Translating a beloved in-store experience
into an inclusive digital journey

Translating a beloved in-store experience into an inclusive digital journey

MY ROLE



Senior Product Designer

My Role:

 Senior Product Designer

platform: Responsive Web

Duration: 8 Months

Agency: 

Isobar

PLATFORM



Responsive Web

DURATION



8 months

AGENCY



Isobar

projects Overview

Context

Altar’d State is a women’s fashion brand with a mission to give back, offering warm, curated in-store experiences across 100+ boutiques in 30 states. Their digital presence, however, lacked this signature atmosphere. In addition to enhancing their core e-commerce experience, they aim to elevate A Beautiful Soul—their plus-size sister brand—within the same platform.

Challenge

Create a digital experience that captures the spirit and values of Altar’d State’s in-store environment while seamlessly integrating A Beautiful Soul—serving both audiences through one inclusive, mission-driven platform.

Solution

A unified digital ecosystem that brings Altar’d State’s mission and boutique warmth to life online. A shared design system supports both brands while honoring their distinct identities, encouraging cross-brand exploration, streamlining checkout, and delivering personalized, content-rich experiences that strengthen customer connection and reflect brand values.

Contribution

I owned the end-to-end design process for core site experiences—homepage, navigation, product pages, checkout, and blog—balancing strategic UX thinking with detailed UI execution. Collaborating closely with design, content, UX, PM, engineering, QA, and optimization teams, I delivered user-centered solutions on a fast-paced timeline.

Impact

18%

Higher traffic

51%

Revenue growth

Enhanced user engagement through improved navigation, product discovery, and personalization

Discovery & Insight

What we learned: 


people, purpose, and pain points

What we learned: 

people, purpose, and pain points

Altar’d State built on purpose, beauty, and emotional connection

Altar’d State built on purpose, beauty, and emotional connection

To bring the brand’s mission and personality into the digital space, we needed to create intentional moments that reflect its values and invite users to engage with what the brand believes in.

Brand card sorting identified three core brand pillars: purpose, beauty, and emotional connection.

Brand card sorting identified three core brand pillars: purpose, beauty, and emotional connection.

90% of customers align with the mission—highlighting a chance to deepen digital engagement.

90% of customers align with the mission—highlighting a chance to deepen digital engagement.

Source: Client workshop, customer interviews, Netbase Altar’d State Social Analysis

Immersive store moments spark belonging and discovery

Immersive store moments spark
belonging and discovery

Immersive store moments spark belonging and discovery

Team members visited Altar’d State’s flagship location and identified the moments that make the in-store experience feel personal, immersive, and memorable.

Team members visited Altar’d State’s flagship location and identified the moments that make the in-store experience feel personal, immersive, and memorable.

Warm welcomes from brand ambassadors set a personal tone right away

Warm welcomes from brand ambassadors set a personal tone right away

Thoughtful visual curation invites discovery and reflection

Thoughtful visual curation invites discovery and reflection

Engaging fitting room experiences offer styling support and a sense of community

Engaging fitting room experiences offer styling support and a sense of community

Personalized experience leaves a lasting and feel-good impression

Personalized experience leaves a lasting and feel-good impression

Customer insights reveal emotional drivers that fuel loyalty and engagement

Customer insights reveal emotional drivers that fuel loyalty and engagement

To design an experience that resonates, we explored audience behaviors, motivations, and content preferences.

To design an experience that resonates, we explored audience behaviors, motivations, and content preferences.

Emotional drivers: belonging, empowerment, and personal expression

Emotional drivers: belonging, empowerment, and personal expression

Most engaging content formats: expert advice, videos, and blog posts

Most engaging content formats: expert advice, videos, and blog posts

High social engagement, but 35% of posts were style-driven with limited sales impact

High social engagement, but 35% of posts were style-driven with limited sales impact

Source: Isobar MindSight™, Dentsu Aegis Media Insights, Netbase Social Analysis

Quantitative insights highlight gaps in site navigation and search challenges

Quantitative insights highlight gaps in site navigation and search challenges

Data revealed friction points that disrupted the customer journey.

Data revealed friction points that disrupted the customer journey.

High-traffic pages like New Arrivals and Sale were hard to find 

High-traffic pages like New Arrivals and Sale were hard to find 

Users struggled to browse category landing pages 

Users struggled to browse category landing pages 

Repeated searches signaled low result relevance

Repeated searches signaled low result relevance

Source: Google Analytics, Google Search Console

Design Goals

How might we bring a mission-led
retail experience to life online?

How might we bring a
mission-led retail experience to life online?

Business Goals

Amplify brand mission and values across the digital experience

Amplify brand mission and values across the digital experience

Amplify brand mission and values across the digital experience

Unify the journey between Altar’d State and A Beautiful Soul with seamless navigation and checkout

Unify the journey between Altar’d State and A Beautiful Soul with seamless navigation and checkout

Unify the journey between Altar’d State and A Beautiful Soul with seamless navigation and checkout

Foster connection through user-generated content and community participation

Foster connection through user-generated content and community participation

Foster connection through user-generated content and community participation

User Goals

Deliver a curated, personal experience that mirrors in-store support

Deliver a curated, personal experience that mirrors in-store support

Deliver a curated, personal experience that mirrors in-store support

Enhance product discovery through clearer content and intuitive navigation

Enhance product discovery through clearer content and intuitive navigation

Enhance product discovery through clearer content and intuitive navigation

Improve search to help customers find what they need—faster

Improve search to help customers find what they need—faster

Improve search to help customers find what they need—faster

Experience Foundations

Creating a cohesive site architecture for
two distinct yet connected sister brands

Creating a cohesive site architecture for two distinct yet connected sister brands

Before diving into design, we partnered with stakeholders to explore two site structure models that would define how Altar’d State and A Beautiful Soul coexist in one experience.

Option 1:
Distinct

Each brand builds its own independent experience, with separate spaces for content and products

Option 2:
Integrated

Content and products from both brands are woven together—starting from the homepage and extending across shared categories and features

Decision Rationale

We selected the integrated approach to create a more seamless and brand-connected experience. This direction best supported both user needs and business goals:

Supports unified storytelling while allowing for distinct brand expression

Promotes A Beautiful Soul without siloing it from the overall experience

Encourages cross-brand discovery through shared categories and content

Defining the brand identities
and design system

Defining the brand identities
and design system

Defining the brand identities
and design system

Defining the brand identities
and design system

We created distinct personalities for our two sister brands through thoughtful color and typeface choices. Altar'd State feels peaceful and indulgent, while A'Beautiful Soul expresses confident elegance. All colors are accessibility-compliant to keep our UI inclusive.

Benchmarking industry patterns
to inform feature design

Benchmarking industry patterns to inform
feature design

I audited best-in-class e-commerce sites to identify UX best practices across product discovery, interaction, and layout. The findings helped shape our design decisions and ensured alignment with both user expectations and technical feasibility through early engineering collaboration.

Exploration & Solution

Homepage designed to amplify brand mission
and invite deeper engagement

Homepage designed to amplify brand
mission and invite deeper engagement

Homepage designed to amplify brand
mission and invite deeper engagement

Homepage designed to amplify
brand mission and invite
deeper engagement

Sparking interest and encouraging purchase
through curated, shoppable content

Sparking interest and encouraging purchase
through curated,
shoppable content

Category landing pages built for easy navigation,
discovery, and quick conversion 

Category landing pages built for easy
navigation, discovery, and quick conversion 

Category landing pages built for easy navigation, discovery, and quick conversion 

Product detail pages crafted to inspire, tell stories,
and reflect the brand’s warm, curated voice

Product detail pages crafted to inspire,
tell stories, and reflect the brand’s warm,
curated voice

Product detail pages crafted
to inspire, tell stories, and reflect the brand’s warm, curated voice

Design Decisions
& Tradeoffs
Design Decisions & Tradeoffs
Design Decisions & Tradeoffs

Explored Options:

Dynamic media sizes created visual flow but caused inconsistent, potentially chaotic layouts due to variable product content

Integrated pairing products added visual interest but made user experience unpredictable

Final Decision:

Standardized single-width product media reduces visual noise and lets products shine

Consistent pairing product placement in sticky card ensures predictable user experience

Key Tradeoff:

Chose consistency and usability over dynamic visuals—prioritizing user predictability for better overall experience

A curated, mobile-first shopping journey that
mirrors in-store warmth and support

A curated, mobile-first shopping journey that mirrors in-store warmth and support

Data-driven navigation architecture
aligned with business goals

Data-driven navigation
architecture aligned with
business goals

Delivery & Impact

I delivered detailed final designs, comprehensive style guide, and a complete component library to guide development. Through close QA collaboration with engineering, I refined interactions and resolved implementation details. Working with the PM, I helped prioritize features for UAT and soft launch while keeping core user journeys intact.


The final launch resulted in 18% higher traffic and 51% revenue growth, enhancing user engagement through improved navigation, product discovery, and personalization.

18

%

Higher traffic

51

%

Revenue growth

reflection & learning

Stepping into a lead role beyond my title expanded my perspective.



Owning the full design process—from UX structure to visual expression—taught me to align vision, execution, and collaboration across disciplines. I also learned to communicate design intent more effectively and manage upward with clarity and confidence.

Designing under pressure sharpened my focus.



Working within a tight timeline and a graphic-heavy style helped me stay organized and intentional. Building a component library kept creativity flowing while maintaining efficiency.

Balancing creativity with feasibility strengthened my problem-solving.



I learned to translate bold ideas into realistic solutions that enhanced engagement while adapting to technical constraints and development resources.