2022
Product Designer
Context.
Charlotte Tilbury already had a strong mobile ecommerce experience. So the challenge wasn’t simply putting CT.com into an app. We needed to give customers a reason to download it, and keep coming back.
Problem.
My Role & Strategy.
I worked across product strategy and interaction design, helping define the app proposition while owning key parts of the native commerce experience. My work covered stakeholder workshops, senior leadership presentations, Navigation, Shop, PLPs, Search and the foundations of the app design system.
1. Differentiate with purpose - give customers a reason to choose the app over web.
2. Keep commerce effortless - make shopping the core of the experience.
3. Use native where it adds value - invest where native interaction improves the journey.
4. Build for evolution - create foundations that could grow beyond V1.
Key Product Decision #1 Challenging the Community Vision.
One of the strongest early concepts was a Reddit-style Charlotte Tilbury community. Research showed customers already had places for that behaviour, while the concept also introduced significant moderation and engagement complexity. We shifted the proposition towards commerce, expertise and exclusivity.
Key Product Decision #2 Creating Reasons to Return.
Shopping became the core of the app, but we still needed reasons for customers to come back. Breaking Beauty News brought together launches, waitlists, events and news. Learn brought Charlotte Tilbury’s artistry expertise into the app through tutorials and product education. The app wasn’t just there to help customers buy products.
Key Product Decision #3 Focusing Native Investment.
The long-term vision was much bigger than what we could realistically ship in V1. We focused native investment where it added the most value. Built natively: Shop, PLPs, Search, Navigation, Breaking Beauty News and Learn. PDP and Checkout remained web views. Build the foundation first, learn from real behaviour, expand from there.
Key Product Decision #4 Designing the Commerce Experience.
One of my main areas of ownership was the native PLP. The challenge was giving customers enough information to browse and compare products without creating a dense experience. I explored imagery, pricing, shades and product actions, while helping establish patterns that could scale beyond V1.
A focused V1 meant balancing native ambition with the realities of an established global ecommerce platform.
Existing web architecture
Native and web-view journeys
Focused V1 engineering scope
iOS and Android
Cross-functional delivery
Launch and learn quickly
Impact.
The first release was intentionally focused, but quickly became a meaningful new commerce channel.
220k
Users
1.18m
Sessions
£3.5m
Sales
+41%
£104 App AOV vs £72 on web
First 12 months, September 2022 to September 2023
Reflection.
The biggest lesson was knowing when to challenge the original vision.
Focusing V1 around commerce and Charlotte Tilbury’s existing strengths gave us something more useful, achievable and easier to evolve.
0→1 design is as much about deciding what not to build as deciding what to build.
