The Walking Dead Fan Rewards Club was a rewards program for the AMC Network's award-winning TV show, The Walking Dead. The program allows fans to earn points for making purchases, watching show-related content, and providing feedback. These points could be redeemed for merchandise and access to exclusive experiences.

The program was designed and developed in the summer of 2017 and launched concurrently with the Season 8 premiere of The Walking Dead in October 2017.

The client wanted to use CrowdTwist's white-label loyalty software to power a rewards program, but did not have the resources to design and develop it on their own.

CrowdTwist provided end-to-end services for the client: design, development, and implementation of a custom loyalty program targeted at their specific user base.

Lead UI/UX Designer

In the summer of 2017, cable network AMC contracted CrowdTwist to design, develop, and host an end-to-end rewards program for their flagship show, The Walking Dead. The program would be powered by CrowdTwist's widgets, which are iFrames that can be customized with CSS to match a client's brand. As the UI/UX designer, my job on this project was to work with AMC to define a creative direction, design each page of the program, and provide expertise on how to best use CrowdTwist technology to provide an enriching and smooth experience for program members.

I began by interviewing the clients in order to find out more about the type of program they wanted to build. The more I could learn about their needs and their audience's needs, the better I could customize the design for them.

Some of the questions I asked the client:

After conducting research into the target audience and defining goals for the project, I created wireframes for each page of the site.

After interviewing the client about how they wanted the program to look and feel, I came up with multiple approaches for the creative direction.

In the end, we went with a look that adhered more closely to the existing The Walking Dead website.

CrowdTwist successfully launched the project in time for the Season 8 premiere. The program exceeded the targeted number of member joins in the first week and growth has been steady throughout Season 8.

We were able to appeal to our main target audience, the hardcore fan who tunes in every week at the live broadcast time. Our research showed that these fans care most about once-in-a-lifetime experiences (tickets to events, visits to the set, etc.) and one-of-a-kind merchandise signed by cast members. To address this, we pushed those types of rewards front and center and found that they attracted the most interest among reward members. The response from fans has been very enthusiastic, with people showing off their hard-earned rewards on social media.

We succeeded not only in delivering an on-brand program for the client, but also in providing an enriching, rewarding program for their users.

We were also able to push the limits of CrowdTwist's technology to deliver a custom, one-of-a-kind rewards program. The use of vivid, full-bleed photography juxtaposed with dark, gritty textures showcased the dynamic visual style of the show and its characters. In addition, the color palette, typography, and iconography all fit in well with the established brand, making the rewards program feel very much like an authentic The Walking Dead experience.

As it was imperative to launch the rewards program in time for the Season 8 premiere, this project had an usually hectic schedule. A first of its type for CrowdTwist, this custom-built program was designed, developed, tested, and launched in just under three months.

Because The Walking Dead is such an important and lucrative brand for AMC, many different departments and stakeholders had a say during the design and development of The Walking Dead Fan Rewards Club. The creative direction changed quite a bit throughout the process, and there were difficulties in getting final approval for some items. In the end, though, we were able to launch the project successfully and on time.