints while keeping flows intuitive.

  • Applied refreshed brand guidelines (colours, typography, iconography) to unify the app experience.

  • Balanced business goals (retention and spend) with user needs (clarity and usability) to ensure features were usable, accessible, and on-brand.

Impact:

  • 74% increase in weekly visits

  • Lift in per-user spend

Client
The Pancake Parlour

Year
2025

Research & Discovery

To kick off, I focused on diagnosing pain points in the existing app and benchmarking against competitors.

User Pain Points (from feedback & testing the old app):

  • Clunky navigation and long loading times

  • Inability to pay or redeem points reliably

  • Issues with voucher redemption

  • Poor integration with POS

  • Overall lack of trust in app performance

Competitor Analysis:

I reviewed other hospitality loyalty apps and completed a SWOT analysis. This revealed best practices around:

  • Seamless payment integrations

  • Transparent points tracking

  • Intuitive voucher redemption flows

  • Clean navigation and user dashboards

  • Gamification opportunities

Design Process

Building on the research, my goal was to streamline the app experience so members could earn, track, and redeem rewards with ease. I focused on simplifying flows, aligning visuals with the refreshed brand, and designing within the technical constraints of the platform.

Wireframes & Iteration

  • Created proto-types in Figma

  • Tested flows internally with the strategy team

  • Adjusted designs based on developer feedback to fit within platform constraints

UI & Branding

  • Applied new brand guidelines (colour palette, typography, iconography)

  • Updated buttons and loyalty assets to feel consistent and modern

  • Balanced accessibility (legibility, hierarchy) with the playful brand tone

  • Designed mockups for App store

Impact

  • 74% increase in weekly member visits

  • Lift in per-user spend

  • Stronger alignment between app and brand refresh

"Jess has been an incredible asset to our digital team. She played a key role in redesigning our loyalty app experience (used by over half a million members) and contributed to a significant uplift in engagement and spend per customer. She also led the overhaul of our website, making it not only more user-friendly but also driving measurable improvements in traffic and session duration.

Jess brings together creativity, strategic thinking, and a real eye for user experience - and she does it all with curiosity and energy that makes working with her a joy."

— Steve Babo, Head of Strategy at The Pancake Parlour