Referral Program

Boosting Booking.com adoption through peer-to-peer referrals

I led the design of the Refer a Friend program at Booking.com from concept to implementation across desktop, mobile web, and apps. Working as part of a dedicated R&D team, we built a full-funnel experience that made it easy and rewarding for users to share Booking.com with friends, driving trust, organic growth, and global adoption.

Referral flows & entry points

We designed full-funnel experiences integrated seamlessly into the product, from landing pages to post-booking confirmation screens.

Example of how Refer a Friend positioned itself across platforms.

Built interaction patterns that encouraged sharing while feeling trustworthy, included previews of rewards, easy access to invite tools (email, WhatsApp, social), and provided confirmation and status updates.

Banners distributed across multi-platforms.

Experimentation & growth

As an R&D team, we had freedom to test big bets.

A/B testing results: placement, rewards, and copy optimization across markets.

Ran A/B tests on placement, rewards, and copy to measure conversion and engagement, launched experiments in multiple markets with localised rewards and triggers, and advocated for in-product discovery moments that increased visibility without harming core flows.

Research & validation

Ran moderated sessions in Amsterdam and Tokyo to explore what made people excited to share, validated referral mechanics and emotional drivers, and used findings to fine-tune reward framing, messaging clarity, and trust signals.

Impact

• Successfully launched the Refer a Friend program across web, mobile, and apps
• Helped shape a trusted user experience that scaled globally
• Drove organic growth through peer sharing while maintaining Booking.com’s tone of voice
• Split into multiple teams as the program grew, with each team exploring new sharing mechanisms and optimisations