Gift Card Exchange — Platform Redesign
At a glance
Inherited an outdated PrestaShop template that was never live. Led a complete UX/UI redesign and Figma design system — then launched on a custom-built PrestaShop theme. Shipped Exchange/Regift and GCX+ loyalty. Drove 80% YoY growth and a 35% conversion lift.
Role
Senior Product Designer
Company
Gift Card Exchange
Platform
Web & Mobile
Date
March 2022
OVERVIEW
Redesigning the template before go-live
Gift Card Exchange (GCX) is an Australian e-commerce platform for buying, selling, and exchanging gift cards from 100+ major brands. When I joined, the business was built on PrestaShop — but the existing template had never been launched. It was outdated, difficult to navigate, not mobile-friendly, and nowhere near ready to support the product GCX needed to compete.
The platform decision was already made: GCX would stay on PrestaShop. My job was to fully redesign the template and experience before launch — research, feature prioritisation, customer interviews, journey mapping, information architecture, UX/UI design, and a Figma design system that engineering could implement as a custom PrestaShop theme. The result was a modern, scalable experience with two major new product pillars — Exchange/Regift and GCX+ loyalty — built on a competitive advantage no rival offered: GCX gift cards are not activated at purchase.
THE CHALLENGE
An unreleased PrestaShop template that wasn’t fit to launch
GCX’s site lived on a legacy PrestaShop setup — an off-the-shelf e-commerce template that was never pushed live. That gave us a rare opening: no live users to migrate, no production traffic to protect. But the business was still preparing to launch on a template that didn’t reflect GCX’s brand, product model, or ambitions.
Outdated PrestaShop template that no longer matched GCX’s brand vision
Confusing navigation and cluttered layouts inherited from generic e-commerce patterns
Poor mobile responsiveness across core purchase flows
Missing essentials: search, filters, account management, loyalty
Default template flows that couldn’t express Exchange, Regift, or wallet logic
No scalable path for new brand partnerships or future product growth
The question wasn’t whether to leave PrestaShop — it was whether to launch on the template as it stood. We chose a full redesign, then continued on PrestaShop with a custom-built theme that matched the new experience.
MY ROLE & APPROACH
Full experience redesign within a fixed platform
What I owned
I owned the full design process end to end — research, feature prioritisation, customer interviews, journey mapping, information architecture, UX/UI design, and a Figma design system. I collaborated closely with product managers, developers, marketing, and stakeholders throughout.
Because the PrestaShop site had never gone live, I could rethink information architecture, core flows, and the component model without legacy user compromises — while designing for implementation within PrestaShop. Using a Now / Later / Park prioritisation framework with the product and engineering teams, I helped shape a launch scope that was ambitious but achievable on the existing platform.
What I delivered
Full PrestaShop template redesign — a modern web and mobile experience implemented as a custom PrestaShop theme
Exchange & Regift system — swap unwanted cards for credits or send directly to friends
GCX+ loyalty program — points on every transaction, redeemable for credits or cash
Core commerce flows — purchase, checkout, digital wallet, account, and order management
Figma design system — typography, colour, icons, and components as the source of truth for the custom theme
Launch-ready handoff — high-fidelity UI, prototypes, and specs for PrestaShop development
01 — DISCOVERY
Auditing the template — and what competitors were doing
I started by auditing the unreleased PrestaShop template to understand what could be reworked, what needed replacing entirely, and where default e-commerce patterns were working against GCX’s business model. In parallel, I ran competitor analysis across Prezzy, Gift Card Australia, and Cardly.
The research surfaced GCX’s most important differentiator: unlike every major competitor, GCX gift cards are not activated at purchase. The out-of-the-box PrestaShop template treated gift cards like standard products — it had no concept of exchange, regifting, or wallet-based redemption. That meant the redesign had to go far beyond skinning the template; it required custom flows that engineering would build into the PrestaShop theme.
Research takeaways
Opportunities — card swap/exchange, bulk buying for businesses, loyalty incentives, focus on repurposing unwanted cards
Strengths — non-activated cards unlock exchange and regift flows competitors can’t offer
Weaknesses — limited brand variety, lower market awareness, and a default PrestaShop template that didn’t reflect GCX’s product model
The Australian unused gift card market is worth $1.4 billion — 46.9% of cards go unwanted. Exchange and Regift weren’t nice-to-haves; they solved a massive, documented pain point. The existing PrestaShop template had no path to ship them as designed.
— Market context
Journey mapping & information architecture
With no live analytics to lean on, journey maps and a new site map became the primary tool for aligning the team. I mapped the full purchase, exchange, and wallet experience from first visit through repeat purchase — giving product, engineering, and marketing a shared view of what the redesigned PrestaShop experience needed to deliver at launch.
02 — DESIGN DECISIONS
Testing assumptions before launch
With no production data to analyse, moderated usability testing was essential. I ran remote sessions with 4 participants (first-time purchasers and returning users) via Zoom, using think-aloud protocol and screen recording. Each session ran 45–60 minutes across three primary flows on the new designs — not the old unreleased template:
Receiving and activating an Exchange (Swap) card
Purchasing gift cards with credits or other payment methods
Receiving and applying credits on subsequent purchases
Findings were presented in a dedicated stakeholder review. Follow-up testing showed significantly higher task completion and reduced confusion — and several potential launch-day issues were caught before the platform went live for the first time.
Insights that changed the design
Credits at checkout
Problem: Users couldn’t find the credit checkbox and didn’t understand how credits applied to their order.
Fix: Replaced the checkbox with a prominent, mutually exclusive toggle — “Pay with Credits” or “Pay with Card” — before checkout.
Post-activation confusion
Problem: After activating a card, users didn’t know what to do next or where to spend it.
Fix: Added clear CTAs — “Spend Online” (direct retailer link) and “Spend In-Store” (location link) — immediately after activation.
Login vs sign-up friction
Problem: Users were unsure whether they were logging in or signing up, and why authentication was required.
Fix: Improved messaging, added trust signals (including social proof), and moved the acceptance screen earlier in the flow.
03 — DESIGN PHASE FLOW
What I designed for the custom PrestaShop experience
The website design process unfolded seamlessly and efficiently. The design system dramatically reduced my workflow. With the framework for purchasing and delivering gift cards already established, I was able to focus on the designs.
Designs were tested and refined, increasing in fidelity for development handoff.
01
Exchange card (swap card) acceptance
Swap card converted into credits.
02
Pay with credits purchase
Gift card purchase using credits.
03
Credit card / Bank transfer purchase
Gift card purchase using other payment options.
04
Account Information
My Orders, Redeem GCX+ Points, Track your Gift Cards, Live Activity Feed and Profile Details.
FINAL DESIGNS
POST LAUNCH
Exchange & Regift
Users can convert unwanted gift cards into GCX credits or send them directly to friends — backed by dynamic market pricing. This turned GCX’s non-activated card model into a practical solution for the $1.4B unused card market. Standard PrestaShop product flows couldn’t support swap, credit conversion, or regift logic — so these became custom-designed flows built into the new theme.
GCX+ Points Based Loyalty Program
Introduced a loyalty system to reward frequent users, encouraging repeat purchases. Designed a points system where users earn points for every transaction, with points redeemable for credits and then can be used to purchase gift cards.
04 — OUTCOME & IMPACT
Measurable growth across business and user metrics
$6M
Annual gift card sales within 12 months of launch (from ~$300K/month)
+80%
Year-on-year growth in gift cards purchased
+28%
Increase in average order value
35%
Improvement in browse-to-purchase conversion
90K+
Total clients served · 40K+ monthly active users
Business impact
Redesigning the PrestaShop template before launch let GCX go to market with Exchange, loyalty, and wallet features from day one — on the platform the business had already committed to. Exchange and loyalty encouraged larger and combined purchases, driving a 28% lift in average order value. Conversion from browse to purchase improved 35%, and the platform gained stronger marketplace liquidity — positioning GCX as a more competitive player in the gift card space.
User impact
Users described the new platform as “much more intuitive, trustworthy, and fun to use”
Exchange gave customers a practical way to repurpose unwanted cards instead of letting them expire
Loyalty rewards made repeat buying feel worthwhile
Smoother recipient unboxing and instant wallet integration drove positive word-of-mouth
The redesign reduced frustration, built trust, and turned occasional buyers into repeat GCX users — proving that staying on PrestaShop didn’t mean settling for a generic template experience.
05 — LEARNINGS & NEXT STEPS
Solving a real market problem creates differentiation
Exchange wasn’t a feature add — it addressed 46.9% of gift cards going unused. Building on GCX’s non-activated card model turned a technical constraint into a product advantage competitors couldn’t copy.
Loyalty and exchange turn transactions into retention
GCX+ and Exchange/Regift shifted the platform from one-off purchases to a sticky ecosystem — users had reasons to return, swap, and spend again.
User testing catches what analytics miss — especially pre-launch
With no live traffic, moderated sessions were our only way to validate flows before go-live. Testing surfaced credits checkout confusion, post-activation dead ends, and login friction that would have hit users on day one.
What came next
Post-launch priorities included enhanced recipient unboxing animations, expanded personalisation templates, tiered loyalty and referral programs, checkout A/B testing, and international expansion using the scalable design system.