Arsht Rewards

Designing a loyalty & incentives platform to increase engagement and attendance for free cultural events.

Company

Adrienne Arsht Center

Role

UX Designer

Timeline

2023

Platform

Web · Mobile

Summary

Designed a loyalty platform to increase attendance and engagement for free cultural events at the Adrienne Arsht Center.

The solution introduced incentives, reduced no-shows, and created a scalable foundation for long-term community engagement.

My contributions

  • Led UX design across web and mobile experiences

  • Collaborated with cross-functional teammates across research, design, and development

  • Defined user flows, task flows, and interaction patterns

  • Led front-end implementation in Webflow, including CMS architecture

  • Balanced design intent with technical feasibility and delivery constraints

Problem statement

Despite high RSVP volumes, attendance for free events remained low.

Users lacked perceived value, incentives, and post-RSVP engagement—resulting in frequent no-shows and missed opportunities for community building.

Objectives

  • Investigate the factors contributing to a high volume of RSVPs but low actual turnout at free performances and events.

  • Assess the perceived value of these free events across diverse community segments.

  • Formulate strategies to boost attendance rates and cultivate a stronger sense of community engagement and appreciation for these events.

  • Create a scalable and compelling solution that not only incentivizes user attendance but also fosters community cohesion and unity

How might we

Leverage the strengths of the Adrienne Arsht Center’s existing website to effectively communicate the value of free events, build excitement, and incentivize engagement before, during, and after events?

Research & insights

Insights (User Research)

  • Incentives meaningfully increase interest and perceived value of free events, strengthening loyalty and repeat attendance.

  • Users respond positively when rewards are embedded directly into existing RSVP and event workflows.

  • Low-friction navigation and clarity are more important than novelty in driving participation.

  • Participants expressed strong enthusiasm toward earning rewards through real-world attendance, reinforcing the program’s engagement potential.

Stakeholders

  • Event Attendees — performance arts patrons and local community members

  • Arsht Center Teams — marketing, community events, and communications leadership

The solution

We designed a loyalty-based engagement system that reframes free events as valuable, rewarding experiences—before, during, and after attendance.

The solution combines strategic website enhancements with a rewards platform that integrates seamlessly into the Arsht Center’s existing RSVP and event workflows.

1. Arsht rewards platform

A responsive web application that incentivizes attendance and deepens community engagement through a points-based rewards system.

Core capabilities

  • Earn points by attending events and scanning tickets

  • Track progress and rewards in a personal dashboard

  • Redeem points for exclusive perks and experiences

  • Encourage community growth through referrals and sharing

  • Capture and contribute event moments through user-generated content

The platform was designed to feel lightweight, intuitive, and aligned with the expectations of a cultural institution—prioritizing clarity and trust over novelty.

2. Website enhancements

To support the rewards experience, we introduced targeted enhancements to the existing Arsht Center website.

Key improvements

  • Clearer value propositions for free events

  • Improved event discovery and navigation

  • Stronger calls-to-action tied to rewards and attendance

  • Visual and content alignment between events and rewards

Together, these changes ensure users understand why free events matter and how participation is rewarded.

User flows & journey

(Sign up → Attend → Scan → Earn → Redeem)

Design evolution

Early wireframes validated core functionality but surfaced gaps in visual maturity and brand alignment. Initial designs leaned too illustrative and playful for a cultural institution like the Arsht Center.

Key learnings from early iterations:

  • Visual language needed to feel more cultural, refined, and timeless

  • Illustration-heavy elements diluted perceived value

  • Overall tone required a stronger balance of sophistication and accessibility

Iteration outcomes:

  • Shifted toward photography-forward layouts and refined iconography

  • Introduced a cleaner, modern visual system aligned with Arsht Center branding

  • Reduced visual noise while preserving clarity and engagement

This evolution established a more confident, institution-ready design system that could support long-term adoption.

First draft wireframes. We validated that the kid-friendly illustrations were not matching the vision of the Arsht Center.

Execution across platforms

The experience was designed mobile-first, prioritizing high-frequency, in-the-moment tasks such as ticket scanning, point accrual, and reward redemption.

Mobile execution focused on:

  • Space-efficient layouts using horizontal scrolling patterns

  • Clear prioritization of core actions

  • Fast, intuitive task completion during live events

Desktop execution extended the system by:

  • Scaling layouts for larger screens without increasing cognitive load

  • Supporting deeper exploration of rewards, history, and FAQs

  • Ensuring visual consistency across breakpoints

The result is a responsive system that feels intuitive on mobile and robust on desktop — flexible enough to support both free and paid event experiences.

Style guide

  • A primary bold red, paired with neutral grays, black, and white, achieves a sophisticated, minimalist design in line with Arsht Center's branding

  • The style guide seamlessly integrates with Figma and Webflow's variable systems, streamlining the design-to-development transition for a time-efficient UI guide

  • Design choices and Figma/Webflow integration prioritize an efficient handoff, crucial for a smooth collaboration with the Adrienne Arsht Center.

Reflection

Designing Arsht Rewards reinforced the importance of aligning incentives, brand perception, and real-world behavior. While the solution was not deployed to production, the process surfaced key considerations around scalability, cross-functional collaboration, and designing for live-event contexts where clarity and speed matter.

The project highlighted the value of early visual validation, mobile-first decision-making, and designing systems flexible enough to evolve alongside organizational needs. These learnings directly inform how I approach enterprise-scale product work today.