Logoipsum Mobile App

Background

At ev.energy, we incentivise EV drivers to charge at off-peak times, participate in grid events, and shift energy usage patterns, making the grid greener and more reliable. These rewards are paid out as part of utility-sponsored incentive programs.

Incentives are a key behavioural lever. But we faced a major issue:
🚩 Users didn’t trust that their rewards would be paid.
🚩 Too many support tickets, unclear statuses, and a poor experience.

Problem discovery

I first flagged this during a monthly CS data review. We saw that payout-related support tickets spiked by 35%, despite no technical regressions. So I dug into the root cause.

I reviewed:

• 🔍 40+ anonymised user tickets

• 🎯 Internal payout logic in the Rewards admin panel

• 📱 Mobile app UI (which displayed poor experience)

Patterns emerged quickly:

• There was no indication that their payout had even been attempted

• Many didn’t know what action (if any) they needed to take

At the same time, our commercial team shared concerns from utility partners who were worried about payout transparency impacting program credibility.

Objective

How might we create a payout status system that:

• Builds user trust with transparent communication

• Reduces CS load

• Supports different incentive program structures (monthly vs real-time payouts)

User insight and segmentation

To prioritise this, I worked with CS and data teams to segment affected users:

• 🧠 High-participation users (e.g. those in smart charging programs with ≥3 events/month)

• 🌍 US-based users with standard payout channels

• 🧾 New program enrollees - most prone to payout anxiety due to unfamiliarity

These users weren’t just casual app users, they were our most valuable contributors to grid flexibility. Keeping them engaged and confident was essential for retention and ongoing energy savings.

Metrics we aimed to move

CS tickets about payouts 272/month↓ 30%
Mixed↑ Support cost per payout
Net retention of high-value users

My role

I led the design work end to end—working across research, UX writing, systems design, and delivery:

• Defined UX and communication requirements

• Led mapping of technical payout states to user-friendly statuses

• Designed UI patterns for payout visibility, CTAs, and explanations

• Aligned across product, engineering, support, and Braze (for comms)

Design challenges

1. Mapping complex system logic into user-friendly language

We had 7+ payout states in the backend with subtle technical differences. But users don’t care about API errors—they care about “Did I get my money?”

I worked with CS and content teams to:

• Translate technical states into simple user-facing labels

• Add plain-language explanations and human tone

• Show actionable CTAs where relevant

RETRYING

• User label: “We tried to send your payout”

• Description: You may need to confirm your PayPal/Venmo details

• CTA: “Confirm details”

ONHOLD

• User label: “Your payout is on hold”

• Description: Contact PayPal to verify your account

• CTA: — (no CTA shown)

SUCCESS

• User label: “Your payout was sent”

• Description: Reassuring message with date of payment

• CTA: — (informational only)

2. Scalability across different incentive programs

Some programs pay monthly, others pay in near real-time. I worked with engineers to ensure:

• The system could support both fixed and rolling payout dates

• The same design could be reused across multiple incentive structures

• Labels remained agnostic to local program terminology or payout cadence

We also worked with localisation to future-proof translations—ensuring phrasing like “Your payout is on hold” would make sense in multiple languages.

3. Designing an extensible component

I created a flexible component using our design system that could support:

• Status icon + label

• Dynamic helper text (with or without CTA)

• Dates (either estimated payout or actual sent date)

• Optional action buttons (e.g. Confirm account)

This worked across:

• 📱 Native apps (iOS/Android)

• 💻 Web portal

• 🔧 Admin views (for internal team visibility)

Validation

To validate tone and usability:

• I tested 5 copy variations with support agents to identify most effective and least ambiguous wording

• I ran a quick unmoderated test with real users via Maze to test label comprehension (90%+ selected the correct meanings)

• I cross-checked with legal/comms to ensure payout messaging stayed compliant

Outcome

Results of 4 weeks after the launch:

• ✅ 34% reduction in CS tickets related to payout issues

• ✅ +14% increase in successful claims from eligible users

• ✅ +18% CSAT improvement in “earned reward” journeys

• ✅ Reduced resolution time per payout-related ticket by ~2 minutes

One CS agent shared:

“It’s a huge relief to be able to say: ‘You can check that in the app now.’ Before, we had to explain every edge case.”

Business impact

• 🎯 Helped strengthen retention in our highest-paying utility programs

• 🔁 Created a repeatable pattern for future rewards (carbon credits, CO2 offsetting, etc.)

• 🧱 Reduced operational friction during seasonal high-volume payout periods

• 🌍 Positioned us better for international expansion by localising status logic from the start

What I learned

Even a simple UI message can drive or destroy trust. By treating payout messaging like a product—not an afterthought—we turned a frustrating experience into one that builds confidence and transparency.

More broadly, I learned how to:

• Balance technical constraints with user needs

• Lead systems thinking across regions, programs, and platforms

• Align multiple departments (product, engineering, CS, comms) around a shared user-centric goal

What’s next

• 📲 Push notifications for payout events (in development)

• 📅 Monthly earnings summary email

• 🧾 Combined rewards + incentives tab to simplify navigation