JOOR Case Studies: Organizational Change

When I joined JOOR, Inc. in 2018 as a Design Manager and individual contributor, overseeing the company’s first-ever hired designer, JOOR still lacked processes or cross-functional collaboration even though it was established in 2010. The organization was stuck in the Build Trap—producing features without discovering the problems it aimed to solve, conducting user validation, or considering usability. Metrics to measure success were nonexistent.

The product was riddled with inconsistencies and lacked basic usability, frustrating clients and internal teams. Negative user feedback had overwhelmed Customer Support so much that the organization stopped formally gathering meaningful client feedback altogether. It was clear that to succeed, I needed to establish a design practice and fundamentally transform the company’s approach to product development.

The Challenges

When I joined, the challenges spanned every product level and organizational structure. Starting with fundamental issues in product design, I worked my way toward addressing more systemic and strategic problems, including:

• Absence of a design team and basic design operations.

• Rampant usability issues that directly and negatively impacted client experiences.

• Poor adoption rates for new features due to the lack of a defined problem space, usability gaps, and the absence of user research.

• Organizational resistance to user research, design thinking, and iterative improvement.

• Siloed teams with minimal cross-functional collaboration.

• Reliance on outdated product development approaches with no metrics to measure success.

• Lack of both qualitative and quantitative experiential data to inform decision-making.

• Absence of a strategic vision for the product and its alignment with the company’s goals.

My Vision for Transformation

Transforming JOOR’s approach to product development required a deliberate, ground-up strategy. While slow and arduous, this method allowed opportunities to emerge organically and gain traction across the organization. My vision included:

• Leading by example to demonstrate the tangible value of design thinking in solving complex problems.

• Leveraging each project as an opportunity to speak with customers, gather insights, and advocate for user-centered solutions.

• Challenging feature requests by introducing discovery phases to uncover the real problems we needed to solve.

• Establishing foundational design practices that drove measurable results and improved usability.

• Building strong cross-departmental relationships to foster collaboration and shared ownership of outcomes.

Key Initiatives

From 2019 through 2024, I led a transformative effort to fundamentally change JOOR from the inside. By independently building a Design Practice, driving usability improvements, and fostering a culture focused on experiential data, I was able to deliver measurable results and long-term organizational change.

1. Building a Design Practice

• Standardized recruiting and hiring processes, introducing case study assignments that streamlined candidate evaluation and improved hiring outcomes.

• Recruited and hired a team of highly talented UX designers, solidifying the importance of a stable and effective design practice.

• Established a data-driven design process that included continuous discovery and usability testing to ensure user-centered outcomes.

• Developed a collaborative design system, creating a unified, consistent platform experience.

• Instituted a safe, collaborative feedback loop within the design team, fostering continuous improvement and innovation.

• Created a career ladder supported by a formal skills matrix, providing designers with a clear path for growth and promotion.

2. Improving Usability

• Simplified user flows, reducing complexity and improving consistency across the UX.

• Reduced client training time, empowering users to navigate the platform independently and effectively.

• Revamped customer communications, from system notifications to marketing emails, ensuring clarity and professionalism in all touchpoints.

3. Driving a Data-Informed Product Culture

• Collaborated with HR and senior leadership to hire an experienced, strategic VP of Product Management to elevate the organization’s approach to product development.

• Partnered with Product and Engineering teams to establish Product Trios, aligning roles and fostering cross-functional collaboration on all projects.

• Designed templates for product managers to create problem briefs, opportunity maps, and other discovery inputs, standardizing the exploration of user needs.

• Encouraged the organization to measure engagement through Pendo and define success metrics for all initiatives.

• Refined the release process to mitigate risks, streamline workflows, and improve localization.

How I Transformed Chaos into a Cohesive Design Practice

Over six years, I implemented a scalable Design System, streamlined processes, and championed design thinking to prove that informed design drives results. From guerilla tactics to organization-wide change, this is how I turned a struggling design team into a catalyst for cross-functional success.

Revolutionizing Fashion Wholesale: The Launch of JOOR Passport

As Product Design Director at JOOR, Inc., I led the design and launch of JOOR Passport, the company’s first virtual marketplace for fashion tradeshows. This transformative platform empowered global connectivity, automated workflows, and enhanced user experiences, resulting in a 124% increase in retailer-initiated orders and an 182% rise in logins, redefining wholesale operations during the pandemic.

Innovating at JOOR: The Opt-In/Opt-Out Tool

As Product Design Director at JOOR, Inc., I led the redesign of the global navigation system and developed the Opt-in/Opt-out Tool. This tool transformed JOOR's beta testing approach and how we released features. This user-centered solution reduced disruptions, improved sentiment, and streamlined feature rollouts.