IMPERFECT FOODS
Making it easier for customers to refer their friends

Client
Imperfect Foods delivers groceries on a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone.
Timeframe
October 2022
Role
Summary
I designed a new dashboard that would allow our customers to track the status of their referrals. The dashboard also makes it easy for customers to nudge their friends to complete the sign up process resulting in increased referral conversions.
Designer
Tools
Figma
User Zoom
Problem
Our customers were frustrated by the lack of visibility into our referral program. They wanted the ability to see wether or not their friends had signed up for the service and if not they wanted the ability to easily send them a reminder.
“I don’t know if any of them have signed up yet, I just keep telling them and referring them and telling them and referring them.”
- Angie, Imperfect Foods customer
Goal
Find a design solution that will empower our customers to easily check the status of their referrals and to send reminders to friends who haven't sign up yet.
Constraints
Imperfect works with a third party to manage referrals which meant I needed to work with them to find a solution. It also meant I would have limited control over the layout and ability to incorporate brand elements into the design.

Getting started
First, I determined that the new dashboard would live on the current Refer a Friend page.

Variation #1
This option is the most similar to the partner provided examples and focuses primarily on the customer’s monetary incentive to refer friends.

Variation #2
This approach centers on using text instead of images to address the customer's driving factors. Text can be quickly adjusted to experiment and determine which of our customers' primary motivations—saving money, supporting our mission, or convenience—is most effective.

Variation #3
This option focuses heavily on Imperfect’s mission. Specifically highlighting the impact you and your friends have by saving food, water, and CO2e.
I chose existing components from other touch-points in the customer journey, namely the impact counter, to maintain visual brand consistency.

User Testing
We decided to move forward with #3 and get a prototype into user testing.
During user testing, we learned that while the majority of users felt the new dashboard would be helpful for tracking the status of their referrals they had trouble navigating to it from the main account page.
75%
of users thought the dashboard would be helpful
76%
of users found it difficult to find their referral dashboard

Iterating
Based on user feedback, I proposed adding a module to the My Account page directly under the current referral widget directing customers to view their referral history.
As this was not in scope of the original project, I opted to keep the solution simple and low lift.

Impact
The feature was not released, but if it had been, we would have evaluated its impact by measuring referral conversions and the percentage of customers who re-send their referrals.

Team
Tay Gmahling, Designer
Ali Weeks, Copy Writer
Sarah Argus, Product Design Manager
Ben Kane, Sr. Product Manager
Jason Arnold, Engineering Manager
Karen Satchwell, Lifecycle Marketing Manager