PANDORA

Crafting a Custom Engraving Journey from Scratch

125%

Increase in online sales 2022-2023

100+

Countries involved in the rollout

1M

Users each month, 3mo in a row

Our Challenge

Pandora, the world's largest jeweler, embraced a transformative opportunity to offer personalized engraving online

In a bold move to enrich its digital offerings, Pandora, a global leader in personalized jewelry, aimed to introduce an online engraving experience for its millions of customers worldwide. Tasked with pioneering this venture, I embarked on a journey to design a seamless and intuitive engraving flow from the ground up. The goal was not just to enable customization but to transform it into a memorable part of the Pandora shopping experience, thereby deepening the emotional connection customers have with their jewelry.

Metrics and Goals

Product Strategy

Seamless Integration: Ensure that engraving integrates smoothly with Pandora's existing e-commerce platform, offering an intuitive and accessible engraving option.
Customer-Centric Design: Focus on a design that mirrors the personal touch of in-store experiences, enabling users to visualize their personalized jewelry in real-time.
Global Scalability: Develop engraving with global adoption in mind, starting with a pilot in Italy to refine the user experience before a broader rollout.

Pain Points

Limited Online Personalization: Prior to this, Pandora customers lacked the ability to personalize jewelry online, limiting engagement and customer satisfaction.
Physical Store Dependency: Customers were required to visit physical stores for engraving services, reducing convenience for online shoppers.
Missed Emotional Connections: The absence of an online engraving option missed opportunities to deepen emotional connections with the brand.

KPIs:

User Engagement Rate: Target a 20% increase in session duration on product pages offering engraving options.
Conversion Rate: Aim for a 10% uplift in conversion rates for products with engraving compared to non-personalized items.
Customer Satisfaction: Achieve a customer satisfaction score of 85% related to the engraving process and outcome.

Role & Responsibilities

As the lead UX/UI designer for Pandora's pioneering online engraving initiative, my responsibility was to bridge the gap between customer desires for personalization and the company's strategic objectives. Collaborating closely with our brand and marketing teams, I gained an in-depth understanding of our existing in-store experiences, identified key competitors within the engraving segment, and assessed the overall market appetite for personalized products. This foundational knowledge was further enriched through strategic meetings with our product teams, acquiring a Gravotech tablet to ensure compatibility with the existing journey.

Throughout research and talks with various stakeholders, I embarked on a journey to deeply understand and anticipate user needs, translating these insights into a comprehensive design strategy. My focus was on crafting an intuitive and engaging engraving experience that not only resonated with Pandora's brand values but also significantly enhanced its online offering. Through iterative design and user testing, I aimed to deliver a solution that seamlessly integrates with Pandora's e-commerce platform, ensuring a personalized and memorable shopping experience for every customer.

Discovery

Leveraging the double diamond design process, my efforts expanded to conducting extensive competitive research across 20+ entities and exploring over a dozen comparative markets—including T-shirt customization, sneakers, video games, avatars, and vehicle configurators. This broad investigation into digital personalization and customization practices informed a comprehensive design strategy aimed at crafting an intuitive and engaging online engraving experience. My focus was on creating a seamless user journey that embodied Pandora's brand essence and elevated its digital presence, ensuring a personalized and memorable shopping experience for every customer through iterative design and user testing."

Iterations & Prototyping

After laying a solid foundation in the discovery phase, I transitioned into a critical stage of the design process: iterations and prototyping for Pandora's online engraving service. This phase was characterized by a cycle of creating, testing, learning, and refining to ensure the final product not only met but exceeded user expectations and business objectives.

Balancing Industry Standards with Unique Offerings

In the pursuit of excellence, many iterations were explored with the objective to not only align with industry benchmarks but also to significantly enhance the customization options available to our users. This ambition was rooted in the understanding that while industry examples could guide us, Pandora's offering was inherently unique. The engraving experience needed to reflect this uniqueness, standing out in a crowded marketplace.

However, as is often the case with any distinctive brand or product, replication of an existing experience was not an option. Our commitment to Pandora's brand identity and the desire to forge a deeper connection with our users demanded a custom-built solution. This realization steered our iterative design process towards innovation, pushing the boundaries of conventional customization tools.

Customized Approach

Recognizing the uniqueness of Pandora's offering, we meticulously crafted an engraving experience that transcended standard customization options. This was a deliberate move to distinguish our service in the market, ensuring that it resonated with the brand's unique value proposition and deeply engaged our customers.

Iterative Refinement

The journey through numerous design iterations was both challenging and enlightening. Each iteration brought us closer to a solution that was not just a reflection of industry standards but a beacon of Pandora's innovative spirit. This phase underscored the importance of embracing our brand's uniqueness, turning potential constraints into opportunities for creativity and differentiation.

The Goal of this Design

Informed by comprehensive market analysis and competitive research, our goal was to craft an engraving experience that was not only mobile-friendly and scalable but also embraced minimalism. With over 80% of our users engaging with us via mobile, it became imperative to address a significant usability challenge identified early in the design process: the mobile interface's spatial limitations.

Users encountered difficulties in navigating between customization tools—such as fonts, symbols, and text boxes—and viewing their personalized engraving preview. The constrained screen real estate on mobile devices necessitated frequent scrolling between the customization controls and the engraved product visualization. This disjointed experience disrupted the user's creative flow and detracted from the overall engagement with the engraving tool.

Our objective was clear: redesign the mobile engraving experience to ensure seamless access to customization options without losing sight of the engraved product preview. This approach aimed to streamline the personalization process, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement by maintaining a constant, integrated view of both the controls and the personalized outcome.

To address this, we implemented a split-screen solution, optimizing the mobile interface for a more intuitive engraving experience. This design divides the screen into two distinct areas: a fixed upper section dedicated to displaying the engraved product preview, and a scrollable lower section housing the interactive customization tools. By keeping the top half of the interface static, users can continuously view their design adjustments in real-time, eliminating the need to toggle between viewing and editing modes. Additionally, this layout significantly improves accessibility for single-handed use by positioning interactive elements within easy reach of the thumb zone, streamlining the personalization process and enhancing overall user engagement.

Arriving at the Solution

Upon solidifying our design direction, I embarked on an extensive iterative process, crafting dozens of variants to meticulously refine the user experience. This exploration included designs that catered to a diverse user base through multilingual support and customizable templates, alongside versions that prioritized a minimalist approach for streamlined user interaction.

The grid layout below showcases these iterations, each representing a thoughtful balance between user needs and aesthetic simplicity. A pivotal moment in this journey was the development assessment, which revealed significant performance implications. We learned that incorporating extensive language options and complex templates could potentially compromise site speed and responsiveness. This insight was crucial in guiding our final decision-making, ensuring that our solution not only met user expectations for personalization but also adhered to Pandora's standards for performance and accessibility.

User Testing

In the critical phase of user testing, our iterative approach bore fruit. After multiple rounds of testing and refining the design based on user feedback, a strategic decision was made to streamline the MVP. This entailed limiting customization options to two fonts and five symbols—a move aimed at simplifying the user experience while ensuring ease of implementation.

Armed with a polished design created in Sketch, I collaborated closely with our Design Director and the Solutions Architect. This collaborative effort culminated in the green-lighting of a viable prototype for further testing. The prototype's success was a testament to the effectiveness of our user-centered design approach, marking a significant milestone in our project.

The launch of the design in the Italian market confirmed its success, meeting our expectations and user needs. However, the journey didn’t end there. The evolving digital landscape and Pandora’s adoption of the new Salesforce architecture (SFRA) necessitated a redesign of the flow and the Brand Visual Identity (BVI) to ensure compatibility and scalability. Tasked with this challenge, we seamlessly transitioned to scaling the solution, further demonstrating our commitment to adaptability and continuous improvement.

Final Design of the MVP

Leveraging direct feedback from user testing, we distilled the essence of what users truly valued into the final design of our engraving tool. This process led to a deliberate simplification—opting for two fonts and five symbols—to enhance usability and meet user expectations for a straightforward, efficient personalization experience.

The resulting design, a testament to user-centric refinement, perfectly balanced Pandora's brand elegance with functional simplicity. Validated through rigorous testing, this final iteration was successfully launched, marrying user feedback with design excellence. It marked a significant milestone in aligning our digital offerings with user needs and Pandora's commitment to innovation.

Next Steps: Market Adjustments and Scaling the MVP Design

In preparation for broader market adoption, our design team meticulously adjusted the user interface to align with the new Salesforce architecture and Pandora's updated Business Visual Identity (BVI). This collaborative effort ensured that the engraving tool not only seamlessly integrated with the latest technological advancements but also resonated with Pandora's evolving brand aesthetics. By fine-tuning the design for specific markets already on the new platform, we laid a solid foundation for scaling the MVP design, setting the stage for a global rollout that would embrace diversity and embody Pandora's commitment to excellence and innovation.

Scaling and Global Expansion Post-MVP

The MVP launch in Italy surpassed our goals, demonstrating the design's resonance and the demand for personalized engraving. This success marked the beginning of a larger journey. The transition from Salesforce's SFCC to the more advanced SFRA platform offered a pivotal moment for enhancement and expansion. This adaptation involved more than a technical shift; it was an opportunity to enrich our offerings with new fonts, templates, symbols, and languages, aiming for global engagement.

In this phase of strategic growth, we refined the UI to match Salesforce's updated architecture and Pandora's refreshed Business Visual Identity (BVI), laying the groundwork for wider market adaptation. The move to a new vendor with enhanced capabilities allowed the freedom to integrate previously backlogged features discovered during our initial research, signifying a leap towards a more diverse and rich personalization experience. This evolution not only aimed to maintain the original design's integrity but also to broaden the engraving tool's appeal, reaffirming our dedication to innovation and our vision to transform personalization in jewelry shopping globally.

A year into the successful operation of our MVP, the journey of Pandora's engraving feature embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion. The mission was clear: to transcend the MVP's initial constraints of two fonts and five symbols, and embrace a vision that catered to an increasingly diverse set of user needs for personalization.

Building upon the foundational split-screen design that seamlessly integrated viewing and interactive areas, we ventured to conceptualize a design framework capable of accommodating an extensive array of new features. This included an expanded selection of fonts, symbols, templates, and innovative additions like inspiration galleries and a doodle feature. The challenge was to enrich the user experience without straying from the essence of our initial vision.

The creation of a Concept Design Brief marked a pivotal moment in this journey. It served as a beacon, guiding our discussions and decision-making processes, from stakeholder talks to design meetings and development assessments. This brief crystallized into a new and final design that not only met but exceeded our aspirations for behavior and usability.

This refined design maintained the beloved split-screen experience, ensuring that the essence of user interaction remained unchanged even as we introduced more complex features. More than just a design update, this concept was a testament to our commitment to staying focused and aligned with Pandora's evolving Brand Visual Identity (BVI) and the scalability of our digital architecture.

Today, this design stands as a living embodiment of our vision for personalization, still live and continually meeting the diverse needs of our global audience. It represents not just a milestone in our journey but a steadfast commitment to innovation, user satisfaction, and the enduring legacy of Pandora's commitment to personalization.

From Concept to Reality: Adapting to Design Systems and Architectural Constraints

While the initial concept met our customer's personalization desires, aligning it with Pandora's BVI and the capabilities of the Salesforce platform presented a new set of challenges. Our commitment to the concept's integrity required a creative reimagining to fit within the confines of a new design system. A significant hurdle was adapting to a pull-up drawer interface, which offered limited space due to increased padding.

The process of ideation and testing became a balancing act, meticulously iterating on the design to harmonize our vision with these constraints. The iterations showcased our efforts to repurpose existing elements, ensuring the design remained user-centric while conforming to the architectural and stylistic limitations. This phase was crucial in transforming our concept into a viable final design that not only adhered to Pandora's evolving BVI but also leveraged the Salesforce architecture to its fullest potential.

Through relentless testing and refinement, we achieved a design solution that embodied the essence of our initial concept while seamlessly integrating into the new design system. This journey from concept to final design underscores our adaptability and dedication to delivering an exceptional user experience, despite the technical and stylistic challenges posed by the evolving digital landscape.

This architectural shift significantly impacted our mobile design, where the tray was designed to stop 40px short of the viewport's top, leaving us approximately 285px of vertical space. Within this compact area, we needed to integrate essential elements: the jewelry image, text input, font and symbol selection, text sizing, and template options.

Maintaining a fixed view of the personalized jewelry image was paramount, ensuring users could continuously visualize their design without interruption. This goal guided our creative process, driving us to ideate and test relentlessly to craft a user experience that was both intuitive and visually cohesive within the new constraints.

Navigating Architectural Changes: The Final Design Hurdle

Transitioning from a full-screen modal to a new format posed our greatest challenge in adapting to the Salesforce architecture and updated BVI. The mandate was clear: all new experiences, including our engraving feature, had to be housed within a slide-up tray on mobile and a fly-over panel on desktop, constrained to 375px in width.

Post-Launch Analysis

The introduction of the innovative engraving editor across global markets was followed by an unwavering commitment to data-driven optimization. Below, we delve into the insights gathered from usability studies, leveraging Adobe Analytics and behavioral analysis through Content Square. The engraving feature's launch not only met but exceeded our ambitious expectations, particularly highlighted by its remarkable uptake during key retail periods such as the holiday season.

A striking outcome from the analysis was the dramatic increase in engagement with the engraving feature. Initially, personalization options contributed modestly to overall transactions. Post-launch, we observed that the engraving feature accounted for a significant portion of Pandora's online sales, marking a noteworthy shift in consumer behavior. This heightened engagement was a clear indicator of the feature’s alignment with user desires for personalized shopping experiences.

In the ensuing months, my collaboration with the analytics team was instrumental in maintaining a pulse on the feature's performance. Through regular quarterly and yearly reviews using both Adobe Analytics and Content Square, we were able to capture a detailed picture of user interactions. This ongoing evaluation strategy ensured that the engraving editor continued to resonate with our audience, contributing positively to Pandora's digital ecosystem. The data underscored not just the feature's initial success, but its enduring appeal, reinforcing the value of our user-centric design and development approach.

Live Design

Displayed below are screen recordings showcasing the live design in action, offering insights into both desktop and mobile views. These recordings provide a tangible demonstration of the seamless transition between the meticulously crafted design mocks discussed earlier and the successful implementation on the live site. The user journey unfolds effortlessly across various devices, highlighting the careful consideration given to responsive design and ensuring a consistent and intuitive experience for users. It's worth noting that this impactful design transformation has positively influenced millions of live users worldwide, solidifying its significance in enhancing the overall user experience on a global scale.

The Evolution to the Ultimate Design

In our continuous pursuit of excellence, we transitioned beyond the "Final MVP" to unveil the ultimate iteration of our design—a testament to our dedication to refinement and user-centric innovation. This advanced design introduces a strategic cropping of the jewelry image, ensuring seamless integration of font and symbol selection within the spatial constraints.

A key enhancement in this iteration is the dynamic appearance of sizing options; the "+" and "-" buttons now emerge exclusively when the text field is active, streamlining the interface and focusing the user's attention where it's most needed.

Most notably, we've pioneered a more immersive personalization experience by merging the text input field with the jewelry's visual representation. For the first time, users can directly place their custom text on the image of the jewelry, bridging the gap between imagination and reality. This integration not only simplifies the customization process but also elevates the user's engagement, providing an immediate and tangible preview of their personalized design.

Comprehensive User Journey: Beyond the Basics

To fully understand the impact and efficiency of our engraving feature, it's crucial to delve into the comprehensive user journey. This exploration goes beyond standard interactions, encompassing the inclusion of edge cases, error states, and mixed cart scenarios, among others. By meticulously mapping out these varied experiences, we ensured a seamless and intuitive flow for all users, regardless of their unique paths or choices. This holistic approach not only optimized the user experience but also reinforced the robustness and adaptability of our platform, catering to a wide spectrum of user needs and scenarios.

Validating the Ultimate Design Through User Testing

The validation phase for our ultimate design iteration was meticulously executed through both moderated and unmoderated user tests, utilizing the comprehensive platform of UserTesting.com. This dual approach allowed us to gather in-depth insights across a diverse user base, providing a well-rounded perspective on the design's usability and appeal.

Leveraging the advanced prototype developed in Sketch, we embarked on a series of tests designed to probe the intuitiveness and efficiency of the new features, particularly the integrated text input field on the jewelry image and the dynamic sizing options. Feedback from these sessions was invaluable, illuminating areas for refinement and confirming the design's enhanced user experience.

Collaboration with our Design Director and the Solutions Architect was pivotal during this phase, ensuring that the insights gained from user testing were translated into actionable design improvements. This collective effort not only validated the functionality and aesthetic appeal of our design but also underscored our commitment to a user-first design philosophy.

The positive feedback and constructive critiques from the user testing sessions served as a strong endorsement of our design's readiness for market launch. It reinforced our confidence in the design's ability to meet and exceed user expectations, paving the way for its successful implementation and adoption in the market. This iterative process of testing, feedback, and refinement exemplifies our dedication to delivering a product that not only adheres to Pandora's high standards but also sets new benchmarks for personalization in the digital landscape.

The Impact

The launch of Pandora's engraving feature marked a pivotal moment, not just in terms of business metrics, but in the profound connection it fostered with our customers. Surpassing all monetary benchmarks, the feature's introduction led to notable gains in revenue and a remarkable improvement in our Net Promoter Score (NPS) on a global scale. This achievement was mirrored in the overwhelmingly positive user feedback, culminating in an impressive average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.

Beyond the numbers, the true value of the engraving feature was illuminated through the heartfelt stories shared by our customers. Among these, the story of a blind individual who engraved a charm in memory of his late wife stood out, highlighting the feature's inclusivity and its ability to touch lives deeply. His gratitude underscored the emotional significance of our offering, bringing to light the unique role personalized jewelry plays in commemorating life's most precious moments.

These emotional narratives, coupled with the feature's commercial success, underscore the dual achievement of our initiative. Not only has the engraving feature contributed significantly to Pandora's financial health, but it has also enriched the online shopping experience, earning high praise and loyalty from users around the world. The enduring popularity of this offering is a testament to the power of personalized experiences in creating meaningful connections and driving business growth.

125%

Increase in online sales 2022-2023

100+

Countries involved in the rollout

1M

Users each month, 3mo in a row

Inspired by Instagram:

Innovative Design of the Engraving Editor's Evolution

Drawing from the dynamic and intuitive interfaces of social media, our engraving editor's design breaks new ground in the jewelry personalization space. Uniquely merging the input and rendering fields, we placed the text editor directly onto the engravable area of the jewelry image—a departure from the industry norm where input and output areas are distinctly separate.

The inspiration for this transformative approach was notably drawn from Instagram's story creator. The simplicity and immediacy of Instagram's interface guided our design choices, leading to the adoption of a side slider for text sizing and a horizontal array of small bubbles for font selection. This method not only echoes the familiar and user-friendly aspects of creating Instagram stories but also significantly declutters the design interface.

By implementing editing options that only appear when the text field is in focus, similar to the Instagram model, we addressed a common challenge in jewelry personalization—overwhelming and cluttered designs. Competitors typically present all options and features simultaneously, resulting in a cumbersome user experience. Our design, by contrast, introduces a cleaner, more navigable interface, enhancing user engagement and simplifying the personalization process.

This innovative blend of social media-inspired elements with our engraving editor represents a leap forward in design thinking. By borrowing from the best of digital interaction models outside the jewelry market, we've crafted an experience that's not only more intuitive and engaging for users but also sets a new standard for elegance and functionality in personalized jewelry shopping.