Microsoft Rewards
My main product when I was working in Growth & Engagement at Bing was the Microsoft Rewards program. I worked on all aspects of the Rewards program outside of Xbox rewards. From notification, re-engagement, upsells, special programs, quizzes, and helping implement Microsoft Rewards programs in other product areas.
- ROLEUX designer
- PLATFORMSWindows Search Box, Bing.com, Rewards Dashboard
We want to increase the amount of people using Microsoft Rewards, but our main tactic is to try to grow the users who become power users and create super fans of Microsoft Bing.
One of our biggest problem areas is getting Rewards users to not only re-engage but to even claim their actual rewards. We were looking for ways to help people earn their rewards and claim them.
Microsoft Rewards is meant to be delightful. We looked for delightful moments to help make the experience memorable and positive. Whether if it was a game, quiz, or a chance for a special reward.
The name of the game is DAU and MAU (daily and month active users). We want users who are coming back everyday. So all our efforts go through A/B testing to see even if a different text string would change metrics.
Engagement for Microsoft Rewards
Microsoft Rewards is a product that has many benefits to a person but has the unfortunate issue of lack of awareness and gamification that entices a person to keep coming back. Here are some of the tactics we tried for increasing the funnel and long-lasting engagement.
Microsoft Rewards has a large dropoff issue in both daily usage and also users claiming their rewards.
Drop off after 2 weeks to 1 month of a first time user is extremely high. So we need better tactics to keep users engaged in the program.
Even with users who are active daily users, we have very low redemption rates which is the defining feature of the program.
Most Bing users are completely unaware of the Rewards program and if they are, they don't understand what it is, so they don't join.
The MUID Trial was an idea to try to do a special 3-day experience for a first time user to try Microsoft Rewards without having to join yet. The purpose was to get them familiar with it and to experience the daily set which is our main engagement tactic for Microsoft Rewards. With the trial, we would have notifications, messaging, and visuals to help keep them engaged in the trial.
Here is an example of the first run user experience. They see a large upsell notification to try to get them to take part of the MUID trial. We designed a unique notification and flyout experience exclusive to just this trial to ensure that the messaging and graphics were all contained within this experience.
Here is the example of the day 1 experience. The flyout and notifications change based off of where the user is at in the experience. At the end of each day, we have a congratulations notification to try to end on a positive note and a reminder to come back the next day.
This is the day 2 examples of the notifications and flyout experience. It is similar to day 1 but the messaging and graphics are slightly different.
This is the day 3 example. The main difference is at the end of day 3, in order to get their big payout, they have to sign up for Microsoft Rewards and claim their reward. We give them a short period of time to redeem, so we have some additional reminder notifications so that they won’t miss out.
