Discover: Tap to Ride
Boosting contactless payment adoption + 20% lift in contactless card transactions among MTA transit commuters.
Role
Visual Designer
Team
Card Payments + Marketing
Company
Discover + MTA
The Brief
Despite Discover's contactless payment capability being available across its card, phone, and wearable ecosystem, adoption among everyday transit commuters remained low. I was tasked with creating a campaign that shows how easy it is to pay on the Discover Global Network and to drive greater adoption for contactless payments.
Research and consumer mapping within the MTA environment was central to the research phase. The goal was to understand where people were on the transit system and how ads could interrupt their payment habits, trigger awareness, and drive recall at the point of payment.
Despite Discover's contactless payment capability being available across its card, phone, and wearable ecosystem, adoption among everyday transit commuters remained low. I was tasked with creating a campaign that shows how easy it is to pay on the Discover Global Network and to drive greater adoption for contactless payments.
Research and consumer mapping within the MTA environment was central to the research phase. The goal was to understand where people were on the transit system and how ads could interrupt their payment habits, trigger awareness, and drive recall at the point of payment.
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Ad Recall Rate among NYC commuters
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Ad Recall Rate among NYC commuters
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Digital and print assets produced
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Digital and print assets produced
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Ad Recall Rate among NYC commuters
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Digital and print assets produced
Takeaway and outcome:
The most effective UX solution wasn't in the app or website, but in the environment itself. Meeting users at the exact moment of behavior change, with a message stripped to its simplest form, created the clearest path from awareness to action.
The most effective UX solution wasn't in the app or website, but in the environment itself. Meeting users at the exact moment of behavior change, with a message stripped to its simplest form, created the clearest path from awareness to action.
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Increase in contactless transactions across the MTA YTD (2024).
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0% Lift
Increase in contactless transactions across the MTA YTD (2024).
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Commuters reached within NYC's highest-traffic transit environments.
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Commuters reached within NYC's highest-traffic transit environments.
0% Lift
0% Lift
Increase in contactless transactions across the MTA YTD (2024).
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Commuters reached within NYC's highest-traffic transit environments.
© Olga Kutnyakova 2026
© Olga Kutnyakova 2026
© Olga Kutnyakova 2026