Client
Nationwide
Role
UX / UI Designer
Duration
3 weeks
Platform
Online tool
Nationwide is one of the UK’s largest retail banks, known for prioritising its employees' well-being through comprehensive benefits packages. However, despite offering valuable perks, engagement with the benefits platform was low. Employees were either unaware of certain perks or found the process of accessing them cumbersome.
As the Lead Product Designer, I was tasked with redesigning the experience, making it more intuitive, engaging, and rewarding. The solution needed to boost employee interaction and drive higher adoption of benefits through an engaging and seamless digital experience.
Tools:
Nationwide’s employee benefits platform struggled with low adoption as employees were often unaware of available perks or found the platform difficult to navigate. Without structured incentives or a clear feedback loop, engagement remained low. A design solution was needed to encourage interaction, simplify access, and improve overall participation in benefits. Key challenges included:
Lack of awareness
Employees were unaware of the full range of benefits available to them.
Low motivation
There was no compelling reason for employees to explore and use the benefits.
No clear feedback loop
Employees were not rewarded or acknowledged for engaging with the platform.
The new digital tool centred around engagement through gamification and personalisation. Instead of a static benefits platform, I designed an interactive experience where employees could track progress, unlock rewards, and receive tailored benefit suggestions. This transformation turned a passive system into an engaging, dynamic tool that encouraged ongoing participation and made benefits selection more rewarding.
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Using gamification techniques, I created a solution that matched employees with the most relevant benefits.
Employees would take a quick personality test that, depending on their answers, would match them to one of seven personality types, each with their own set of benefits. A decision tree algorithm was fundamental in producing meaningful and accurate results, and as such, I was continuously testing and tweaking the questions to optimise the experience.
An early draft of the potential logic and user journey
Wireframe development
To drive engagement, I leveraged gamification principles and UX best practices to make accessing benefits more rewarding and intuitive. Key UX strategies included:
Gamification elements – Introduced rewards, badges, and progress tracking to make benefit discovery engaging.
Personalisation – Designed a recommendation engine that tailored benefits based on employees’ needs and preferences.
Simplified content – Revamped platform to make finding relevant perks effortless.
Interactive onboarding – Created an engaging introduction to familiarise employees with the platform and highlight key benefits.
Feedback loops – Implemented achievement tracking and recognition to encourage continued engagement.
This project coincided with Nationwide’s new corporate rebrand, and as such, I had to ensure that the new look and feel were integrated seamlessly. As this was the first piece of interactive marketing that was going to reflect the new brand, close collaboration with the brand team was essential to maintain consistency.
I seamlessly integrated Nationwide’s new branding by balancing primary and secondary colours, adapting their 3D illustrations, and refining iconography. My design ensured a cohesive, modern look while enhancing usability, making benefits selection intuitive and visually engaging across desktop and mobile platforms.
Nationwide’s new corporate rebrand was done as apart of this project
The final solution combined gamification, personalisation, and intuitive design to create an engaging and seamless benefits selection experience.
The benefit selection tool drove a 57% benefits uptake, significantly increasing engagement. Employees, especially in frontline retail roles, found it invaluable for quickly identifying relevant benefits. Gamification elements and personalised recommendations sustained long-term participation, reinforcing Nationwide’s rebranding and commitment to employee well-being.
This project showed how gamification and UX design drive behaviour change by making interactions engaging and rewarding. By integrating incentives and intuitive design, I encouraged employees to explore benefits, leading to lasting improvements in engagement and adoption rates. Key takeaways included:
Moving forward, future opportunities include expanding the gamification framework, integrating AI-driven recommendations, and adding social elements to further drive participation.
