ROLE
Lead Product Designer
TIMELINE
Aug 2024 - Sept 2024
TEAM
VP of Product, Product Manager, Development, QA
I designed advanced discount capabilities to compete for mid-market customers based on user research and sales feedback I collected. This secured a mid-market customer with 12 locations across Canada. The new experience launched to 40+ beta customers and processed $6.7M in transactions with 5,100+ discounts applied, totaling $23,000 in customer savings over 3 months.
CONTEXT
TouchBistro is a Restaurant Management and POS Company
Restaurants use TouchBistro's Cloud platform (a web-based management system) to configure their menus, staff, and settings, which sync across multiple venues and to their POS (point-of-sale) systems.
Missing Mid-Market Opportunities Due to Limited Discount Features
The sales team reported consistent interest from mid-market customers (restaurants with 10+ locations) wanting to partner with TouchBistro, but our discount capabilities fell short. Prospects needed more advanced discount features to maintain their existing workflows and new capabilities to support their growth.
Understanding Customer Needs
Before designing a solution to capture the mid-market's needs, I wanted to ensure we weren't overlooking our existing customers and the challenges they faced. I conducted a survey with current TouchBistro customers to understand how they use discounts, what pain points they experience, and what capabilities they were missing.
Surveying Our Existing Customers
I identified customers who made changes to their discounts in the last 3 months and worked with product marketing to craft a recruitment email for a survey. We received 55 responses from managers or owners who manage discounts for their businesses across the US and Canada, ranging from 1 to 5+ locations.
Top Discount Motivations
1
Customer Retention
Building loyalty and bringing back customers
2
Seasonal or Special Events
Holiday promotions and event-based discounts
3
Attracting New Customers
First-time visitor incentives and acquisition
4
Filling Seats During Slow Times
Encouraging traffic during off-peak hours
5
Encouraging Larger Orders
Incentivizing higher spend per transaction
Where Restaurants Focus Their Discounts
DINE-IN
TAKEOUT
DELIVERY
Existing Customers Needs
Through our survey, we received feedback on what our customers wanted to improve their discount workflow
Mid-Market Needs
After collecting data from the sales team, the VP of Product, product owner and I identified the needs of the mid-market
Problems with the Current Experience
While doing an audit of the current experience, I identified other areas we'd need to improve as well.
Discount Types Are Unclear
The discount creation page doesn't distinguish between item-level and bill-level discounts. All discounts are configured the same way, making it unclear to customers that bill discounts are possible. Most assume only item discounts are available.
Bill Discounts Display Incorrectly
When applied to the entire bill, discounts appear separately under each eligible item rather than as a single line after the subtotal. This clutters receipts, wastes paper, and makes bill discounts look identical to item discounts.
Inconsistent UI
The discount modal appears differently when applying discounts on the ordering screen compared to the checkout screen. The way you select discounts and confirm your changes also differs between the experiences, creating inconsistency.
SOLUTION
Overhauling the Discount Experience
Redesigned the system to support multiple discount types, flexible application methods, and advanced constraints that mid-market customers require.
Cloud: Discount Configurations
Creating Discounts
To address confusion around discount types, I redesigned the creation flow to explicitly distinguish between item-level and bill-level discounts. Businesses can now select a discount type (Item, Bill, BOGO, Combo, Promo Code), define the amount, specify eligible menu items and the condition when it can be applied.
Advanced Configurations
The new system introduces granular controls for defining when, what, and how discounts apply. Businesses can configure min/max spend thresholds, time restrictions, and whether discounts apply to in-venue or online orders, enabling mid-market customers to align promotions with their operational needs.
Creating Promo Codes
Mid-market customers identified promo codes as essential for their marketing campaigns. The new system allows businesses to configure custom promo codes with validity periods and application rules, solving a key adoption barrier.
POS: Applying Discounts to Orders
Applying Discounts and Creating Custom Discounts
Staff can apply discounts using the new experience and create custom discounts for unique situations by specifying the reason and amount, addressing a top customer request for flexibility in their workflow.
Promo Codes
When customers provide a promo code at the venue, staff enter it on the POS to apply the discount.
Automatic Discounts
Automatic discounts apply when configured conditions are met. Businesses configure the criteria on Cloud (eligible items, minimum spend, etc), and the system automatically applies the discount on POS when the conditions are satisfied.
Improved Bill Discount Display
Bill discounts now appear as a single line after the subtotal instead of repeating under each eligible item. This solves the receipt clutter problem identified in the audit, reduces expensive receipt paper waste, and makes bill discounts visually distinct from item discounts, addressing customer confusion about whether bill discounts actually exist.
Unified Discount Modal
To address inconsistency between the order screen and checkout screen, I standardized the discount modal and confirmation flow across both contexts. Users now experience the same interface and interactions regardless of where they apply discounts, creating predictability and reducing errors.
VALIDATION
Launched to 40+ Beta Customers
Due to development timelines, features like BOGO, Combos, Cash Discounts, and Scheduling were postponed to a future release.
The new experience was released to 40+ beta customers, processing approximately $6.7 million in transactions over 3 months (May 2025 - July 2025).
IN TRANSACTIONS
DISCOUNTS APPLIED
Things to Improve
Our team reached out to a few beta customers to see what could be improved
IMPACT
Secured First Mid-Market Customer Through Advanced Discounts
The advanced discount capabilities directly enabled TouchBistro to close a deal with a 12-location restaurant chain across Canada. This was one of the first mid-market customers acquired through this initiative.
Key Deciding Factors:
REFLECTION
Balancing New and Existing Customer Needs
When building for a new customer segment, we need to make sure we're not forgetting the needs of our existing customer segment. My research revealed that existing customers and mid-market customers had different priorities that didn't overlap. Existing customers had specific pain points with the current system, while mid-market customers needed granular control over when, where, and how discounts applied.
This insight shaped my approach. Instead of simply expanding features, I focused on building flexibility through advanced configurations. This shift from "more features" to "more control" served both audiences.