3 min read

Modernizing Loyalty: How Tonic3 Drives High-Volume Adoption for Pizza Hut

Picture of Ale Sanchez Ale Sanchez : Jan 31, 2026 5:18:52 PM

Data & APIs Design & UX Modernization Adoption & Engagement

Delivering a High-Fidelity Checkout Prototype to Accelerate Loyalty Enrollment and Reduce Friction is not an easy project to get prioritized in a large organization. Pizza Hut teams were aware of the possible impact to their return business, and pushed for stakeholder alignment to focus on the user experience to see quantifiable results. And that extra effort up front paid off.

Joanne Kok, UX & Research Principal for Tonic3

Stagnant loyalty engagement and high friction in the checkout-to-enrollment customer journey.

16 unique high-fidelity checkout scenarios validated through iterative rapid prototyping.

40% Reduction in time-on-task and 100% user preference for the new design.

40%

Time-on-Task Reduced

Comprehensive

Risk Reporting Output

A11Y

Meets Accessibility Standards

16

High-fidelity Prototypes for Testing

The Challenge:

Friction in "Hut Rewards"

Pizza Hut needed to transform its "Hut Rewards" program into a friction-free experience. The primary business hurdle was a lack of clarity in the program structure, which prevented casual diners from becoming active, engaged members. Specifically, the Checkout Flow—the most critical moment for loyalty acquisition—was cluttered and failed to incentivize immediate sign-ups.

The Approach:

Accelerating Adoption with Rapid Prototyping Design Sessions

To meet Pizza Hut’s aggressive Q2 release goals, Tonic3 deployed a high-velocity, expert-led delivery model that blended deep user research with rapid engineering. We functioned as a strategic extension of the Pizza Hut UX and Loyalty teams, using a disciplined sprint-based methodology to move from initial kick-off to a live, production-ready solution in a single year.

Human-Centered UX: Rapid Prototyping and Testing

For Pizza Hut to have concrete data for decision-making, this work generated 16 high-fidelity, production-realistic prototypes covering a full range of checkout scenarios. These weren’t static mockups—they were interactive assets used for eye-tracking and user research to pinpoint exactly where users hesitated or dropped off, A/B testing to directly compare existing flows with optimized versions, and time-on-task analysis to demonstrate that the new information architecture helped users complete orders faster while seamlessly opting into rewards.

Custom-Built Code & Technology Integration: For "No Drama" Delivery

To ensure the vision was executable, we aligned with Pizza Hut's modern tech stack to prevent delivery drama:

* Progressive Web App (PWA): Built for mobile-first speed.

* Contentful (CMS): Implemented to allow the loyalty team to update rewards dynamically.

* Enterprise Standards: Adhered to accessibility (A11Y) and QA consulting to ensure global franchise scalability.

The Impact: Adoption at Scale

The results for Pizza Hut were definitive. The iterative testing phase confirmed a 40% reduction in time-on-task, effectively removing the "time tax" of joining a loyalty program. Most importantly, the research yielded 100% user preference for the Tonic3-designed flow over the legacy system, clearing the path for a Q2 release.