PrizeRebel: Complete Redesign + Gamification
I led the redesign of PrizeRebel, creating a modern, user-friendly interface with responsive design using Tailwind and a new scalable design system with Tailgrids. I managed the entire project lifecycle, including user research, branding, wireframing, and designing. My goal was to create an intuitive and rewarding experience that would increase user engagement and streamline navigation. The new branding reflects a simple, modern yet energizing aesthetic that aligns with the updated interface, creating a cohesive and engaging user experience.
Date
November 2024 - Current
Role
Lead Product Designer
Company
PrizeRebel, opinion website where members are rewarded for completing opinion surveys and signup offers in exchange for gift cards and cash
Problem
PrizeRebel's website was outdated, cluttered, and difficult to navigate, leading to a poor user experience and high bounce rate—especially among new users. The platform lacked a consistent design system and cohesive branding, making the interface feel disjointed. With most users on mobile, the site’s lack of mobile-friendliness was a major issue, especially as competitors introduced simpler, cleaner UIs. Additionally, longtime users were accustomed to the old interface, making change a challenge.
Research
To understand people who take surveys, I conducted market research and created user personas.
To understand PrizeRebel's users, I also conducted surveys and interviews with the beta release to get feedback.
Solution
As the lead designer, I transformed the outdated, cluttered interface into a modern, intuitive, and mobile-friendly platform. My goal was to create a clean, organized layout that made it easy for users to find surveys, guiding them seamlessly with clear calls-to-action. To make this happen, I wore many hats from branding, graphic design, UX research, UI design, architecture, project management, UX strategy, and even hands-on implementation.
1) Branding & Design System
The first step was to reimagine the brand's identity and design system. I wanted the new look to feel minimalistic, approachable, and accessible, while still being exciting. Building on the existing assets, I developed new graphic elements to add warmth and personality. I collaborated with other designers, used AI for visuals, and pushed my own design skills to expand the brand’s visual identity.
Next, I built a scalable design system using Tailwind, a utility-first CSS framework, and adapted Tailgrids, a component library, to fit PrizeRebel’s needs.
2) User flow, Information Architecture, and Sitemaps
To understand the user journey, I mapped out the product's structure and flow, aiming for a seamless, intuitive experience that met both user and business needs. This process revealed inefficiencies and confusing logic, and guided the improvements to the navigation header, onboarding flow, and content hierarchy.
3) The fun part- designing the new site!
With a solid foundation in place, I began iterating on all the pages—prioritizing business needs, build cost, and usability.
A deep dive on the changes to the homepage:
Problem
Survey access was buried: Surveys were the most used feature and the most profitable. But, users had to navigate away from the homepage to view all available surveys, adding unnecessary friction to the core experience.
Partner tab caused confusion: Tabs were poorly designed—too small, icon-based, and blended into the header. Experienced users preferred certain partners, but this also created bias. More importantly, newer users didn’t understand what survey partners were or why they mattered. They selected surveys based on points or time, but they couldn’t sort all the surveys based on these characteristics.
Low value content dominated the page: Eight oversized homepage cards (rarely clicked) pushed surveys below the fold, cluttered the interface, and cheapened the look. Items like raffles, reward goals, and referrals had limited relevance to most users and cluttered the interface. At the same time, high-converting promotions were overlooked: Despite strong conversion data, bonuses and giveaways were hidden in the side panel and styled like an ad.
Survey cards lacked hierarchy: Users cared about point value and time, but the cards prioritized irrelevant data like survey numbers and had a ambiguous parking icon.
Solution
Taking surveys can be tedious, but for many users, it’s a meaningful way to earn extra cash. I wanted to respect that effort by making the experience more engaging and rewarding. Inspired by Actionable Gamification, I asked myself: How do I want users to feel? The answer was clear—accomplished, proud, and motivated to keep going. That led to the next question: How might we make that happen? From there, I began layering in game mechanics that celebrate progress, achievements, and create those little moments of joy that make a big difference.
Gamification Techniques
Points as a motivator
The user’s point balance is shown in the global header, keeping their progress and achievement constantly visible. (game technique #1) The Daily Challenge and Streaks feature uses a progress bar (Game technique #4) and a countdown timer (game technique #65) to create urgency and a clear “win-state” that encourages daily progress.
However, just showing progress isn’t enough, the users need to feel that it matters. That means the system needs to feel fair and rewarding, not just a gamified profit engine. This requires actively gathering feedback and calculating cost to strike the right balance between motivation and trust.
Reworked leveling system
The tier system was reimagined with new perks, polished badge designs, and a final Emerald tier to give high-performing users a new milestone to strive toward. A dedicated leveling page lets users track their status. These perks aren’t incentives, but a way to honor users’ effort, make earning easier, and reinforce a sense of value.
To make leveling up more exciting, we added mini mystery reward box users can open each time they leveled up. That sense of unpredictability builds anticipation and a small win. (game technique #72)
Replaced the dull, obscure crediting message with an engaging animation for a delightful small win moment.
Raffles and Leaderboards were given their own pages and respective redesign, but adds to the gamification experience.
Promotions, bonuses, and giveaways got the #1 spot in the carousel and styled to feel native and impossible to miss.
These changes weren’t just visual upgrades - they were emotional ones, designed to make users feel proud, seen, and motivated to keep going.
After: These are additional pages that went through its own wireframing, iterations, and redesign.
Result
The redesigned PrizeRebel experience in the beta release stage and rolling out in phases, with early feedback showing promising signs of improved usability and clarity. Based on usability testing and early beta responses, we’re projecting a 40% increase in user engagement and a 30% decrease in bounce rates once the redesign is fully live. The new design system and branding not only modernized the platform but also laid the foundation for faster iterations and consistent design.
Jerry Han, Founder @ PrizeRebel
Grace is extraordinary, and it's been a pleasure to work with her over the last few years. With the ability to work independently while considering key business objectives, Grace started with smaller tasks and then became a core part of our team on larger projects. She focuses on the important business needs while being mindful of costs and build time. We have been very pleased with her work in overhauling our site UX and establishing a design system for long term sustainability.
After collaborating with several designers in recent years, it’s clear that Grace excels at being adaptable and responsible while completing excellent work. I'd be happy to work with Grace again on any and all future projects.