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Complex Community

Complex Community is a loyalty program that allows members to earn points through purchases and social engagement

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ROLE
Product Designer

TEAM
VP Product
VP Design
VP of Content
Sr. Product Manager
Product Designer

METHODS
Problem Definition
Research
Survey Design 
Wireframes & Prototyping
Usability Testing  
 

A new destination for streetwear fans

I partnered with Complex during its acquisition by NTWRK to define a 0-1 loyalty strategy for a unified shopping app, which integrates e-commerce with editorial content catered to their existing audience of streetwear fans. 

I researched, designed, and presented a 0-1 loyalty system along with a social community component to the Complex leadership team. Insights influenced Complex's decision to prioritize community and engagement with editorial.

THE PROBLEM 

Designing a loyalty system for a culture-driven, editorial media brand entering commerce
 

Complex needed a way to drive repeat engagement without relying on discounts in a category where users often shop based on price, speed, and scarcity. The Complex team shared that:
 

  1. Shopping and editorial needed to feel like an integrated experience 

  2. They want to increase repeat visitation to shop and editorial pages beyond one-off product drops 

  3. They want to improve purchase intent for mid-tier, low-heat products

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Hypothesis: Rewarding cultural participation alongside spend would create more reasons to return beyond a traditional transaction-only loyalty model

The community layer served three purposes:​

  • Recognize cultural contribution alongside spend

  • Increase repeat visitation independent of drops

  • Capture first-party participation signals tied to identifiable users

SOLUTION

Spend, Engage, Earn

We introduced a loyalty framework that rewarded:

  • ​Purchase behavior (spend)

  • Editorial engagement (reading, commenting)

  • Community contribution (posting, gifting each other “credits” for quality content)

​

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Complex has an engaged audience who regularly consumes their cultural content through multiple surfaces – online editorial, discord, TV shows, and pop up events. On top of that, I learned that streetwear hinges upon community amongst fans. 75% of fans prefer to earn loyalty points by participating in an online community around a streetwear or media brand they like (second to spending.)
 

  • 13 participants interviewed 

  • ​1 survey 

  • Participants were from Complex Discord  

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Participants from the Complex Discord

13 participants interviewed

1 survey via Google Forms

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RESEARCH

Brand loyalty is dead
 

Research showed that streetwear fans tend to buy from whichever platform sells their desired product the cheapest and fastest, and are skeptical of their data being used. Traditional loyalty programs reward spend, but that fails to build the sort of attachment that qualifies as a competitive moat. True loyalty is emotional and irrational. 

FOR THE STYLE GEEK
Earn Complex points when you
shop partner brands
 

FOR THE COLLECTOR
Spend to unlock early access to
exclusive drops and events

 FOR EVERYONE 
Earn and gift points in a community
that rewards conversation

After evaluating a few loyalty models, I proposed a system that rewards both spend and cultural participation (e.g., social engagement with editorial articles and community newsfeed) to capture early intent signals and increase repeat visits.

 

BRAINSTORMING OPTIONS

How might we design a loyalty program that engages beyond spend?
 

Users can gift credits to other users as digital props if they find their content valuable. Credits are deposited into the other user's balance which can be redeemed for loyalty rewards
 

DESIGN  

Internet points worth more than just social currency

Comments usually appear at the end of an article. Featuring comments above the fold would spotlight top contributors and funnel traffic towards the community.
 

DESIGN  

Spotlighting user voices above the editorial fold

🗯️ "All brand-run discords are dead until something cool is happening - usually a giveaway. Outside of that it's pretty quiet."

🗯️ “Influencers get all the fun. I've been following the brand for years and don't get the same type of perks or access."

🗯️  “If it wasn’t for community, I wouldn’t be as into streetwear. When you meet other people that have the same aesthetic, that is common ground .other interests too. "

🗯️ “I always rush to the comments [on Hypebeast and Complex's Instagram] and camp out for drops."

USER INSIGHTS

Streetwear fans value community, and being recognized within it
75% of survey participants want a loyalty program that recognizes their engagement in community, not just spend

ANALOGOUS BRAINSTORM

COMMUNITY TOPICS

Today, streetwear communities live on social media platforms, forums, and IRL pop ups. Successful online communities balance culture creation, interaction formats, brand presence, and engagement mechanics that sustain participation and drive sales.
 

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DESIGN   |  COMMUNITY DEEP DIVE

How might we bring existing conversations (and ultimately, culture) into Complex Shop?
 

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VP PRODUCT @ COMPLEX 
"You bring a great collaborative energy. Your ability to take feedback in real-time is impressive."

VP DESIGN @ COMPLEX 
"This is great. Please send us a copy of this solution along with your research."

If I could do it again
Looking back, my idea was ambitious that covered beyond one core functionality. Implementing this would've been a big investment. Based on the client's goals, there were lower hanging fruits for us (like focusing on short term conversion) will require less effort to build and measure. In the future, I'd focus on honing on one feature at a time.

​

Next steps
To validate the idea of a community, I'd explore a small experiment to implement a comments section where users would be given a certain # of credits per day to observe P2P gifting behavior patterns. 

VP CONTENT @ COMPLEX 
“This helps us a lot moving forward! Let's continue the conversation."

Overall, received positive feedback from the team, who used the research insights from the my deck and prototype to inform their efforts and roadmap. We even talked about small experiments we could run.
 

OUTCOMES & LEARNINGS

Pitching it all to Complex
 

If I could do it again
Looking back, my idea was a bit ambitious in that proposed more than one core functionality. Implementing this would've been a big investment. Based on the client's goals, there were lower hanging fruits we could've started with to improve on short term conversion, which would've  required less effort to build and measure. At the time, I wanted to envision what a big bet would look like before scoping down. In the future, I'd focus on honing in more deeply on one feature at a time.

 

What's next
To validate the idea of a community, I'd explore a small experiment to implement a comments section where users would be given a certain # of credits per day to see whether users would gift credits to recognize one another and form early patterns of reciprocity and reasons to return outside of buying something.

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