cs/nowgen

Rebranding & Product Strategy

Lifestyle Affiliated Blogs

Role

As the Lead Product Designer and Product Strategist for the Now & Gen redesign project, my role was multifaceted and instrumental in transforming Genevieve Padalecki's lifestyle blog. In collaboration with the sole team member, Heather Catania, a Digital Marketing Specialist, I took charge of the entire scope, encompassing Branding, Strategy, UI Design, and Prototyping, over a duration of three months.

Team

Sole Designer + Heather Catania (Digital Marketing Specialist)

Client

Now & Gen

Problems

The Now & Gen redesign project presented several challenges that needed careful consideration and innovative solutions. The primary issues included:

Revenue Generation

The existing site was not efficiently generating revenues, posing a fundamental problem for the client.

Aspirational Blog Concept

Balancing the aspirational blog concept with the need to scale the platform and increase sales conversion presented a strategic challenge.

Creative Direction and Resource Constraints

The lack of a strong creative direction, coupled with initial stage resource constraints, hindered the development of the lifestyle blog.

Insights & Research

Crucial among these insights was the realization that enhancing the user journey beyond content consumption to include shopping, checkout, and post-purchase engagement was pivotal. Additionally, addressing global navigation needs and implementing personalization as a solution, allowing users to favorite and follow items, emerged as key strategies.

Benchmark

The Now & Gen redesign project embarked on a comprehensive benchmark and competitor analysis to gain insights into industry trends and identify opportunities for improvement. The analysis involved three key components:

Competitive Landscape Exploration

Extensive research was conducted to explore competitors' platforms, dissecting their features and user experiences. Real data was gathered on key performance indicators such as user engagement, bounce rates, and conversion rates to understand the competitive dynamics.

Industry Trends Evaluation

A detailed examination of design and functionality trends in lifestyle blogs and e-commerce platforms was carried out. This involved scrutinizing user interface designs, content presentation methods, and e-commerce integration techniques. Metrics such as average session duration, page views, and mobile responsiveness were tracked to stay ahead in the industry.

Leveraging Best Practices

Insights from successful competitors and industry best practices were leveraged to inform the redesign strategy. Metrics including click-through rates, user interactions, and conversion funnels were analyzed to understand the effectiveness of various design and engagement strategies.

Design Process & Challenges

Personalization

This feature empowers users to curate their individualized experiences by enabling them to favorite and follow specific items within the platform. The personalized system not only preserves the essence of the aspirational blog, allowing users to immerse themselves in lifestyle content, but also serves as a catalyst for encouraging meaningful sales interactions. Integrated thoughtfully into the platform, this user-centric feature ensures a tailored and engaging shopping experience that aligns with the unique preferences and interests of each user.

Shop-able

The introduction of these modules not only enriches the overall user experience by offering a cohesive and convenient shopping environment but also aligns with the broader goal of driving increased user engagement and conversions. Furthermore, the design incorporates a well-defined navigation taxonomy and grouping, enhancing users' comprehension and aiding decision-making as they navigate through the site.

Modular Framework

This strategic framework aimed to offer creative support in a streamlined and efficient manner, addressing the inherent resource limitations that were present. The modular framework not only facilitates a more agile and organized creative process but also contributes to optimizing resource utilization. This approach in the CRM system can allow for a more dynamic and adaptable workflow, enabling the creative team to respond effectively to evolving project requirements.

Editorial Module System

I've established a couple of module frameworks that serve as baselines in the CRM. These frameworks are designed to enhance visual production speed while maintaining consistent creative quality. The robust framework caters to four distinct types:

Editorial Modules
Shop Modules
Editorial + Shop Modules
Recircular Modules (in-page supplemental navigation)

The utilization of these diverse modules allows for the creation of effective page layouts. Additionally, I've developed guidelines on how to effectively use these modules to craft visually appealing designs, ensuring a cohesive and engaging user experience.

Impact

Expected to create 25% increase in conversion through new designed shopping experience

Expected to increase 40% in creative production efficiency by new module system

Expected to build 20% stronger brand image through rebranding

Next Step and Future Consideration

User Feedback Integration

In retrospect, more emphasis on early user feedback could have been beneficial to fine-tune the design based on user preferences.

Iterative Prototyping

The design process could have involved more iterative prototyping to quickly test and refine ideas, ensuring a more user-centric approach.

Long-term Strategy

While the immediate redesign goals were achieved, a more comprehensive long-term strategy for evolving the platform in response to changing user needs could be considered.

More Works to Browse