PUSH NOTIFICATIONS
ONBOARDING
In March 2019, John Lewis & Partners identified that a lack of context during the initial iOS permission request was causing a high rate of opt-out. Without a clear understanding of the benefits—such as order tracking or exclusive rewards—users viewed the system prompt as an intrusion rather than a service.
ROLE
Lead Visual Designer
WHAT I DID
I led the redesign of the onboarding journey, moving away from generic prompts toward a contextual "soft-ask" flow. By introducing a value-led educational screen before the system request, we were able to "warm" the user and articulate exactly how notifications would enhance their shopping experience. I developed a premium visual language for these touchpoints and created high-fidelity interactive prototypes to validate the flow. Through iterative usability testing, I refined the messaging hierarchy and interaction patterns, ensuring we balanced business goals (increasing opt-ins) with user trust and clarity
CLIENT
John Lewis & Partners, 2019
Each onboarding screen informed users about a different benefit of push notifications. Users were presented with three screens at different points in time, avoid overloading users with too much information at once.
I integrated purposeful motion design into the primary onboarding screen to act as a visual "pause," capturing user attention and increasing the dwell time necessary to digest the core message.
To ensure a low-friction entry, we implemented a delayed trigger strategy, only surfacing the onboarding on the third app launch. This allowed users to first build an organic mental model of the app before being prompted for higher-level permissions
I designed a seasonal visual system that kept onboarding relevant throughout the year, using a mix of Home and Fashion content to engage a broader audience.
