Transforming a Beauty Retail Giant
Digital Store of the Future for Ulta Beauty.
The Challenge
How do you transform the digital experience of a 30-year-old, $5B retailer with 1,200 stores into a modern, customer-centric powerhouse? This wasn't just about building a prettier website - it was about orchestrating a complete digital metamorphosis.
Strategic Vision
Our mission was to revolutionize Ulta Beauty's digital presence through five transformative themes:
Continuous Experience: Creating seamless beauty journeys across all touchpoints
Seamless Commerce: Building the ultimate beauty platform for anywhere, anytime access
Recognition Everywhere: Delighting customers with consistent, unexpected recognition
Empowered Exploration: Putting users in control of their beauty journey
Expertise-Driven Relationship: Becoming the trusted beauty authority
The Process Revolution
One of our most impactful innovations was introducing the TIES framework (Themes, Initiatives, Epics, Stories) - transforming abstract vision into actionable tasks:
Real-world Example: Empowered Exploration in Action
Here's how we broke down one of our key themes:
Theme: Empowered Exploration
Initiative: Better Product Discovery
Epic: AR Preview for Salon Services
Story: Users can virtually try on different hair colors
Task: Implement AR color picker interface
Getting to stories
Part of the process was thinking through design elements through the lens of different users. As a team along with the client, we would write user stories for the same functionality from the perspective of different users, such as store guest and content manager.
Change Management & Digital Transformation
The secret sauce wasn't just in the framework - it was in how we helped Ulta's teams embrace a new way of thinking. Through regular workshops and hands-on training, we:
Established clear connections between business goals and daily tasks
Created a shared language for discussing and prioritizing work
Empowered teams to evaluate new ideas against strategic themes
Design System & Technical Architecture
We didn't just design pages - we built a foundation for the future:
Created a comprehensive atomic design system
Developed responsive layouts for multiple devices
Established clear content architecture and taxonomy
Key Insights & Learnings
Cross-functional Alignment is Everything: Success came from establishing direct rapport with digital, merchandising, technology, analytics, and marketing leaders from day one.
Balance Vision and Execution: The TIES framework proved invaluable in connecting big-picture thinking to day-to-day tasks.
Change Management is Crucial: The technical solution was only half the battle - helping the organization embrace new ways of working was equally important.
Impact & Results
While full implementation was still in progress when our engagement concluded, we delivered:
A complete digital transformation strategy
A robust design system
A detailed implementation roadmap
New organizational processes and frameworks
Trained teams ready to embrace digital-first thinking
Tools & Technologies Used
Airtable for project management
Zeplin for design version control
Design systems and component libraries
Agile/Scrum methodologies
Jira for development backlog and sprint management
Custom TIES framework implementation