Patch Perks
Innovative Loyalty Program for Small Business on the Patch Local News & BUsiness Sites
Patch had an existing audience of local news readers and a directory of small businesses. The two sides of that equation — residents and local merchants — had no transactional connection through the platform.
Patch Perks was a new product built to close that gap: a consumer loyalty programme letting customers find local deals and get automated cash-back discounts, without loyalty cards, apps at point of sale, or any action beyond paying with their existing card.
Approach
User interviews with both merchants and consumers in the Long Island, NY area shaped the product before any screen was designed. Three findings came back clearly: consumers valued the simplicity of the programme above everything else. Merchants wanted the added foot traffic but wouldn't enrol until other businesses were already in — nobody wanted to be first. And both groups preferred getting local business news through a centralised feed over following individual businesses on social media.
These three findings defined the design priorities for every part of the product.
Sketches and User Workflows
Early sketches and workflows — the consumer journey built around the card-sync mechanic that interviews identified as the core appeal.
The selling page led with simplicity
Interviews with Long Island consumers made clear that the appeal of Patch Perks was the absence of any action at the point of sale. The selling page was designed around that: sync your card, shop local, get cash back — three steps stated before any business listings or sign-up prompt appeared. The mechanic was the product, and the page treated it as such.
Web App Wireframes
Web app wireframes — the selling page structure leading with the how-it-works explanation before any browsing or conversion prompt.
Designing around the merchant enrolment problem
Merchant interviews in Long Island revealed a consistent reluctance: businesses wanted to join once others had, but not before. This cold-start problem meant the product needed to show merchants a critical mass of participating businesses before asking them to enrol.
The nearby businesses view and merchant dashboard were designed to surface the existing network visibly — making the programme look populated from day one rather than empty.
Web App Designs
Final web designs — the nearby businesses map and merchant dashboard, designed to communicate an active network to prospective merchants.
A centralised news feed over social media
Interviews surfaced an unprompted finding: both consumers and merchants said they preferred getting local business updates through a single centralised feed over following individual businesses across social platforms. This informed the product's integration with the broader Patch news platform — Patch Perks wasn't a standalone loyalty app but a layer on top of an existing local news context that both audiences already found useful.
Mobile App Designs
Mobile app designs — Patch Perks as a location-aware layer within the Patch local news context.
Results
A consumer loyalty programme designed across web and iOS, covering card-linked cash-back for local businesses on the Patch platform. Two user-facing products delivered: a consumer app for finding deals and tracking savings, and a merchant dashboard for managing offers and monitoring customer activity.
2 platforms (web & iOS) · 2 user types (consumer & merchant) · card-linked, zero point-of-sale friction