Design Studio

In-house work · Estée Lauder

Crisis-to-Growth: Turning a $2 Million Shortfall into Growth

A live promotion underperforming by $2M to plan, turned around mid-flight through insight-driven triage and cross-functional UX leadership.

Organization
Estée Lauder
Role
UX leadership · crisis response
Project type
E-commercecrisis response
Business category
B2C
Estée Lauder gift-with-purchase promotion on laptop and phone

Transforming mid-promotion crisis into measurable growth through strategic UX intervention and cross-functional leadership.

Leadership Lens

This work required fast, high-judgment decisions under pressure. My role was to align teams around what mattered most, protect trust, and use design as a lever for stability and growth during uncertainty.

Challenge

The Spring ’24 Gift with Purchase promotion for Estée Lauder was underperforming by $2M to plan. Brand leadership needed immediate intervention during live promotion window.

Approach

  • Time constraints ruled out new research, so I activated a fast, insight-driven triage strategy.
  • Recycled previous project research to reframe user intent and mental models.
  • Audited behavior via FullStory , surfacing critical drop-off patterns and UI confusion.
  • Flagged key UX friction points:
  • Accordion UI looked like a glitch (users didn’t realize they had to choose 2 items).
  • Step-up gift required manual promo codes = high friction.
  • Bottom tray was mistaken for an ad and closed by users.
  • Add-to-bag CTA was small and hard to see.

User Journey Breakdown Points

  • Accordion UI pattern created cognitive mapping failures
  • Mobile viewport consumption (50% screen real estate)
  • Manual promo code requirements increased checkout abandonment
  • Visual hierarchy failures in CTA design systems

Cross-Functional Action

  • I led a rapid, low-effort/high-impact working session with the assigned engineer and aligned regional, global, and brand teams around a shared solution path.
  • Dual Accordions Open by default to show both choices upfront.
  • Step-up Gift Auto-Applied , removing code entry friction.
  • Bottom Tray Slimmed Down on mobile and made more informative.
  • CTA Restyled for clarity and visibility.

Impact

Despite intervening mid-promo, our changes drove measurable improvements.

↑ 8.6%
Increase in conversion rate
↑ 4%
Increase in average order value
↓ 53%
Decrease in error/rage clicks

I’m ready to drive similar transformational results for your organization with strategic cross-collaboration.