Redesigning flagship Mobile App feature

Leading the design team to reimagine the Launch Online Reservation experience,
and making getting products faster and easier.

Role

Sr. Manager, UX Design

Product

Mobile App

Platform

iOS, Android

Context

"Launch" was Foot Locker's flagship product

Food Locker's brand identity was tied to its Launch app feature which sells retro, hard to get shoe releases.

This was huge part of its connection to a customers. And to sneakerhead culture, at large.

Problem

Getting retro releases through Launch was a painful experience

For customers

Releases were first-come-first serve online
Bot users would get all the inventory
Customers were forced to stand in long lines at stores to pick up their won items

For business

IT support was overtasked at release times
Store personnel were overwhelmed
Reputation was low against competitors

How might we

...make getting retro shoes easier, more fair, and bolster the company's reputation in the sneakerhead community?

Solution

An raffle entry experience, plus ship to home

Instead of forcing first-come-first-serve only, allow all customers to fairly sign up for a chance to win.

More convenient

UX research showed customers preferred online shipping over picking up in store

More fair, more good will

Prevents bots so core customers can purchase without competing against resellers

More competitive

Online reservations, known for premium brands, elevate Foot Locker's brand reputation

SO, WHAT ARE SOME CORE PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS?

Allow pre-orders

Shift the experience to a purchase-before-release flow

New “Ship To Me”

Customers don't have to go to store to pick up their won item

Multiple fulfillment

Let customers opt in to try and win for both Ship To Me and In-Store

Communicate rules

UX copy accounts for all conditions and financial details

Exploration A

Numbered steps

What if the raffle itself was like a checkout experience?

After all, customers are "purchasing" in a way (just, before the item releases).

While this seemed like a right move, it ended up making the process too long. I got feedback from user testing that showed this needed to move faster.

Exploration B

Bottom sheet

How about a bottom sheet that slid up across the experience?

The idea was speed. By not taking the user "away" from the product page, they can feel a sense of quickness.

The problem with this was there was too much happening in a bottom sheet. I had this reviewed at the team's design critique and we all felt the experience needed room to breathe.

Exploration C

Open form

✅ Chosen solution

A one-page form with the bare essentials of the product was put together.

The user just needs to (1) select their size and (2) how they want to get their item if they win it.

This ranked the best in user testing and was the most scalable design. We have a winner.

CHALLENGES

Some things that came up, and how I resolved them

Challenge #1

Credit card issue leading to copymaxxing

Pre-purchasing via a raffle meant pre-authorizing users' credit cards. Legal and Finance wanted lots of copy and disclaimers displayed throughout the experience.

The risk? A bogged down experience with too much friction.

Solution

My designers explored multiple ways to inform users
As lead, I partnered with Legal and Finance on the most concise copy
I also worked with Engineering on the clearest visual display through a native app experience

Challenge #2

Inefficient overly frequent copy reviews

This product was owned by Marketing budget. So, design reviews included the CMO.

UX passed quickly, but copy was held for multiple reviews, pausing UX deliverables and cutting into final UI delivery timeline.

Solutions

New workflow. I brought copywriters from Microsoft Word into Figma to increase collaboration and speed
A visual indicator. I introduced an orange font for copy review so wireframes had FPO copy clearly listed for leadership to focus on
Adjusted delivery. I adjusted our copy approval cadence frequency to mitigate Marketing's concerns before each review

These steps solved the bottleneck for Copy and got this high-impact and high-visibility feature delivered on time.

BONUS: FUN TIDBIT I LEARNED

Native maps differ between iOS and Android

Here's a fun thing I learned on this feature from engineering. Turns out maps with lists must display a certain way for each OS.

iOS - a list can display below
Android - tiles must overlay on the map

Takeaway: Design the UX to account for both mobile operating systems, and if need be, let UI "design" the UX and approve it

Impact

The Launch Online Reservation was a success both in design and sales performance. Here's some of the impact it had for business.

18.7%

YOY sales increase, meeting the direct sales goal set for the new experience.

37.7 → 80.2

CSAT score improvement from May to December of the fiscal year.

↑ Reputation

Praise and recognition from the sneakerhead community on YouTube, Reddit, and X.

REFLECTIONS

“I wish we had more time to create a more omni-experience.”

One of the thoughts I had was on if this experience could have been a fuller, more end-to-end retail experience that was truly omnichannel.

Since the scope of the feature was for the Mobile App only, there was no consideration for a way to make this connect to the in-store buying experience.

Given the opportunity, I would have the business expand to a phase 2 of this feature to bring that all together.

SHOUTOUTS

Thanks to my Design Team and partners in Product and Engineering that helped make this happen.

Katie Foley

UX Designer

Jon Flood

Sr. UI Designer

James Vanaria

Director of Engineering

Maggie Chandy

Product Manager

Boris Hartl

UX Writer