Improving user registeration

The Brief Improve signup and ID verification

Blue Light Card provides exclusive discounts to professionals in the NHS, emergency services, social care sector, and armed forces. With over 2 million registered members, the platform offers more than 15,000 discounts from major national retailers and local businesses across various categories, including holidays, cars, fashion, gifts, insurance, and more.

My Role

As a Senior UX Designer, I was responsible for leading the end-to-end UX improvements for the registration process. My contributions included:

• UX Ownership: Led the redesign of the registration journey, ensuring a seamless user experience.
• Visual Refresh: Integrated the new brand identity into the registration flow.
• Technical Implementation: Developed and tested components using PHP (Twig), HTML, SCSS, and Bootstrap.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Provided UX/UI support to a 20-member tech team.
• Stakeholder Management: Consulted with marketing teams and external agencies on brand refinement.
• A/B Testing & Optimisation:
• Implemented split URL testing via VWO.
• Managed risk with a small user testing pool.
• Analysed results using Tableau for data-driven iterations.
• Compliance & Best Practices: Applied GDS form design guidelines to improve accessibility and usability.

The Challenge Quality Over Quantity

During the COVID-19 pandemic, brands increasingly recognised the contributions of healthcare workers and expanded their discount offerings. However, the registration process for Blue Light Card was outdated, cumbersome, and not optimised for modern user expectations.

Key Issues:

• Frustrating registration process with complex eligibility criteria
• Dated visual design
• Not optimised for mobile use
• Long and overwhelming forms
• High volume of registration-related queries to customer support
• Unmanaged and fragmented CSS, causing inconsistencies

Process & Approach Design Thinking

1. Business Logic & Journey Mapping

I began by mapping out the existing user journey and registration logic to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement. This process involved reviewing business rules, speaking with stakeholders, and analysing customer support queries.

2. Wireframing & Prototyping

• Created low-fidelity wireframes for initial discussions with stakeholders.
• Developed high-fidelity mockups to refine the experience.
• Built interactive prototypes for usability testing.

3. A/B Testing & Iteration

• Developed a completely new registration flow using existing and newly designed form components.
• Set up an A/B test environment to monitor performance and gather user feedback.
• Iteratively refined the design based on test results and stakeholder input.

The Results Improved signup quality

Key Enhancements

• Eligibility Criteria Clarity: Clearly displaying eligibility criteria on the registration page improved the quality of sign-ups.
• Performance Improvements:
• 2% increase in high-quality conversions, resulting in 36,000 additional paid signups annually.
• Updated CSS into managed SCSS partials for better maintainability and version control.
• Utilised new branding components for a cohesive visual experience.

Learnings & Takeaways

• Lack of central documentation led to confusion; I helped document business rules after verifying them with stakeholders and codebase analysis.
• Legacy systems posed challenges, requiring extensive troubleshooting due to minimal existing documentation.
• Low UX maturity required advocacy for best practices and iterative testing.
• Additional payment options improved conversion rates, but higher transaction fees made them unviable for the business.
• Supporting developers with coded prototypes significantly streamlined implementation.
• Close alignment with external agencies was critical for brand consistency across all touchpoints.

By improving the user experience of the registration process, we not only increased conversion rates but also enhanced the overall quality of sign-ups. This project demonstrated the value of UX-driven decision-making in optimizing user flows, aligning cross-functional teams, and achieving business goals.