Lush: Digital Strategy

UX Strategy & Design

Client

Lush

My Role

UX Strategist & PM

Time

32 months (2019-2022)

About the Project

Lush, a retailer of handmade cosmetic products, was seeking help with their digital strategy to increase revenue and stay competitive in a busy market.

The Problem

Lush Canada had a small digital team without in-house UX Designers or researchers. The team was tasked to make product improvements with high business impact. In my role as a UX Strategist, I helped the team to evaluate product ideas and create a product roadmap based on business and customer research. In the following long-term relationship, I was responsible for the UX Design lead on many product and service improvements.

Discovery Phase

We started by collecting existing data and knowledge to then identify the most relevant areas for improvement to service both customer and business needs.

1. Internal Customer Knowledge

Through shadowing critical customer touchpoints (sales in-store, customer call-centre) and stakeholder interviews I collected existing knowledge.

2. Customer Interviews

In addition I interviewed customers based on revised customer profiles to understand current pain points and needs.

3. Customer Journey Map Workshop

In a collaborative working session we analyzed the current customer journey and identified areas for improvement.

Planning & Definition Phase

Based on the prioritized opportunities, I created a roadmap with multiple initiatives to improve the current product and service design.

1. Roadmap & Processes

Some of the initiatives involved non-digital touchpoints and required collaboration across teams. I established new processes and internal touchpoint to foster teamwork and knowledge sharing.

2. Project Definition

Based on the initial research we defined specific projects for the next 12 months tied to relevant business KPI to help measure the impact.

Design Phase: Website

For the next 2 years I was involved in multiple projects to improve the existing website with new features, a redesign information architecture and improved checkout flow.

1. Planning & Requirements

In collaboration with the product manager I defined project requirements and created user stories for multiple projects.

2. UX Workshops

I facilitated multiple working sessions to create team alignment and gather relevant input.

3. User Flows & Prototype

I defined improved flows and created interactive prototypes.

4. User Testing

I conducted user interviews, usability tests and card-sorting exercises to collect feedback throughout our project work.

Design Phase: Mobile App

I was the UX lead for a new mobile app to support additional revenue increase and customer satisfaction.

1. Sprint Plan

For the ambitious project timeline, I lead a working session to define the MVP and created a sprint plan for an agile design approach.

2. Wireframe Design

We worked in tight cycles in collaboration with UI and the Dev team and created a design system.

3. Testing & Q&A

I conducted moderated and unmoderated user research to collect feedback throughout the design project.

Challenges & Restrictions

The organization was under immense pressure to prove business value, which leads sometimes to short-sided decisions and extreme turn-around times for deliverables. We had an excellent team with incredible talents that helped overcome some of these challenges.

Unfortunately, some of our really hard labour is not visible anymore as LUSH North America is now completely integrated into their British partner.

Outcomes & Learnings

I really enjoyed this long-term engagement to not only support as a UX Designer, but also impact the digital strategy overall. Merging UX and Business is vital and this was an excellent opportunity to prove my skillsets in both areas.

I was also able to share my UX knowledge and mentor junior designers to grow in their role, which is another big passion of mine.

I will continue my path to make UX more business relevant and foster collaboration across teams.