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Jonathan HeavnerProduct & Systems Designer

05Employer program designObject Partners, embedded with the Zappos at Work team · 2022 – 2024

Zappos at Work

Modernizing a voucher system that let employers provide safety footwear to their teams.

The Zappos at Work admin dashboard design comp: vouchers issued, funds remaining, a redemption-rate chart, a budget-usage chart, recent activity, and alerts, for the client United Airlines., enlarge to full resolution
Design compProgram health on arrival: vouchers issued, funds remaining, redemption and budget charts, recent activity, and alerts. Figures are mock data.
Problem
Employers funded safety-footwear vouchers through a fragile tool: large CSV uploads stalled or failed, and once vouchers went out, employers had almost no visibility into whether they were used.
My role
Lead designer, end-to-end UX and UI, working with product, business, and engineering.
Key decision
Treat vouchers as an ongoing program instead of a batch upload: employers distribute, monitor, and adjust from a dashboard, and employees shop employer-branded storefronts.
Outcome
A program model and employer flow, carried from system diagrams and sketches to high-fidelity design comps. Improvements were reported qualitatively; no figures exist.

01

A fragile voucher tool

On paper it was simple: upload a CSV, distribute vouchers, employees shop. In reality it was fragile.

The system struggled with large uploads, crashed during peak processing, and gave employers almost no visibility into whether vouchers were actually used. Money was allocated, but not always spent. When uploads failed, the system often needed manual support; when employees did not redeem, employers followed up by hand.

The legacy Coupon Creator tool: a form to send coupons by email address with brand checkboxes, and a history table of past sends with masked rows., enlarge to full resolution
Original systemThe coupon tool the program replaced: an email-entry form and a history of sends, with no view of what was redeemed.

The tool being replaced

What employers experienced. Uploads that stalled or failed, no clear monitoring of voucher usage, extra communication to confirm redemption, and budget allocated but left unspent.

What employees experienced. A generic experience that did not feel tied to their company, confusion about voucher status and balance, and little guidance while shopping.

The deeper issue was trust.

02

Investigation

I worked closely with business stakeholders and support teams, reviewed support tickets, and sat in on conversations with employers who used the platform.

  • High-volume voucher uploads were a breaking point.
  • Employers wanted simple dashboards, not spreadsheets.
  • Branding mattered more than expected.
  • Many companies struggled to track unused funds.

The voucher system was not just a benefit tool. It was tied to compliance, safety policies, and employee satisfaction.

03

From a batch upload to a program

The turning point came when we stopped handling vouchers as a batch process and began managing them as a structured program.

Instead of a single CSV upload event, the experience became an ongoing, dashboard-driven system: employers could distribute, monitor, and adjust vouchers, and employees would shop inside employer-branded storefronts that felt intentional, not bolted on.

A system diagram of three program tiers, Quick Launch, Customized, and Enterprise, listing customization, eligibility, employee roster, benefit enrollment, and payment for each, above system API integrations and data ingestion., enlarge to full resolution
From a single upload to a structured program: Quick Launch, Customized, and Enterprise tiers, each adding eligibility, roster, enrollment, and payment capabilities, over the integrations they depend on.
A system diagram of the self-service digital experience: a program owner sets up a partner program, buys promotions, and distributes promo codes; recipients browse a landing site and redeem codes at Zappos checkout; reporting feeds program managers and administrators., enlarge to full resolution
The whole system in one view: the program owner sets up and buys, recipients browse and redeem, and reporting closes the loop. A red note records an open question about redemption notices.

04

Designing the program owner’s flow

The first self-service flow was for the employer setting up a program: choose what employees can buy, decide how much to fund, and hand out codes.

I worked it out in a diagram with its assumptions written beside it, then on paper, then in high-fidelity comps, shown here with placeholder text.

A Quick Launch flow diagram: the program owner selects a pre-selected assortment, sets a discount and number of promos, verifies an email address, and receives promo codes to distribute, with assumptions and questions in a side column., enlarge to full resolution
Quick Launch, step by step, with its assumptions written beside it: the program owner wants to give employees a curated assortment and does not want to enter any employee information.
A photographed paper sketch of the purchase flow: a numbered step list, then frames for product assortment and promo quantity, create account, login, review order, order confirmed, and promo code delivery by email or CSV., enlarge to full resolution
The program-owner purchase flow sketched on paper first: choose a pre-made product set, set quantity and amount, create an account, check out, verify email, then retrieve or send codes.
A long design comp of the Zappos at Work self-service portal landing page for employers: a welcome message, program benefits, and the steps to set up a custom safety footwear program., enlarge to full resolution
Design compWhere an employer starts: the self-service portal explains the program’s benefits and the few steps to a custom safety footwear program.

Where an employer starts

The self-service portal sets out the program’s benefits and the steps to a custom safety footwear program before asking for anything.

Decision 01

Guided setup instead of a file upload

BecauseHigh-volume uploads were a breaking point, and the program owner did not want to enter any employee information.

Trade-offSetup becomes a short purchase: assortment, amount per code, number of codes, then codes to distribute.

A high-fidelity design comp of promotion details: choosing a safety-footwear assortment, an amount per code, and a number of codes, with a running total., enlarge to full resolution
Design compGuided setup: pick a curated assortment, set an amount per code and how many codes to buy, and see the total.

  1. 1Sign in

    A high-fidelity design comp of the Zappos at Work sign-in page, with a photograph of a worker in safety footwear and an email sign-in form., enlarge to full resolution
    Design compSign-in for the employer setting up a program.

  2. 2Pay for the codes

    A high-fidelity design comp of checkout for promo codes, with order summary and payment fields., enlarge to full resolution
    Design compPaying for the codes, with the order summary alongside.

05

Visibility for employers

The employer dashboard puts program health in front of the employer the moment they sign in.

Decision 02

Surface program health on login

BecauseEmployers wanted simple dashboards, not spreadsheets, and many struggled to track unused funds.

Trade-offThe dashboard stays focused on actionable metrics, without unnecessary analytics.

The Zappos at Work admin dashboard design comp: vouchers issued, funds remaining, a redemption-rate chart, a budget-usage chart, recent activity, and alerts, for the client United Airlines., enlarge to full resolution
Design compVouchers issued, funds remaining, redemption, budget, and alerts, on the first screen after sign-in.

And for employees

  1. Keep shopping consistent with Zappos

    BecauseBranding mattered more than expected, and employees needed a familiar path to the gear they were required to buy.

    Trade-offFollowing Zappos design patterns limits invention but avoids relearning.

06

Outcome and reflection

  • Fewer support tickets about CSV upload failures
  • More accurate tracking of voucher redemption
  • More visibility into unused voucher funds
  • Stronger employer adoption of branded storefronts

What worked was framing the problem around program management instead of file processing, and giving employers visibility without overwhelming them. I would add expiration reminders and predictive insight into underused programs. Operational clarity builds trust.