“Buy” is one of the most profitable product in Plusgrade’s loyalty commerce portfolio, allowing airlines and hotels to sell points and miles directly to members. Despite its revenue contribution, the product’s design had stagnated: an outdated single-page flow with dropdowns exceeding 200 options, no contextual information about purchases, and limited mobile usability. Only frequent, savvy loyalty members understood what they were buying, leaving mainstream users confused.

Simultaneously, Plusgrade was migrating to a new software platform for compliance and operational reasons. This shift created both a challenge – rebuilding a core product under time constraints – and an opportunity to modernize the product line, address long-standing usability issues, and create a scalable design system for future offerings.

The redesign set four key goals: increase member conversion, design with accessibility as a priority, create flexible solutions adaptable to diverse airline and hotel needs, and successfully migrate to the new platform.

The project began with a three-day design sprint involving stakeholders across departments, which surfaced critical pain points and aligned expectations. Research combined competitive analysis, in-market A/B testing, and direct user interviews provided by partners. This uncovered gaps in clarity, accessibility, and mobile responsiveness.

From there, the design team iterated rapidly over 4–5 weeks, exploring multiple prototypes. Quick-select buttons, sliders, and contextual purchase information were introduced based on evidence from prior successful tests and strong partner feedback.

The design evolved through cycles of internal review, partner feedback, and usability testing. Visual improvements added color and clear information hierarchy, while interaction changes simplified decision-making and reduced errors.

Embedding design with SMEs, engineering, and delivery teams ensured feasibility and compliance at every stage. This collaboration allowed the product to meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards, migrate seamlessly to the new platform, and deliver a flexible template adaptable across multiple clients. Despite limited time for testing, the final product was validated by stakeholders and prepared for rapid rollout to airline and hotel partners.

Launched with more than seven major international travel companies in 2023–2024, LCR Buy 4 achieved immediate performance improvements: +40% growth in overall customer conversion within the first week and over 100% growth in mobile usage. The migration to the new platform was executed successfully without disruption to client operations.

For leadership, this case illustrates how a product redesign, tied to a platform migration, can serve as both a technical necessity and a strategic opportunity. The key learning is that combining research-led design with cross-functional embedding enables delivery of measurable business outcomes under tight timelines. The project strengthened Plusgrade’s market position and provided a scalable foundation for future loyalty commerce products.