Virgin Red - Unified Loyalty Experience Platform
Designing a cross-brand loyalty ecosystem connecting Virgin’s global services into one mobile experience.
Role: Lead Product Designer
Company: DMI
Platform: iOS & Android Hybrid App
Duration: 5+ Years
Virgin partnered with DMI to design and build Virgin Red, a unified loyalty platform connecting multiple Virgin brands into a single mobile experience.
I led the product design from concept to launch while collaborating with Virgin stakeholders in London and coordinating closely with product managers and engineering teams.
The Opportunity
Virgin operates multiple independent businesses including:
• Virgin Atlantic
• Virgin Money
• Virgin Trains
• Virgin Active
• Virgin Holidays
Each brand operated its own loyalty program and customer account system, creating fragmented user experiences.
Customers had to manage multiple registrations, rewards, and offers across different platforms.
This created an opportunity to build a unified loyalty ecosystem.
Key Challenges
Fragmented loyalty ecosystem
Customers needed separate accounts across Virgin brands.
No cross-brand promotion
Brands operated independently.
Limited value perception
Points could not be used across brands.
Low engagement
Users had limited incentive to interact regularly with loyalty programs.
Designing the Virgin Red Ecosystem
Virgin Red was designed as a mobile-first loyalty platform that connects all Virgin brands into a single customer experience.
The platform enables users to:
• Earn rewards across Virgin services
• Redeem points across brands
• Discover personalised offers
• Engage through gamified experiences
My Role
I served as the Lead Product Designer responsible for shaping the user experience of the Virgin Red platform.
Responsibilities included:
• Leading product ideation from concept stage
• Coordinating with Virgin stakeholders in London
• Collaborating with product managers during sprint planning
• Working closely with developers to ensure smooth implementation
• Explaining UX flows and resolving technical constraints
• Managing design tradeoffs to meet sprint deadlines
Virgin trusted me to communicate design decisions directly with their teams and guide the evolution of the product.
Stakeholder & Brand Collaboration
The Virgin brand maintains strict global brand guidelines. I worked closely with the Virgin Marketing team to ensure all features aligned with brand iden
Responsibilities included:
• Aligning UI design with Virgin brand guidelines
• Coordinating seasonal campaigns
• Launching themed experiences for events like Christmas and Boxing Day
• Ensuring marketing assets were integrated on schedule
Personalised Experiences
Users could customise their interests through a preference selection flow.
This enabled:
• Personalised offers
• Behaviour-driven recommendations
• Targeted brand promotions
For example, users booking flights through Virgin Atlantic could receive offers from Virgin Hotels or Virgin Money.
OS-Level App Capabilities
The Virgin Red app was designed to stay aligned with the latest capabilities introduced by mobile operating systems. Whenever new OS features were released, we evaluated how they could enhance the user experience and ensured they were introduced early into the product.
By proactively adopting platform innovations, the app consistently delivered a modern and efficient mobile experience. Examples included OS-level shortcuts that allowed users to quickly access frequently used sections directly from the launcher.
Users could directly access:
• Profile
• Rewards
• Vaults
This reduced friction and improved overall engagement by enabling users to reach key features without navigating through the full application.
Design System
A scalable design system ensured consistency across the product.
It included:
• Typography
• Color system
• Icon library
• Button components
• Interaction patterns
This enabled faster feature development across sprints.
Design Iterations
The product evolved through multiple iterations based on user feedback and business priorities.
Key improvements:
• Simplified navigation
• Improved reward discovery
• Optimised content hierarchy
Usability Testing
Remote usability testing was conducted with UK users to validate onboarding and account creation flows.
Testing focus:
• Email sign-up flow
• Facebook login
• User onboarding experience
Findings helped streamline the login process and reduce user friction.
GDPR Compliance Initiative
When GDPR became mandatory in the UK, we planned a dedicated sprint to redesign privacy and consent flows.
I led the UX design for:
• Data consent screens
• Permission management
• Privacy transparency
Impact
Virgin Red became a successful loyalty platform connecting multiple Virgin brands.
Android Play Store metrics:
• 500,000+ installs
• 244,000+ active users
• 4.32 average rating
The product remained active for over five years, strengthening the long-term partnership between Virgin and DMI. The product continued evolving through multiple feature releases, seasonal campaigns, and platform updates over its lifecycle.
Design Leadership & Learnings
Virgin Red was a long-term product initiative that required continuous collaboration between design, engineering, marketing, and business teams across multiple regions.
As the lead designer, I played a key role in shaping the product experience while coordinating closely with Virgin stakeholders in London and development teams in India.
The project required balancing user experience, brand consistency, marketing initiatives, and engineering constraints while delivering new features within sprint timelines.
Over time, the platform evolved through multiple releases, seasonal campaigns, and regulatory updates such as GDPR compliance.
Virgin Red remained an active product for more than five years and strengthened the long-term partnership between Virgin and DMI.
This project demonstrates my approach to leading product design for complex platforms while aligning user needs, business goals, and technical constraints.