The North Face partnered with Biglight to optimise their digital experience and drive revenue growth. Through an extensive Customer Experience Optimisation (CXO) programme, we conducted 100s of MVT tests, refining the UI and user flows to improve engagement and conversion rates. The result was a more cohesive, user-friendly experience that significantly increased online sales and strengthened the brand’s digital presence.
The Problem The North Face’s website, while functional, lacked a cohesive user flow. Inconsistencies across the UI led to reduced confidence in online purchases. The challenge was to incrementally optimise the website’s interface while maintaining brand identity and driving revenue growth.
Constraints & Challenges Every test had to adhere to The North Face’s brand design language and UX guidelines. The solutions needed to balance creativity with measurable business impact while ensuring they worked seamlessly across all breakpoints and screen sizes.
My Role & Approach As Lead Designer on the account from 2017 to 2018, I played a key role in executing the CXO programme. I conducted a deep-dive analysis, site audit, and usability testing to identify pain points. From these insights, I developed a rigorous roadmap of test ideas, leveraging data-driven decision-making to refine the user experience. I led the creative execution of split tests, ensuring UI improvements aligned with both brand guidelines and usability principles. The ‘design and test’ approach was adopted, beginning with mobile before rolling out optimisations site-wide.
The Solution Incremental improvements were made through a continuous cycle of testing, refinement, and implementation. Two key tests saw remarkable success. The homepage redesign resulted in a 40% increase in engagement, followed by an additional 14% uplift after further iterations. The mobile navigation overhaul introduced a redesigned UI that led to a 17.7% increase in conversion rates. Successful tests were immediately pushed live and iterated upon as required.
Results & Impact The CXO programme led to a 54% increase in PDP engagement and a 17.7% uplift in conversion rates, contributing to an estimated £500,000 increase in monthly revenue. The success of the programme strengthened The North Face’s digital experience and resulted in a continued partnership with Biglight.
Learnings & Next Steps The iterative testing approach enabled rapid, data-backed improvements to the user experience. A mobile-first strategy ensured a seamless experience across all devices. Future opportunities could involve deeper personalisation and AI-driven enhancements to further refine the shopping experience.
*Figures based on forecasted projection
