Tango | 2024
Enable API customers to embed gift card credentials directly into their applications, creating a seamless redemption experience while preserving a critical business safeguard: preventing a portion of rewards from being unlocked immediately.
Defined the user experience strategy
Designed new interaction and visual design concepts
Conducted user research, including customer interviews and usability testing
Collaborated with engineering to ensure feasibility and quality
Alignined with stakeholders to address business concerns
Tango’s API customers build their own reward experiences, using our API to purchase gift cards for their recipients. However, once a gift card is purchased, the recipient must navigate to Tango’s hosted site to retrieve their reward credentials. This additional step introduces friction, as users must copy a security code from the customer’s app and paste it into Tango’s landing page to unlock their card.
Some customers attempt to work around this by embedding a URL in their application, allowing users to open the Tango-hosted page in a new tab. However, this still requires them to switch back and forth between apps to retrieve the security code, creating an inconvenient experience.
Tango’s API customers want a seamless way to display gift card credentials directly within their applications—eliminating the need for users to leave their platform. The challenge was to remove unnecessary friction while maintaining security and balancing the business need to retain revenue from unredeemed cards.
Our solution architects identified a way to embed gift card credentials securely within customer applications while eliminating the security code step. This drastically reduced user friction and improved the overall redemption experience. However, removing friction entirely introduced a business challenge: historically, about 6% of recipients never unlock their gift card.
It’s important to understand what “unlocking” means in Tango’s model. When a customer sends a Reward Link, they are charged immediately. But Tango does not actually purchase the underlying gift card until the recipient unlocks it. If the recipient never takes that step, Tango retains the funds—revenue known in the industry as breakage.
Without the security code step as a natural gate, we needed a new mechanism to discourage non-committed recipients from activating their reward while still keeping the process smooth for those ready to redeem in the moment.
I created several interaction concepts that explored ways of slowing recipients down—encouraging them to only unlock their reward once they were ready to spend it.
Displayed a confirmation message before unlocking, explaining the benefits of keeping the reward locked.
Result: Felt like unnecessary friction and disrupted the flow, especially in embedded environments.
Allowed users to cancel the process after clicking unlock, giving them extra time to consider the message about the benefits of holding onto their reward.
Result: Largely ignored by users; didn’t provide a clear reason to reconsider unlocking.
Introduced a secondary option that gave recipients an intentional alternative to unlocking. Since most users arrived on the page expecting to click “Unlock” immediately, this option created a pause—encouraging them to consciously decide whether to use their reward now or keep it for later.
Result: This approach resonated most with users, providing a clear, helpful choice rather than an obstacle.
In the final iteration, recipients land on the page and are immediately reassured with a success message: they’re all set and can return anytime when they’re ready to use their reward. This framing suggests that their task is complete unless they’re about to spend, reducing the likelihood of unnecessary unlocks.
The CTA on the page is “Spend now,” designed to signal that it should only be selected when the recipient is ready to use their reward. Clicking this flips the gift card image—mimicking the feel of holding a physical card. This subtle animation adds a moment of delight and boosts perceived value by making the virtual reward feel more tactile and real.
When flipped, only the last four digits of the card number are visible, with the rest masked. This detail came directly from user testing: in earlier concepts the credentials were blurred, which unintentionally sparked curiosity and made recipients want to unlock. Showing the last four digits gave them confidence that the credentials were real and securely stored, without prompting premature unlocks. We also included the expiration date, another user-driven insight. Without it, recipients felt an unnecessary sense of urgency, worried their reward might expire and pushing them to unlock before they were ready.
A supporting message reinforces the security benefits of keeping the reward locked until purchase. At this point, recipients see the same two options that proved most effective in prior testing:
Unlock – Displays the full credentials, enabling immediate use.
Keep locked and use later – Flips the card back, reinforcing that the reward is safely stored.
Together, these strategies create a natural decision point: users who are ready can unlock and spend, while those who aren’t are guided to keep their reward safe until the right moment. This not only improves the recipient experience, but also helps prevent non-committed users—those who may never spend their reward—from unlocking. In turn, Tango avoids purchasing gift cards that would go unused, safeguarding the revenue generated from unclaimed balances.
The redesigned experience was built to be easily embedded directly into customer applications. Instead of being redirected to a separate web view or new browser tab, recipients now stay within the customer’s app, eliminating the clunky back-and-forth of copying and pasting a security code.
While a layer of light friction remains to support business objectives, the new design strikes the right balance:
Simpler for developers – The embed reduces integration complexity for customers.
Smoother for recipients – Redemption feels native and seamless, minimizing unnecessary steps.
Stronger for Tango – By guiding only ready-to-spend recipients to unlock, the design protects a critical revenue stream tied to unused gift cards.
The implementation of embedded gift card credentials played a key role in securing the renewal of a major customer contract worth $64 million in reward value. By eliminating friction in the redemption process while preserving the business-critical deferred redemption model, Tango strengthened customer trust and satisfaction. The enhanced experience positioned Tango as a more seamless, integrated solution, reinforcing our value proposition and long-term customer relationships.
