Ampli is a set-it-and-forget-it rewards loyalty mobile app, where customers are automatically rewarded for shopping. By linking their bank accounts to the Ampli app, customers can earn an Ampli cash balance. When $15 in cash back has accumulated, customers can e-transfer and deposit it to their bank accounts.
As Ampli scaled its merchant network, browsing became a bottleneck. I led a small design team to build a search experience that could handle growing complexity while staying intuitive. I worked closely with Operations, Development, Marketing, and Partnerships through workshops, UX research and stakeholder alignment to translate cross-functional requirements into a shipped feature.
Users struggled to find relevant offers without a search feature, wasting time scrolling through long lists. Existing filters were disorganized and hard to use, making offer discovery frustrating and inefficient. Internal data announced to the network on December 5, 2022 confirmed the scale of the problem: 25,901 offers and 18,856 stores with no structured way to navigate them.
The goal was simple: help users find offers faster. I defined requirements with cross-functional teams across development, operations, marketing, and partnerships on Confluence to deliver ideal search functionalities: keyword search, brand search, search history logs, and search suggestions, all accessible directly from the home screen.
Competitive analysis revealed what makes search work well. Some competitors offered basic keyword search, while others provided vast search parameters such as personalized search with category tags that helped users understand results and refine their queries. These insights shaped a search experience built around balanced exploration and precision, giving users control through filters, suggestions, and clear visual cues.
I explored multiple approaches through wireframes: large vs. small search components, different entry points, and varying content hierarchies. I shared concepts early with development to address technical constraints and logic questions. Through two FigJam workshops, we worked towards prioritizing feasible features and defined MVP scope vs. future iterations, creating a clear implementation roadmap.
I validated concepts through unmoderated and moderated usability tests with Ampli users and the general public. Working closely with the CX team, I structured tests to understand search needs and behaviors. Testing revealed several challenges: users struggled to locate the search bar in low-fidelity wireframes, relied heavily on robust search capability for both searching and filtering, felt frustrated by no-result dead ends, and preferred seeing offers before brands in results for layout preference.
I translated these findings into design updates: improved search bar visibility, prioritized offers over brands in results, and added personalized content to no-result pages to keep users engaged. Additional refinements were addressed during development and QA.
Search is accessible through the Earn tab and remains sticky at the top when scrolled. Clicking opens an overlay screen. In the initial state, users can browse through a list of categories and see previous searches. Users can search for either brands or offers. When users type a partial search term (e.g., 'Hel' for HelloFresh) and click Go, they are taken to results that prioritize offers over brands for better discoverability. Results can be refined using filters for Brand, Categories, and tags.
The search feature launched successfully, giving users a structured way to navigate hundreds of offers and brands for the first time. Inline filtering in the home page decreased 20–30%, showing users preferred search for finding specific brands directly. However, 60% of searches returned no results, which surfaced a clear signal: users were looking for brands Ampli did not yet carry, including Walmart, Best Buy, Apple, and Amazon. Rather than a failure, it became a roadmap, pointing directly to where partnership expansion needed to go next.