Service Design for Crypto Employee Incentives

jonwalmsley
Jun 10
2 min read

A Proof-of-Concept Digital Currency for Employee Incentives and Local Merchants

Overview

View of the transaction history for the cafe's view page

This proof-of-concept explored how blockchain technology could facilitate an employee reward system integrated into local commerce. Employees earned tokens for meeting workplace goals, redeemable at partnered local eateries using tablet-based merchant terminals. These businesses could later exchange tokens for their equivalent sterling value via the employer.

The project required service design thinking, ensuring the experience worked seamlessly across three user groups: employees, merchants, and administrators.

My role encompassed service blueprinting, stakeholder engagement, and end-to-end UX design - ensuring every actor within the ecosystem had a clear, seamless, and accessible experience.

Service Design Approach

Mapping the End-to-End Ecosystem

Developed a service blueprint aligning employee rewards, merchant redemption, and admin reimbursement.
Introduced tablet terminals for merchants, ensuring accessible and efficient transactions for non-technical users.
Balanced blockchain technology with real-world usability, making digital currency tangible for local commerce.

Representation of the service design blueprint for this project.

Touchpoint Design & Prototyping

Designed tailored user flows:
- Employees: Wallet UI to track earned tokens and locate participating venues.
- Merchants: Tablet-based system for accepting payments and managing balances.
- Admins: Dashboard for issuing tokens, tracking ledger records, and handling reimbursements.
Interactive prototypes tested merchant-side usability, ensuring frictionless adoption.

Research & Validation

Conducted usability testing with employees and merchant staff to assess transaction speed and clarity.
Used System Usability Scale (SUS) to evaluate merchant-side workflows on tablet terminals.
Interviewed merchants to optimize UI clarity, streamlining the payment and token redemption process.

Results & Learnings

Simplified crypto adoption for merchants via dedicated tablet terminals instead of requiring personal wallets.
Reduced transaction friction through optimized workflows, helping merchants process payments seamlessly.
Validated incentive-driven behaviour - employees engaged more with workplace goals when tied to real-world spending.
Strengthened local business partnerships, fostering community-driven digital payments.

Lessons Learned

Although the tool was not launched due to employment tax complexities, the project proved valuable in understanding how service design bridges the gap between innovation and usability. The tablet terminals were particularly crucial in ensuring cryptocurrency felt familiar and accessible for merchants.

This reinforced the importance of multi-touchpoint service ecosystems, where technology, regulations, and user adoption must align from the start.

Final Thoughts

This initiative showcased how service design unlocks real-world blockchain applications, ensuring digital incentives can integrate seamlessly into daily commerce. By designing intuitive touchpoints across employees, merchants, and administrators, we proved the feasibility of cryptocurrency-driven service ecosystems - even if legal constraints meant further iteration was needed.