Retention-Focused Design
Improving the AAA Digital Member Experience
PROBLEM
AAA’s website presents the same experience to both members and non-members, leading to confusion and missed opportunities. Signed-in members were shown generic content and repeated calls to “join” or purchase products they already owned, which diminished trust and perceived value. This one-size-fits-all approach created friction in the digital experience, limited retention efforts, and prevented AAA from fully leveraging personalization to engage and nurture its member base.
BACKGROUND
Our UX team was refreshing AAA’s design system to create consistency across digital experiences. During this process, we identified a major gap: the site treated members and non-members the same, which led to confusion and missed opportunities. To address this, the team explored creating differentiated page layouts tailored to each audience.
MY ROLE
As part of AAA’s UX team, each designer created layouts for the Insurance and Membership signed-in member pages. After testing, my designs were selected as the winners.
This case study highlights my approach, process, and final layouts, which I designed independently.
Understanding What Members Really Need
To guide the redesign, I reviewed competitor websites and analyzed the top needs of AAA members when visiting the site.
Key Insights:
Competitor analysis revealed that leading membership-based and insurance organizations surface personalized dashboards and quick access tools for logged-in users.
Members primarily visit the site to manage their membership, access insurance information, and use roadside assistance.
Signed-in members expect a streamlined, relevant experience—not repeated prompts to join or purchase products they already own.
High-Fidelity Signed-In Member Pages
I translated my wireframes into high-fidelity layouts for the Membership and Insurance pages. These designs introduced a more personalized, dashboard-like experience that prioritized member needs across desktop and mobile. The following screens were taken into user testing, where they were compared against the live site and other design concepts.
Validating Design Decisions Through Usability Testing
We ran user testing on both the Membership and Insurance pages to compare our redesigned concepts against the current live experience.
Testing Setup
We tested three new desktop concepts against the live site page, then validated the top two on mobile. Testing included 50 participants for quantitative preference data and 25 per unmoderated session for qualitative and quantitative feedback. We did this for both the membership and Insurance member pages.
80% of Users Preferred the Membership Page Redesign for Its Clarity and Quick Access to Tasks
Why did 80% of users prefer the new design (Design B) ?
Easy access to membership information – Users liked seeing their membership card, account details, and benefits right at the top without extra clicks or scrolling.
Clearer, more detailed layout – The organization, bold titles, and dashboard-style quick links made information easier to find and understand.
Personalized and member-focused – Many felt Design B acknowledged them as existing members, showing value and perks rather than trying to resell them a membership.
92% of Users Preferred the Insurance Page Redesign for Its Clear Hierarchy and Professional Layout
Why did 92% of users prefer the new design (Design B) ?
Personalized and member-focused – Users valued seeing their name and policy details up front, which made the experience feel more tailored and relevant to them as existing members.
Quick access to essential actions – The new layout prioritized top tasks like payments, claims, and account management at the top with large, clear buttons, reducing friction and saving time.
Desired seeing information that is directly relevant to their current policy, rather than promotional content aimed at new customers.
The new designs won across both Membership and Insurance pages, proving that a member-first, personalized approach drives clarity, trust, and retention.
Results & Impact
The redesigned pages consistently outperformed all other concepts in testing, with my mobile layouts preferred by 98% of users for the membership page and 80% for the insurance page. These designs established a scalable pattern for signed-in member pages, reduced friction, and reinforced retention value. The membership page is currently in development, and once launched, members will see a customized experience upon signing in. In the initial stages of A/B testing, these pages will allow us to measure success in a live environment and validate the long-term impact on member engagement and retention.
Measuring Business Impact
While exact numbers will not be available until the page is live for a period of time, the redesigned experience is projected to increase membership renewals and upgrades. Business financial impact would be measured by tracking renewal and upgrade conversions directly attributed to this page, then multiplying those totals by the average membership cost to estimate annual revenue generated from improved retention and engagement.
Reflection & Takeaways
Working on this project showed me firsthand how much better we as UX designers can improve the users experience when we design with their real needs in mind. Seeing my layouts win in testing was a reminder that thoughtful, personalized design not only makes things clearer for users, but also directly supports goals like retention and trust.