Neo has a great network of partners that offer generous cashback, but the in-app flow for using the rewards network is unclear or I haven’t figured it out.
Let’s say you want to go to a restaurant that offers Neo rewards.
Here’s an example of what the current flow could look like:
Open the app to see main screen → go to rewards → click food & drink → click search as you try to get to map view to see where the restaurants are → see no map and type in the restaurant name → map opens → pinch to zoom enough to get through the lazy loading icons to see specific location → click on specific location → see no “directions” button here, click on the name in the bottom of the same location → click “about” → click on the map here → click on the arrow with directions → choose between Apple Maps and Google Maps → click open to bypass “Neo” wants to open “Google Maps” screen → press start. This flow is so long I can’t see anyone using it in real life when a much more familiar alternative would be to just open your favourite maps app instead and search there.
Alternatively, instead of going to “explore categories” you can try going to the search view directly via opening the main screen → go to rewards → search → search merchants. This is unlikely to give you what you want unless you know 1. exactly what you are looking for and 2. that whatever you are looking for has Neo rewards. If you already know both 1 and 2, it would make no sense to use the app when you can open Google or Apple maps instead and start from there. If you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, you are not going to find it unless it is in recent searches because the app does not give most popular, “closest to you” or most relevant suggestions there. If you know what you are looking for but don’t know if it’s on Neo, you can be disappointed if it is not on Neo. If you had experience with searches that don’t yield results, you are likely to opt for using Google or Apple Maps for search purposes – google maps won’t tell you if the restaurant has Neo rewards, but at least you know you will find the restaurant.
If you are paying close attention, there is a map icon in the rewards menu next to Rewards Network, so it is possible to go to the map directly. It would be interesting to see how many users go this route. I’d argue that the map icon is so subtle it’s very hard to find unless you are a frequent user accustomed to its location.
Even if you went to map view directly, the step between seeing that Second Cup Cafe offering 13% cashback and having the navigator open is pretty much impossible to find. This is the step:
“click on specific location → click on the name in the bottom of the same location → click “about” → click on the map here → click on the arrow with directions ->”
An expected response here would be a suggestion to transfer to navigator app right after clicking a specific location on the map. There would be an option to choose preferred navigator once and save it for future use without having to choose between Apple and Google maps every single time.
If this is not how Neo envisions users using the rewards feature, it would be helpful to watch a 10 second walkthrough video explaining how Neo wants us to use it. What would be the fastest way from seeing an offer on a map and navigating to it?