Valeria Muñoz

Pizza Hut - Deals Page Optimization

I redesigned Pizza Hut’s Deals experience to improve deal comprehension, promotional discovery, and conversion through phased experimentation.

Impact

$7.5M - $11.3M

Timeline

6 months

Role

Senior Product Designer

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Increasing conversion on one of Pizza Hut's highest-revenue digital experiences.

The Deals page was one of Pizza Hut's highest-traffic digital experiences, yet it wasn't converting as many customers as expected. As promotional campaigns expanded, the experience became increasingly difficult to understand, making it harder for customers to confidently choose a deal.

Instead of proposing another large redesign, I reframed the problem around customer decision-making. Using behavioral research and experimentation, I identified low-risk opportunities to improve deal comprehension and conversion.

My Role

Led UX strategy, partnering with Product, Research, Merchandising, and Engineering to shift the team's approach from large redesigns to measurable behavioral improvements.

Incident Management - Before

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Increasing conversion on one of Pizza Hut's highest-revenue digital experiences.

My Role

Led UX strategy, partnering with Product, Research, Merchandising, and Engineering to shift the team's approach from large redesigns to measurable behavioral improvements.

Deals Page - Before

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Increasing conversion on one of Pizza Hut's highest-revenue digital experiences.

My Role

Led UX strategy, partnering with Product, Research, Merchandising, and Engineering to shift the team's approach from large redesigns to measurable behavioral improvements.

Deals Page - Before

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Increasing conversion on one of Pizza Hut's highest-revenue digital experiences.

My Role

Led UX strategy, partnering with Product, Research, Merchandising, and Engineering to shift the team's approach from large redesigns to measurable behavioral improvements.

Incident Management - Before

APPROACH & USER RESEARCH

Start with evidence, not assumptions.

Before designing anything, I synthesized existing heuristic evaluations, usability studies, and CRO findings to identify recurring behavioral patterns instead of repeating research.

Weak visual hierarchy
Hidden deal contents
Similar-looking promotional tiles
High cognitive load

I believed the biggest opportunity was improving the fundamental building block of the page: the deal tile.

If customers could understand a deal at first glance, they could compare offers with less effort and make faster decisions.

I focused on three principles:

Hierarchy:Make important information immediately visible.
Price prominence: Better communicate value.
Deal summaries: Surface included items before entering the builder.

I believed the biggest opportunity was improving the fundamental building block of the page: the deal tile.

If customers could understand a deal at first glance, they could compare offers with less effort and make faster decisions.

I focused on three principles:

Hierarchy:Make important information immediately visible.
Price prominence: Better communicate value.
Deal summaries: Surface included items before entering the builder.

I believed the biggest opportunity was improving the fundamental building block of the page: the deal tile.

If customers could understand a deal at first glance, they could compare offers with less effort and make faster decisions.

I focused on three principles:

Hierarchy:Make important information immediately visible.
Price prominence: Better communicate value.
Deal summaries: Surface included items before entering the builder.

I believed the biggest opportunity was improving the fundamental building block of the page: the deal tile.

If customers could understand a deal at first glance, they could compare offers with less effort and make faster decisions.

I focused on three principles:

Hierarchy:Make important information immediately visible.
Price prominence: Better communicate value.
Deal summaries: Surface included items before entering the builder.

APPROACH & USER RESEARCH

Start with evidence, not assumptions.

Before designing anything, I synthesized existing heuristic evaluations, usability studies, and CRO findings to identify recurring behavioral patterns instead of repeating research.

Heuristic Evaluations

Weak visual hierarchy
Hidden deal contents
Similar-looking promotional tiles
High cognitive load

Usability Studies

Users opened deals just to understand what was included.
Comparing offers required memory.
Price alone wasn't enough to communicate value.

CRO & Behavioral Analytics

High exploratory clicks
Frequent backtracking
Low decision confidence

I believed the biggest opportunity was improving the fundamental building block of the page: the deal tile.

If customers could understand a deal at first glance, they could compare offers with less effort and make faster decisions.

I focused on three principles:

Hierarchy:Make important information immediately visible.
Price prominence: Better communicate value.
Deal summaries: Surface included items before entering the builder.

Everything competes equally for attention.

Pricing lacks hierarchy; no anchor for value comparison

Promotions blended together visually

Deals Page

What’s included?

How does this deal compare to others?

Deal Builder

Comparing deals required memory

Users had to open each builder to understand what’s included

APPROACH & USER RESEARCH

Start with evidence, not assumptions.

Before designing anything, I synthesized existing heuristic evaluations, usability studies, and CRO findings to identify recurring behavioral patterns instead of repeating research.

Heuristic Evaluations

Weak visual hierarchy
Hidden deal contents
Similar-looking promotional tiles
High cognitive load

Usability Studies

Users opened deals just to understand what was included.
Comparing offers required memory.
Price alone wasn't enough to communicate value.

CRO & Behavioral Analytics

High exploratory clicks
Frequent backtracking
Low decision confidence

I believed the biggest opportunity was improving the fundamental building block of the page: the deal tile.

If customers could understand a deal at first glance, they could compare offers with less effort and make faster decisions.

I focused on three principles:

Hierarchy:Make important information immediately visible.
Price prominence: Better communicate value.
Deal summaries: Surface included items before entering the builder.

Everything competes equally for attention.

Pricing lacks hierarchy; no anchor for value comparison

Promotions blended together visually

Deals Page

What’s included?

Back and forth
repeatedly

Customer taps to open deal

How does this deal compare to others?

Deal Builder

Comparing deals required memory

Users had to open each builder to understand what’s included

THE CHALLENGE

Pressure pushed the project in a different direction.

Although research pointed toward foundational improvements, leadership and franchise partners were eager for a bold redesign that would visibly modernize the Deals experience and increase conversion as soon as possible.

To explore that direction, I expanded the design space.

Reviewing these concepts with CRO partners surfaced a critical challenge that supported my initial hypothesis:

The concepts generated excitement but not measurable learning.

Each redesign introduced too many variants to test.

Research Findings

THE CHALLENGE

Pressure pushed the project in a different direction.

To explore that direction, I expanded the design space.

Reviewing these concepts with CRO partners surfaced a critical challenge that supported my initial hypothesis:

The concepts generated excitement but not measurable learning.

Each redesign introduced too many variants to test.

Bento Box

Carousel Prominence

Deal Propensity + Merchandising

THE CHALLENGE

Pressure pushed the project in a different direction.

To explore that direction, I expanded the design space.

Reviewing these concepts with CRO partners surfaced a critical challenge that supported my initial hypothesis:

The concepts generated excitement but not measurable learning.

Each redesign introduced too many variants to test.

Bento Box

Carousel Prominence

Deal Propensity + Merchandising

THE CHALLENGE

Pressure pushed the project in a different direction.

To explore that direction, I expanded the design space.

Reviewing these concepts with CRO partners surfaced a critical challenge that supported my initial hypothesis:

The concepts generated excitement but not measurable learning.

Each redesign introduced too many variants to test.

Research Findings

Project Overview

Approach & Research

Challenge

Execution

Results

Reflection

THE PIVOT

Instead of choosing between a bold redesign and incremental improvements, I reframed the work as a phased experimentation strategy.

Each phase isolated one behavioral variable, allowing the team to learn what actually improved customer decision-making before layering in richer merchandising, branding, and personalization.

Phase 1 — Foundation

Improve decision confidence

Hierarchy
Deal summaries
Price prominence

New Design Framework

Phase 4 — Personalization

Scale relevance

Recommendations
Behavioral ranking
Adaptive modules

THE PIVOT

Instead of choosing between a bold redesign and incremental improvements, I reframed the work as a phased experimentation strategy.

Each phase isolated one behavioral variable, allowing the team to learn what actually improved customer decision-making before layering in richer merchandising, branding, and personalization.

Phase 1 — Foundation

Improve decision confidence

Hierarchy
Deal summaries
Price prominence

Phase 2 — Discovery

Support exploration

Filters & sorting
Intent-based browsing
Discovery badges

Phase 3 — Brand Experience

Increase engagement

Rich merchandising
Campaign moments
Enhanced imagery

Phase 4 — Personalization

Scale relevance

Recommendations
Behavioral ranking
Adaptive modules

THE PIVOT

Instead of choosing between a bold redesign and incremental improvements, I reframed the work as a phased experimentation strategy.

Each phase isolated one behavioral variable, allowing the team to learn what actually improved customer decision-making before layering in richer merchandising, branding, and personalization.

Phase 1 — Foundation

Improve decision confidence

Hierarchy
Deal summaries
Price prominence

New Design Framework

Phase 4 — Personalization

Scale relevance

Recommendations
Behavioral ranking
Adaptive modules

EXECUTION

Phase 1: Foundation

Validate the foundation before scaling the experience.

Rather than redesigning the entire page, the first experiment isolated the foundational information architecture behaviors research suggested mattered most.

Objective

Validate whether improving deal comprehension increases customer decision confidence.

Show clear progress and what's happening

DoN'T

Avoid indefinite waiting

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Deliver the right help, in the flow

DoN'T

Avoid context switching

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Provide relevant, transparent guidance

DoN'T

Avoid generic, low-value suggestions

Variables Tested

Hierarchy
Price prominence
Deal summaries
Layout density

Pass context and history to the agent

DoN'T

Avoid starting over

Pass context and history to the agent

DoN'T

Avoid starting over

EXECUTION

Phase 1: Foundation

Validate the foundation before scaling the experience.

Rather than redesigning the entire page, the first experiment isolated the foundational information architecture behaviors research suggested mattered most.

Objective

Validate whether improving deal comprehension increases customer decision confidence.

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Variables Tested

Hierarchy
Price prominence
Deal summaries
Layout density

Winning Variant

Featured-first hierarchy

Prioritized high-value offers with clearer hierarchy and deal summaries to improve first-glance comprehension.

Discovery-led browsing

Prioritized horizontal exploration and exploratory interaction patterns.

High-density comparison

Increased browsing breadth through a denser scanning (double column) layout.

Hybrid discovery system

Combined carousel exploration with higher-density browsing behavior.

EXECUTION

Phase 1: Foundation

Validate the foundation before scaling the experience.

Rather than redesigning the entire page, the first experiment isolated the foundational information architecture behaviors research suggested mattered most.

Objective

Validate whether improving deal comprehension increases customer decision confidence.

Show clear progress and what's happening

DoN'T

Avoid indefinite waiting

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Deliver the right help, in the flow

DoN'T

Avoid context switching

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Provide relevant, transparent guidance

DoN'T

Avoid generic, low-value suggestions

Variables Tested

Hierarchy
Price prominence
Deal summaries
Layout density

Pass context and history to the agent

DoN'T

Avoid starting over

Pass context and history to the agent

DoN'T

Avoid starting over

RESULTS

Clarity changed customer behavior.

The winning variant reduced unnecessary exploration while improving downstream business performance. Rather than increasing engagement through richer merchandising, improving deal comprehension helped customers make faster, more confident decisions.

Before

Deal contents hidden until entering the builder
Repeated exploratory clicks to compare offers
High cognitive effort before selecting a deal

After

Deal summaries surfaced directly within each tile
Faster value comparison during browsing
Higher decision confidence before checkout

↓ 0.76%

Exploratory CTR

Fewer exploratory interactions indicated stronger decision confidence and less comparison effort.

↓ 0.76%

Exploratory CTR

Fewer exploratory interactions indicated stronger decision confidence and less comparison effort.

↓ 0.76%

Exploratory CTR

Fewer exploratory interactions indicated stronger decision confidence and less comparison effort.

↓ 0.76%

Exploratory CTR

Fewer exploratory interactions indicated stronger decision confidence and less comparison effort.

↓ 0.76%

Exploratory CTR

Fewer exploratory interactions indicated stronger decision confidence and less comparison effort.

Impact beyond Phase 1

The experiment established an experimentation framework the team could build on. Each following phase introduced one new behavioral hypothesis while preserving what had already been validated.

WHAT'S NEXT

Building on the foundation.

Phase 1 proved that clarity improves decision confidence. The remaining roadmap focused on layering discovery, merchandising, and personalization without reintroducing cognitive load.

Phase 1 -> Done

Foundation

Help users understand deals.

Phase 3

Discovery

Help users discover more without thinking harder.

Phase 4

Brand

Create emotional moments after trust has been established.

Phase 5

Personalization

Surface the right deal at the right time.

08 REFLECTION

Clarity changed behavior.

THINGS I BELIEVE NOW

Start smaller than you think.

The biggest improvements came from strengthening the smallest building block of the experience.

Measure customer behavior, not just clicks.

Metrics rarely tell the full story in isolation. Lower exploratory clicks initially appeared negative, but customer behavior revealed this was due to greater customer confidence and reduced decision friction.

Build systems, not screens.

The most valuable outcome wasn't a single winning interface, it was an experimentation framework the team could continue learning from.

02 APPROACH & USER RESEARCH

Start with evidence, not assumptions.

Before designing anything, I synthesized existing heuristic evaluations, usability studies, and CRO findings to identify recurring behavioral patterns instead of repeating research.

Everything competes equally for attention.

Users must open each builder to understand what’s included

Pricing lacks hierarchy; no anchor for value comparison

Tap to open deal

Back and forth

repeatedly

What’s

included?

Is this actually

a better deal?

How does it compare?

Users had to open multiple builders just to answer simple questions.

Weak visual hierarchy
Hidden deal contents
Similar-looking promotional tiles
High cognitive load

Users opened deals just to understand what was included.
Comparing offers required memory.
Price alone wasn't enough to communicate value.

High exploratory clicks
Frequent backtracking
Low decision confidence

INITIAL HYPOTHESIS

Body

03 THE CHALLENGE

Pressure pushed the project in a different direction.

To explore that direction, I expanded the design space.

Reviewing these concepts with CRO partners surfaced a critical challenge that supported my initial hypothesis:

The concepts generated excitement but not measurable learning.

Each redesign introduced too many variants to test.

Impossible to isolate what actually drives results.

THE REFRAME

Body

Large Hero

Bento

Carousel

Deal Propensity

04 THE PIVOT

Instead of choosing between a bold redesign and incremental improvements, I reframed the work as a phased experimentation strategy.

Each phase isolated one behavioral variable, allowing the team to learn what actually improved customer decision-making before layering in richer merchandising, branding, and personalization.

Phase 1 — Foundation

Improve decision confidence

Hierarchy
Deal summaries
Price prominence

Phase 2 — Discovery

Support exploration

Filters & sorting
Intent-based browsing
Discovery badges

Phase 3 — Brand Experience

Increase engagement

Rich merchandising
Campaign moments
Enhanced imagery

Phase 4 — Personalization

Scale relevance

Recommendations
Behavioral ranking
Adaptive modules

Title

05 EXECUTION

Phase 1: Foundation

Validate the foundation before scaling the experience.

Rather than redesigning the entire page, the first experiment isolated the foundational information architecture behaviors research suggested mattered most.

Winning Variant

Featured-first hierarchy

Prioritized high-value offers with clearer hierarchy and deal summaries to improve first-glance comprehension.

Discovery-led browsing

Prioritized horizontal exploration and exploratory interaction patterns.

High-density comparison

Increased browsing breadth through a denser scanning (double column) layout.

Hybrid discovery system

Combined carousel exploration with higher-density browsing behavior.

Objective

Validate whether improving deal comprehension increases customer decision confidence.

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Variables Tested

Hierarchy
Price prominence
Deal summaries
Layout density

Building on the foundation.

Phase 1 proved that clarity improves decision confidence. The remaining roadmap focused on layering discovery, merchandising, and personalization without reintroducing cognitive load.

Foundation

Help users understand deals.

Discovery

Help users discover more without thinking harder.

Brand

Create emotional moments after trust has been established.

Personalization

Surface the right deal at the right time.

Winning Variant

Featured-first hierarchy

Prioritized high-value offers with clearer hierarchy and deal summaries to improve first-glance comprehension.

Discovery-led browsing

Prioritized horizontal exploration and exploratory interaction patterns.

High-density comparison

Increased browsing breadth through a denser scanning (double column) layout.

Hybrid discovery system

Combined carousel exploration with higher-density browsing behavior.

Objective

Validate whether improving deal comprehension increases customer decision confidence.

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Variables Tested

Hierarchy
Price prominence
Deal summaries
Layout density

07 WHAT'S NEXT

↓ 0.76%

Exploratory CTR

Fewer exploratory interactions indicated stronger decision confidence and less comparison effort.

↑ 0.88%

Conversion Lift

Clearer deal comprehension translated into stronger downstream conversion.

↑ 0.86%

Revenue per Visitor

Customers generated more value despite spending less time exploring.

↓ 0.73%

Average Order Value

High-value offers naturally attracted more attention, creating an opportunity to improve merchandising distribution in future iterations.

Clarity changed customer behavior.

Deal contents hidden until entering the builder
Repeated exploratory clicks to compare offers
High cognitive effort before selecting a deal

Deal summaries surfaced directly within each tile
Faster value comparison during browsing
Higher decision confidence before checkout

06 PHASE 1 RESULTS

Title

Key Insights

Clarity changed behavior.

Start smaller than you think.

The biggest improvements came from strengthening the smallest building block of the experience.

Measure customer behavior, not just clicks.

Build systems, not screens.

The most valuable outcome wasn't a single winning interface, it was an experimentation framework the team could continue learning from.

THINGS I BELIEVE NOW

08 REFLECTION

02 APPROACH & USER RESEARCH

Start with evidence, not assumptions.

Before designing anything, I synthesized existing heuristic evaluations, usability studies, and CRO findings to identify recurring behavioral patterns instead of repeating research.

Everything competes equally for attention.

Users must open each builder to understand what’s included

Pricing lacks hierarchy; no anchor for value comparison

Tap to open deal

Back and forth

repeatedly

What’s

included?

Is this actually

a better deal?

How does it compare?

Users had to open multiple builders just to answer simple questions.

Weak visual hierarchy
Hidden deal contents
Similar-looking promotional tiles
High cognitive load

Users opened deals just to understand what was included.
Comparing offers required memory.
Price alone wasn't enough to communicate value.

High exploratory clicks
Frequent backtracking
Low decision confidence

INITIAL HYPOTHESIS

Body

03 THE CHALLENGE

Pressure pushed the project in a different direction.

To explore that direction, I expanded the design space.

Reviewing these concepts with CRO partners surfaced a critical challenge that supported my initial hypothesis:

The concepts generated excitement but not measurable learning.

Each redesign introduced too many variants to test.

Impossible to isolate what actually drives results.

THE REFRAME

Body

Large Hero

Bento

Carousel

Deal Propensity

04 THE PIVOT

Instead of choosing between a bold redesign and incremental improvements, I reframed the work as a phased experimentation strategy.

Each phase isolated one behavioral variable, allowing the team to learn what actually improved customer decision-making before layering in richer merchandising, branding, and personalization.

Phase 1 — Foundation

Improve decision confidence

Hierarchy
Deal summaries
Price prominence

Phase 2 — Discovery

Support exploration

Filters & sorting
Intent-based browsing
Discovery badges

Phase 3 — Brand Experience

Increase engagement

Rich merchandising
Campaign moments
Enhanced imagery

Phase 4 — Personalization

Scale relevance

Recommendations
Behavioral ranking
Adaptive modules

Title

05 EXECUTION

Phase 1: Foundation

Validate the foundation before scaling the experience.

Rather than redesigning the entire page, the first experiment isolated the foundational information architecture behaviors research suggested mattered most.

Winning Variant

Featured-first hierarchy

Prioritized high-value offers with clearer hierarchy and deal summaries to improve first-glance comprehension.

Discovery-led browsing

Prioritized horizontal exploration and exploratory interaction patterns.

High-density comparison

Increased browsing breadth through a denser scanning (double column) layout.

Hybrid discovery system

Combined carousel exploration with higher-density browsing behavior.

Objective

Validate whether improving deal comprehension increases customer decision confidence.

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.

Variables Tested

Hierarchy
Price prominence
Deal summaries
Layout density

Building on the foundation.

Phase 1 proved that clarity improves decision confidence. The remaining roadmap focused on layering discovery, merchandising, and personalization without reintroducing cognitive load.

Foundation

Help users understand deals.

Discovery

Help users discover more without thinking harder.

Brand

Create emotional moments after trust has been established.

Personalization

Surface the right deal at the right time.

Winning Variant

Featured-first hierarchy

Prioritized high-value offers with clearer hierarchy and deal summaries to improve first-glance comprehension.

Discovery-led browsing

Prioritized horizontal exploration and exploratory interaction patterns.

High-density comparison

Increased browsing breadth through a denser scanning (double column) layout.

Hybrid discovery system

Combined carousel exploration with higher-density browsing behavior.

Objective

Validate whether improving deal comprehension increases customer decision confidence.

Hypothesis

If customers understand what a deal includes at first glance, they will require fewer exploratory clicks while maintaining (or improving) downstream conversion.