Designing for Experimentation

A platform redesign that evolved ad hoc testing into a structured experimentation program, driving a 30%+ peak-traffic conversion lift from a single behavioral insight.

A platform migration created the opportunity to do more than update the technology. Rather than focus on reimagining the UI, I focused on something more foundational — building a platform optimized for experimentation, with flexible content areas embedded at every key touchpoint in the user journey. The idea was simple: give teams the autonomy to test, iterate, and find their own direction without waiting on development. The UI would follow the evidence.

  • Role:
  • Senior UX Designer
  • Scope:
  • Platform migration, UX redesign, experimentation framework, behavioral analysis

The Problem: No Framework for Decisions

Before the migration, there was no real way to know if design decisions were working. Experimentation was immature, limited to surface-level tweaks that rarely moved the needle. Deeper changes required full development cycles, making meaningful testing slow and rare. Years of decisions had accumulated without validation, and nobody had a framework to question them.

The Thinking

The existing platform had real limitations. Testing was shallow, content was rigid, and teams were dependent on development for even minor changes. The migration was a chance to change that, so I designed the foundation around flexibility and experimentation before focusing on visuals.

The Solutions

Redesigning for Flexibility

The redesign centered on one primary goal: give the business room to move. I embedded flexible content areas at every key touchpoint in the user journey. Where the old platform offered one fixed layout, we now had fifteen configurable areas teams could update, test, and iterate on independently. Something that had never been possible before. Once the foundation was in place, the visual redesign followed.

To support the new foundation, I also built the organization's first shared design system, giving the design team a consistent starting point to work from across all four brands.

Questioning a Legacy Assumption

A legacy user flow had been in place for nearly eight years, a multi-step personalization flow designed to increase revenue per transaction. Through recurring Hotjar session analysis, I noticed a consistent pattern: high-intent users during peak traffic were hesitating and dropping off within the flow. My hypothesis was simple: the flow was adding friction at the worst possible moment, and removing it would increase conversion even at the cost of revenue per transaction.

After aligning with my manager on the approach, I ran a controlled test during peak traffic. The results validated the hypothesis: a 30%+ lift in conversion, net revenue positive despite a drop in revenue per transaction. The assumption that the flow was always an asset turned out to be conditional.

Outcomes

The migration produced lasting structural changes, new content flexibility, new testing capabilities, and a fundamentally different way of making decisions.

  • Structured experimentation surfaced a single behavioral insight that drove a 30%+ peak-traffic conversion lift
  • Evolved from zero structure to a fully mature, repeatable experimentation program
  • Flexible content areas across all key touchpoints gave teams the autonomy to test, iterate, and move independently
  • Hotjar session reviews became a recurring practice, surfacing behavioral insights shared across teams
  • UX and accessibility standards formalized for the first time
  • Built the organization's first shared design system, giving the design team a consistent foundation across all four brands

Reflection

This project changed how I approach design. Watching high-intent users struggle through a flow that everyone assumed was working taught me that clarity matters most when stakes are highest. It also taught me to question my own assumptions and sit with the results rather than jump to conclusions. But the biggest shift was this: designing for growth, building the foundation that allows a product to learn and improve over time, can be more valuable than designing for the moment.

Up Next:

Launching Stable, Building for What Comes Next - A constrained platform migration that delivered 30% faster page speeds and cut marketing execution time in half.

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