MEHAK QURESHI
MEHAK QURESHI

Stewardship -

Exxon Rewards

Business Line


Fuels & Lubes

Design Team

Design Strategy

Project Type

Enterprise Web Application

Project Length

18 Months

My Role

Lead Product Designer

  • Led the end-to-end product design process from research through final UI
  • Synthesized user and stakeholder insights into clear product requirements
  • Designed workflows for earning, tracking, recognizing and redeeming rewards
  • Created user flows, wireframes, prototypes and reusable interface patterns

Overview

Field operators had limited visibility into how rewards were earned, tracked and redeemed. Unclear eligibility rules, delayed status updates and fragmented processes reduced confidence in the recognition program. This project focused on redesigning the internal Stewardship rewards experience to make eligibility, progress, recognition and redemption easier to understand.

Objectives

  • Make reward eligibility and qualification requirements easier to understand
  • Give employees clear visibility into progress, recognition and reward status
  • Create a consistent experience for earning, tracking and redeeming rewards
Exxon Rewards Objectives Section

Background

ExxonMobil employees work in complex operational environments where recognition can help reinforce positive contributions. However, the existing rewards experience did not provide a clear or consistent connection between eligible actions, progress and available rewards.

  • Eligibility requirements were difficult for employees to understand
  • Progress and reward status were not visible in one centralized experience
  • Supervisors and program teams handled repeated questions and follow-ups manually

Key Features Implemented

  • Centralized rewards and recognition dashboard
  • Eligibility, progress and milestone tracking
  • Peer and supervisor recognition
  • Guided reward redemption and status updates

User Benefits

Faster, More Transparent Payments

  • Clear visibility into earned, pending and available rewards
  • Status updates explain what has been recorded and what happens next

Improved Engagement & Recognition

  • Peer and supervisor recognition makes positive contributions more visible
  • Progress milestones help employees understand how eligible actions contribute to rewards

Simpler Reward Redemption

  • Available rewards can be reviewed and redeemed through one guided workflow
  • Reward history provides a clear record of previous activity

Greater Confidence and Clarity

  • Consistent status labels reduce uncertainty about eligibility and progress
  • Centralized information reduces dependence on separate support processes

Benefits for Businesses

Stronger Participation and Trust

  • A transparent recognition experience supports employee confidence in the program
  • Clear progress and status information helps maintain participation

Improved Safety & Compliance

  • Clear eligibility rules reinforce which positive behaviors are recognized
  • Milestones encourage participation without making safety feel excessively competitive

Operational Efficiency

  • Reduces repeated employee questions by making reward information easier to access
  • Consistent workflows make the recognition program easier to manage

Data-Driven Workforce Insights

  • Helps program teams review participation, recognition and reward activity.
  • Surfaces patterns that can support future program improvements.

Key Takeaways

For Users

  • Clearer understanding of how rewards are earned and tracked
  • More visible progress, recognition and reward status

For ExxonMobil

  • A more consistent employee recognition workflow
  • Less dependence on manual clarification and follow-up
  • Reusable experience patterns for future recognition programs

Design Process

I began by reviewing the existing rewards journey and identifying where employees experienced uncertainty around eligibility, progress and reward status. I organized these findings into key user needs, explored alternative workflow structures and refined the selected direction through wireframes, prototypes and stakeholder feedback.

E dp1

Empathize

User Research User InterviewCompetitive Analysis

E dp2

Define

User Persona Goal Statement Empathy Map

E dp3

Ideate

Brainstorming Card SortingUser Flow

E dp4

Design

Paper Wireframes Visual Design Prototype

E dp5

Test

Check Usability Survey Insight Improvements

Challenge

The challenge was to transform a fragmented recognition process into an experience employees could understand and trust. Field employees needed to know which actions qualified, how their progress was calculated and when recognition or rewards became available. The design also needed to support fairness, compliance and existing internal systems without making the experience unnecessarily complex.

Problem

  • Eligibility requirements were difficult to understand
  • Reward progress and status were not visible in one place
  • Employees lacked clear confirmation after completing eligible actions
  • Users depended on supervisors or administrators for clarification

Solution

  • One clear place to review rewards, activity, and progress
  • Easy-to-understand eligibility details throughout the experience
  • Recognition tools that support employees and supervisors
  • Guided redemption steps with clear status updates

Result

  • Clearer visibility into eligibility, progress and reward status
  • More consistent feedback after important employee actions
  • Simpler recognition and redemption workflows

Pain Point

  • Eligibility rules were difficult to interpret
  • Reward progress was not visible in one centralized location
  • Status updates were inconsistent or unclear
  • Employees lacked confirmation after completing eligible actions
  • Supervisors handled repeated reward-related questions manually
  • The fragmented experience weakened confidence in the program

Core Experience

  • Earn → Track → Redeem
  • Simple and continuous feedback loop
  • Reduces confusion and delays
E features

Features

  • Rewards and recognition dashboard
  • Eligibility information
  • Progress and milestone tracking
  • Recognition history
  • Guided redemption workflow
  • Notifications and confirmation states

Key Insight

  • Rewards only work when they are:
  • Immediate
  • Transparent
  • Easy to understand

Key UX Decision

Real-Time Feedback

  • Shows immediate confirmation after important actions
  • Reduces uncertainty about whether activity was recorded
  • Builds confidence in the recognition process

Gamification

  • Uses progress and milestones to support participation
  • Focuses on personal and team contribution
  • Avoids excessive competition around safety-related behaviors

Wallet

  • Distinguishes pending, available and completed rewards
  • Explains the next step for each status
  • Makes the process feel more transparent and consistent

Design Strategy

1. Make Eligibility Clear
Explain qualification requirements in simple and understandable language.

2. Make Progress Visible
Give employees one place to review progress, recognition and reward status.

3. Provide Immediate Feedback
Confirm important actions and clearly explain what happens next.

Ex ds

Key UX Decisions

Make Feedback Immediate

  • Confirms when eligible actions have been recorded
  • Creates a clearer connection between employee action and recognition

Guided Reward Redemption

  • Presents available rewards within a clear redemption workflow
  • Shows confirmation and updated status after completion

Gamified Incentives

  • Uses milestones to make progress understandable
  • Encourages participation without relying only on leaderboards

Peer Recognition System

  • Makes positive employee contributions more visible
  • Supports a stronger culture of acknowledgment and teamwork
Ex impact

Impact

  • Made eligibility requirements easier to understand
  • Improved visibility into progress, recognition and reward status
  • Created clearer confirmation after important actions
  • Established reusable patterns for future recognition workflows

Constraints & Trade-offs

  • Balancing immediate feedback with approval and compliance requirements
  • Supporting motivation without creating unhealthy competition
  • Improving the experience while working with legacy-system limitations

Empathy Map

Think Feel

"Why does it take 3 pay cycles to fix a simple overtime mistake?"

"Another app? Probably just more tracking disguised as help."

"Safety bonuses feel like a scam - I never see the money."

Hear

"HR said we'd get paid faster, but it's the same old delays."

"The safety reward points expire before we can use them."

"They track everything but never show us the data."

See

Gloves covered in grease/mud making phone use difficult

"PAY ERROR" post-it notes on the crew bulletin board

Say & Do

"I'll believe the instant payments when I see them."

"Not worth reporting near-misses - the points never add up."

Participant Demographics

The research considered employees working across field operations, maintenance, production supervision and safety management. Although their responsibilities differed, each group needed clearer eligibility information, visible progress and reliable reward-status updates.

Users Age

Pd

Phone Type

Pd

Internet Browser

Pd

Workplace Type

Pd

Users Group

Field Operator

Field Operator

Maintenance Technician

Maintenance Technician

Production Supervisor

Production Supervisor

HSE Manager

HSE Manager

Persona

Name

Marcus Webb

Occupation

Field Operations Supervisor

Jake Reynolds

Marcus Webb Story

Marcus supervises a field operations team and helps reinforce safe, consistent and productive work. He wants employees to feel recognized, but unclear eligibility rules and limited status visibility make it difficult to explain how rewards are earned. He needs a dependable way to review progress, confirm recognition and answer employee questions without relying on separate records.

Gain

  • Clearly explain how employees qualify for recognition
  • Review individual and team progress in one place
  • Confirm when eligible actions have been recorded
  • Provide employees with reliable reward-status information

Demographic

Mid-career operations supervisor working in a shift-based industrial environment. Experienced in team coordination, safety communication and operational reporting.

Pain Point

  • Eligibility rules are difficult to explain
  • Employees cannot easily review their progress
  • Recognition is not always confirmed clearly
  • Separate processes create unnecessary administrative work

Org Activity

Tech Sevy

Social Skills

Low fidelity wireframe

Exxon Rewards Low fidelity wireframe

User Interface

Exxon Rewards User Interface

What I Missed in V1

  • The first version placed too much emphasis on points and leaderboards
  • Eligibility information was positioned too far from the relevant actions
  • Confirmation states were not clear enough after employees completed an action
Marcus supervises a field operations team and helps reinforce safe, consistent and productive work. He wants employees to feel recognized, but unclear eligibility rules and limited status visibility make it difficult to explain how rewards are earned. He needs a dependable way to review progress, confirm recognition and answer employee questions without relying on separate records.

Wanna collaborate?

Let’s chat.

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Hey, thanks for checking out my work.

I’ve been fascinated with the way people interact with technology since forever. I’m particularly keen on digital products designed to make life easier for human beings.

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If you want to know more about my design process, or if you want to talk about a cool idea, don’t hesitate to hit me up.