River Island
OVERVIEW
I expanded and nurtured the UX team, fostering a culture of innovation. I grew and mentored a team of varying levels of seniority, and revitalised design and research practices. Showcasing our value across various departments led to significant contributions to key business initiatives. I prioritised user experience, championed change within a traditional setting, and balanced immediate objectives with a future-oriented vision.
ROLE
Head of UX
March 2022 - May 2023
Main responsibilities: Leading and mentoring a team of eight, hiring, customer strategy, stakeholder engagement and influencing, managing a budget, onboarding tooling, workshops, developing career frameworks, prioritising and managing workloads, maintaining and improving design standards.
Building a team
Having joined a small and experienced team of designers in March 2022 under the Digital Director, I quickly took strides to grow our ranks. Within the first three months, I successfully expanded the team from four to six Product Designers, and also brought on board a Senior User Researcher. This allowed us to incorporate designers into each of our four Product Teams, and we aimed to pair Senior and Junior members when we could. It also meant we brought back a UX Research function to the business, something that had been missing for about five years. It was essential to provide them with the right tools, enough budget, and the necessary support from the business to make their work as smooth as possible. This encouraged the entire team to not just learn more about research but also to get involved themselves.
During that time, I was also working on creating a unique career framework that would cover both disciplines. This framework was built upon the lessons learned from the team's past and considered everyone's unique skill sets. While not a standard practice in the business, it was a project I was genuinely excited about.
Maintaining a positive team culture was a big priority for me. As a remote-first team, I ensured that we had an in-person get-together at least every quarter. These meetings often included a conference, a workshop or something similar, followed by a social event. I encouraged a culture of openness and sharing within the team. Despite being spread out across different product teams, there was space for everyone to come together several times a week to exchange ideas, tackle problems, or simply catch up.
Transforming design
When I arrived at River Island, permanent Design Leadership had been lacking for some time. The team, having been shuffled between Tech, E-comm, and Customer divisions, lacked a sense of belonging within the business. Moreover, the majority of the business units were unfamiliar with the capabilities of the team, so I set out immediately to remedy that.
I took the initiative to branch out and interact with departments beyond the Digital realm, such as Retail, Sustainability, Marketing, Creative, Brand, and Content. My goal was to demonstrate the significant value that our team could deliver. This proactive outreach led to the team taking the lead and contributing substantially to numerous business initiatives, including:
A 1.5 star improvement of our TrustPilot score in just 12 months, after engaging with the Customer team and changing how feedback is captured.
A comprehensive overhaul of our e-comm imagery in conjunction with the studio and creative teams.
The creation of five personas that now serve as a business-wide representation of our customer, including male customers for the first time.
A new Creative landing page process that delivered increased revenue from day one.
A digital-first brand refresh with a strong focus on accessibility, that paved the way for Creative and UX's successful relationship forming.
UX and Research actively contributing to digital and CRO roadmaps.
A healthy budget for User Research for the first time, with new processes and workflows established, resulting in projects being completed for everyone from Sustainability, Trade, and the Contact Centre.
The initiation of River Island's first fully budgeted cross-team Design System, which sat as part of the company’s main portfolio for 2023.
The establishment of board-level objectives that prioritise outcomes over specific pre-defined outputs.
New research and design tools and service investment for the team, including training tools.
And many more noteworthy contributions.
I'm pleased to say that our team made the journey from being 'stuck in the broom cupboard' to having a meaningful presence at many decision-making tables. This was evidenced not only by our accomplishments listed above, but also by our regular team sessions with the CEO.
Learnings and challenges
Adapting to Traditional Business Practices.
Stepping into River Island's 75-year-old ecosystem was like stepping back in time. Coming from a digital-first background, I had to quickly recalibrate my approach to match the company's long-standing practices. It was a valuable lesson in flexibility and innovation, finding new ways to work within old systems.
Prioritising Customer Experience in a Conversion-Driven Industry.
In retail, numbers often speak louder than words. The industry's focus on conversions and revenue posed a challenge to our user-first philosophy. As a UX leader, I had to learn a new language—one that tied our user experience goals to tangible business outcomes. It was a delicate balancing act, one that required careful negotiation and strong evidence to back our decisions.
Overcoming Historical Resistance to Change
With a rich history like River Island's comes a certain resistance to change. I found myself in the role of a change agent, working to dismantle barriers and build bridges towards a future-focused vision, relying on my relationships and communication skills. It was a journey marked by challenges, but also by the satisfaction of seeing old norms evolve into newer, innovative practices.
Striking a Balance between Immediate Goals and Future Vision
In retail, there is often a struggle to prioritise long-term goals over short-term crises. I faced the task of keeping the team focused on our customer-first approach, even as we had to regularly fight fires. I found the key lay in connecting the dots between our user experience objectives and their impact on business outcomes. By consistently aligning our team's efforts with these goals, we managed to maintain a balance between the short-term and long-term vision.
