Launching a new product to fuel Displate’s strategic shift

My role

As a Head of Digital Product Design, I:

• Crafted the product vision aligned with strategic business goals
• Orchestrated cross-functional collaboration between product, design, marketing, and engineering teams
• Defined success metrics, ensuring measurable impact
• Overseen research and validation phases, combining qualitative and quantitative methods
• Reviewed key milestones, and facilitated stakeholder alignment
• Provided hands-on design support
• Coded custom WebGL prototype

Outcome

Building organizational alignment & research

Before diving into execution, I focused on securing buy-in across departments. This involved:

• Clearly defining business goals and success metrics,
• Drafting an initial go-to-market (GTM) strategy with the product team - done very early to ensure we are aligned on key company events (Displate is heavily marketing and content driven), and to orient the nearest A/B test roadmap toward key hypothesis testing,
• Conducting user testing of the physical product,
• Running conjoint analysis & willingness-to-pay (WTP) studies,
• Organizing focus groups and user interviews to assess customer sentiment toward Textra,
• Compiling data on product page performance, previous user testing insights, and customer acquisition funnels

Problems with the old product page

Before initiating the redesign of the product page, we conducted extensive user interviews, surveys, usability studies, and analyzed behavioral and performance data.

The key findings are summarized below:

• A significant portion of desktop users accessed the site using wide screens (1400px+). The old layout did not leverage this space effectively, leading to inefficient information presentation and a suboptimal browsing experience.
• The product page lacked a flexible and scalable structure. Adding new product options and features made the page increasingly crowded and complex, creating barriers to innovation and making future upgrades difficult.
• The product page was built on outdated technology. Page load times were slow, directly harming user experience and conversion rates.
• Related and similar products were positioned several screens below the primary content. Users struggled to discover new items seamlessly, limiting cross-sell opportunities.
• Customers were rarely ready to make an immediate purchase. Many needed to consult their partners before committing, indicating a more complex decision-making process than previously assumed.
• Customers wanted to view product details easily and immediately, without additional steps or barriers.
• Ads served more as interest builders rather than direct conversion drivers. Customers typically discovered and purchased different products than the ones initially advertised.
• Customers often found it difficult to locate products that captured their interest, indicating gaps in our discovery and recommendation systems.
• Clients frequently described the mobile product page experience as "poor." Mobile performance and design needed significant improvement to meet modern expectations.
• Product recommendations were perceived as poorly matched to user interests, further complicating discovery and reducing potential upsell opportunities.
• Authenticity and originality were not top-of-mind considerations for customers. Customers prioritized their evaluation in the following order:
  - Do I like the artwork?
  - What variants are available?
  - How much does it cost?
  - What other similar artworks can I find?
  - Is the artwork original?

Setting the vision

Building on our insights, we asked ourselves a few fundamental questions:

• What if we could present the product in a more engaging, memorable way?
• What if we could integrate different product lines and accessories into a seamless customization experience?
• What if - even if customers didn’t purchase immediately - they would leave thinking, "Wow, that was really cool," forming a positive emotional connection with the brand?

These questions shaped the vision for the new product page: an immersive, intuitive, and scalable experience that would support both our current and future product lines. Based on this vision and insights, we defined clear experience goals:

• Enable continuous product discovery by making it easier for users to quickly navigate between products and build a natural exploration loop.
• Present products in an intuitive, visual-first way, helping new customers immediately understand what Displate is, without needing to read, and allowing returning customers to quickly assess product options at a glance - without extra interactions like zooming.
• Improve the recommendation algorithm to surface more relevant products and make discovery more personalized and effective.
• Significantly improve the mobile experience, focusing on faster load times and a smoother interaction flow.

While working on organizational alignment, we began exploring new ways to present products - especially considering the launch of Textra, our new scalable product line. One key question arose: would it be feasible to record every Textra product as a video, similar to how we showcased our limited editions? Given the scale, this was unlikely to be efficient. Another exploration involved a concept utilizing 3D models to create a dynamic, interactive product experience.

Rapid prototyping

The primary challenge was communicating Textra’s 3D value proposition effectively to customers. Given the vast Displate catalog, traditional product presentation methods like dedicated photoshoots or video recordings were not scalable. I championed a WebGL-based product visualization to enable an interactive 3D experience. However, WebGL posed risks - internal expertise was limited, and potential performance trade-offs could impact page speed and conversion.
To mitigate these risks, I proposed an iterative validation strategy:

• Develop a Webflow prototype mimicking a full e-commerce experience,
• Embed custom WebGL code for usability testing, months before development began,
• Conduct rapid iterations & user research to validate interest and refine interactions,
• Partner with engineering to ensure feasibility and scalability,

This approach allowed us to validate assumptions and de-risk technology adoption before committing development resources, which was crucial - resources were stretched due to high-season priorities (November and December sales).

Iterative design & testing

We designed over 10 iterations of the Textra experience, with a particular focus on:

• The customization wizard, a critical component influencing Average Order Value (AOV),
• Balancing usability with engagement, ensuring the 3D model enhanced rather than disrupted the purchasing journey,
• Providing seamless access to other products, maximizing cross-selling opportunities.

The final experience emphasized product visualization, intuitive navigation, and performance efficiency.

One of the most challenging aspects of the project was designing the product customization. In the early prototypes, we explored multiple approaches, aiming to balance flexibility with clarity. After a series of user testing sessions we implemented the most straightforward version, focusing on ease of use and speed of decision-making.

Easier access to similar products

To better showcase the richness of Displate’s catalog and improve conversion, we redesigned the product page with a stronger focus on content visibility and discovery. We made the artwork tiles larger to let the designs speak for themselves, added clearer brand indicators to highlight creator identity, and introduced easier access to similar posters - helping customers explore more of what they love without friction. These changes made the product experience feel more curated and immersive.

Bringing a native-like experiences to mobile web

We enhanced the mobile web experience to feel more intuitive and fluid—closer to the responsiveness users expect from native apps. By introducing slide-up drawers, we made it easier to access product details without interrupting the browsing flow. We also reworked how we present the mounting process, using motion design and 3D visuals to create a more immersive and informative interaction. These improvements made the mobile experience not just more engaging, but more aligned with how people naturally explore products on their phones.

Gradual rollout & continuous optimization

Rather than a high-risk full-scale launch, we executed a phased rollout:

• Initial launch to 10% of traffic, allowing for data collection,
• Gradual expansion, addressing performance issues and refining the experience,
• Ongoing A/B testing to ensure optimal conversion rates

In parallel with interface improvements, we continued to iterate on our rendering system to bring the digital product experience even closer to the physical reality. Our goal was to maximize visual fidelity and help customers better imagine the product in their space. To support this, I developed an internal tool that allowed us to tweak rendering settings in real time and evaluate their impact on user experience.

As we pushed visual enhancements, we eventually reached the limits of what was technically feasible without compromising performance. Maintaining strong core web vitals (CLS, FID, and LCP) was a key priority, especially given the impact on SEO and user satisfaction.

We made deliberate trade-offs to preserve speed and stability while still delivering a visually rich experience. This meant optimizing assets, refining loading strategies, and continuously stress-testing changes to ensure we didn’t sacrifice performance for aesthetics.