YEAR
2023 - 2024
ROLE
Senior Product Designer
CLIENT
IWC Schaffhausen
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OVERVIEW
This case study covers how a fragmented, campaign-driven app was restructured into a product-led experience that helped users get to know individual products and connect more deeply with the brand.
I led the UX process end-to-end, from research and architecture through to design system definition and final handoff. This included moderated user research, customer journey mapping, information architecture, interaction design, and overseeing the modular design system that underpinned the entire relaunch.
RECOGNITION
· German Digital Award (Gold)
· Red Dot Award (Communication Design)
Research
Understanding Where Momentum Was Lost
Before designing anything, we needed to understand what the app was actually doing to users, not what we assumed it was doing. We defined a research strategy built around four steps, moving from quantitative signals to qualitative depth, and from observed behaviour to prioritised direction.
Insights
What the Research Revealed
Insight 01
Navigation followed content, not the watches.
The structure of the app was built around campaigns and editorial formats rather than the collection itself. Users who arrived curious about a specific model had no clear starting point. The watches were present but never front and centre.
Insight 03
Engagement was strong. Conversion was not.
AR Try-On was one of the most-used features. Campaign launches generated genuine emotional impact. But these moments led nowhere. Users engaged deeply and then stalled, with no natural next step toward evaluation or purchase.
Insight 02
Every product page was built from scratch.
Product pages followed campaign logic rather than a shared framework. Each new launch introduced different layouts and interaction patterns. Without a consistent structure, users struggled to compare models, and the team struggled to scale launches without losing quality.
Core Insight
Strong Features. No Structure.
The app created moments. It didn't create momentum. Three structural changes were needed: a navigation built around the watches, a consistent page system, and AR Try-On embedded where it could actually convert.
How Might We
Each insight was reframed as a How Might We question:
Three insights. Three questions. Three principles. Each HMW question translated a structural problem into the design direction that resolved it.
Approach
Three Principles to Resolve One Problem
From three HMW questions, three principles emerged. Not as separate fixes, but as a connected framework addressing the one thing the app was missing: structure.
01. Clarity
Present relevant information at the right time. Minimize distractions so products and their pathways remain clear.
02. Conversion
Ensure each engaging moment advances the user. Transform discovery into decision-making.
03. Continuity
Design a unified system that connects all interactions. It should be consistent to build trust and flexible to support growth.
Design
From Principles to Product
Each principle translated into a concrete structural change. Three decisions, each directly addressing one of the three root causes identified in research, and together forming one coherent experience.
01. Navigation & Search
Less Noise. More Direction.
From content destinations to a product-led structure.
Four of the five previous navigation items were content destinations. The watches shared equal weight with a podcast and an arcade game. We rebuilt navigation around the collection, consolidating content into a single Inspiration tab and unified Search, so the watches are always front and centre.
02. AR Try-On (Conversion)
Curiosity, Now Connected.
From standalone feature to purchase moment.
AR Try-On was powerful but isolated. Users tried watches on and had nowhere to go. We moved it directly onto the product page, at the exact point where purchase intent is highest, turning a dead end into a natural progression toward the IWC web shop.
03 Modular System
One System Behind Every Watch.
Previously, every launch meant starting over. The new modular system gives every watch the same considered structure, with room for campaign expression built in, so quality no longer depends on how much time a launch allows.
The system, applied.
One watch, every module in sequence. Structure holds. Expression adapts. The same foundation, built to carry any collection.