The disconnect
GoodRx helps millions save on prescriptions by offering coupons, pricing transparency, and discounts across pharmacies. They're known for helping people save money, but discounts alone aren't enough to build lasting relationships.
The Rewards program was meant to deepen engagement by letting users earn points and redeem them for discounts. But there was a fundamental disconnect: 95% of users were redeeming points for gift cards to Starbucks, Nike, and other retailers—pulling them away from GoodRx's core health mission.
Exploring different approaches
For GoodRx
Rewards dollars flowed to other retailers instead of driving incremental prescription fills. Users were cashing out and leaving the ecosystem rather than building prescription habits, undermining our retention strategy.
For users
The current POS redemption flow required users to generate a new rewards discount for each prescription, creating confusion at the pharmacy counter. 55% of POS redemptions went unused, representing significant wasted effort and missed savings.
Learning from best practices
To understand how other rewards programs approached redemption, I conducted a competitive assessment of both direct competitors and adjacent industries. I analyzed:
Earning models
How users accumulated points or rewards
Redemption flow
The actual user experience of redeeming rewards
User engagement patterns
What drove users to participate and return
01
Increase visibility
Surface the POS redemption entry point earlier in the user journey (e.g., coupon flow) instead of burying it in the Rewards tab to reduce friction and improve discoverability.
02
Simplify the process
Minimize friction by reducing the number of steps and decision points, making the experience intuitive and fast.
03
Clarify value proposition
Use clear, direct language that ties point usage to real savings and helps users understand the immediate value of redeeming in-app.
Establishing a better foundation
This competitive assessment informed not just individual features, but helped establish design principles that could scale across GoodRx's broader rewards ecosystem. It also led me to start with foundational changes in partnership with Product, Engineering, and Content Design to our current experience.
While Engineering made changes to make POS redemption more visible and add strategic friction to gift cards, I partnered with another designer to tackle design explorations for the core redemption flow.
Exploring different approaches
Based on our research findings and design principles, my design partner and I explored two different approaches for how and when users could redeem their rewards.
Variant A: per-prescription control (user agency)
Users specify which prescription to apply rewards to
Addresses desire for control identified in previous research
Tests whether agency outweighs simplicity
I led the design exploration for this variant.
Variant B: general application (max simplicity)
One-step action to apply rewards to next prescription
Eliminates all specification requirements (drug, pharmacy, amount)
Tests whether removing all friction drives highest adoption
My design partner led the exploration for this variant.
Prioritizing user agency
When we presented both variants to leadership, they prioritized user agency. They felt it was more important to start with explicit control rather than automation.
We moved forward with Variant A as the MVP, while keeping Variant B as a secondary test for future iterations.
Adapting to new constraints
Despite leadership's initial decision to move forward with Variant A, circumstances soon changed.
About a month into the project, we hit a significant constraint. During a reorganization, a new engineering team inherited our project and my design partner rolled onto another project. Unfamiliar with the Rewards infrastructure, the new team underestimated the technical level of effort. When they discovered the complexity for Variant A was far higher than initially estimated, we faced a decision point.
We pivoted to Variant B. While this meant sacrificing some user agency, it aligned better with our core goal: remove friction and make the value clear.
After making this decision, I partnered with UX Research to validate the simplified redemption flow through usability testing with GoodRx users.
The redesign
The redesigned POS rewards experience launched in March 2025 with three key improvements:
Prominent placement
Restructured the Rewards tab to make prescription discounts the hero option, with gift cards moved to a secondary position.
One-tap redemption
Eliminated all specification requirements; users just tap "Confirm" and their reward automatically applies to their next eligible prescription.
Clear confirmation
Post-redemption screen explains exactly what happens next, removing uncertainty and building confidence.
Key usability findings
Moderated and unmoderated research surfaced four issues:
01
Many users were unaware they were enrolled in the Rewards program or didn’t understand how points were earned or redeemed.
Low awareness + understanding of Rewards
02
After redeeming, users felt uncertain whether it “worked.” Some thought they needed to call the pharmacy, take a screenshot, or show the confirmation screen at pickup.
Uncertainty post-redemption
03
Several users misinterpreted language like “$4 off your next purchase,” assuming it applied to e-commerce or a future transaction, not their prescription.
Misleading language around savings
04
A few participants expected more control over which medication the rewards were applied to, especially for higher-cost prescriptions.
Desire for more control
Translating insights into designs
In collaboration with a content designer, I redesigned the flow to reduce uncertainty after redemption and clearly outline next steps for both new and returning users.
Together, we refined the content to make the experience easier to trust and understand, helping users feel confident their rewards were applied.
Measuring impact
After launch, we monitored how the redesigned flow influenced user behavior and engagement. Early results showed strong signs that our simplified approach was working.
145%
$226k
Continuing the momentum
Following the initial launch, our data partner recommended expanding to 100% of traffic. From there, we planned to test intent-based optimizations, strengthen follow-through with better feedback mechanisms, and continue refining messaging to improve clarity and trust.
Designing for future enhancements
In parallel, I worked with Product to scope future design iterations. These focused on fast-follow experiments aimed at deepening engagement and simplifying the experience even further:
Combined one-page redemption
Better feedback loops
Support user agency
Reflections
Align early, align often
One of the biggest lessons from this project was the importance of early alignment, especially around foundational elements like earning models and business logic. Late-stage misalignment slowed us down and forced a few last-minute pivots that could have been avoided with tighter upfront communication across cross-functional partners.
Technical understanding is product understanding
We partnered with a new Engineering team unfamiliar with parts of the existing Rewards infrastructure. This led to an early underestimation of the technical lift and required us to pivot quickly from our original design direction. In future work, getting engineers up to speed and pressure-testing feasibility early is essential.
Adaptability under pressure
Despite these challenges, the team remained adaptable. We moved quickly, made tough calls, and prioritized clarity in the user experience. The shift to a simpler MVP allowed us to meet deadlines without compromising on core goals.
Cross-functional collaboration was key
This project was a true team effort. Design and Product aligned closely on the strategy, while User Research provided clarity on user expectations and pain points. I collaborated early with Engineering to run our IA experiment, and we worked closely with Data and Business Insights to measure impact during and after launch. That level of cross-functional trust was instrumental in getting this off the ground. It also set the tone for future iterations.
