The problem… Vogue has a digital presence in 11 wholly owned markets, yet each expression of the brand within the digital products was very different. This created a fragmented user experience and user journeys together with an erratic brand perception across the digital platforms. With no shared design language, or tech stack each feature had to be built 11 times and to a different design and ux pattern. This resulted in varying quality of user experience, ad ratios and viewability.

The solution… Built and led a product design team to research, create and test a unified design for all market Vogues.

PRODUCT DESIGN DIRECTION: Development of new, unified and multi-platform design language and ux system for the 11 international Vogues.

PRODUCT DISCOVERY: Supported by user research, established personas and continuous testing we evolved a universal design language to resonate with our users. We conducted a series of workshops with Vogue Editors and Creative Directors from our global markets, to brainstorm visual directions and a common brand voice. In collaboration with 11 editorial Creative Directors we introduced new unified brand typefaces, navigation patterns, user journeys, colour palettes and a universal ad map and grid.

IMPROVED CONTENT DISCOVERY: Created flexible templates with improved SEO features, that also allowed market configuration based on content needs. Increased “Vogue moments” that users and advertisers expect. Putting the users at the centre of the experience whilst delivering advertising metrics.

A MULTI-PLATFORM DESIGN LANGUAGE: We extended the design language to all the Vogue content on social platforms including our SnapChat discover editions and Instagram channels. This has helped to create a holistic experience for the user wherever they encounter the brand.

A super lean design system to fuel iteration, scalability and reuse

DESIGN SYSTEMS: Conception and creation of a super lean design system Atelier to articulate and document all product components, and patterns, for scale and re-use across multiple brands. Our philosophy was to build once and use components across multiple products, brands and markets.

Now all Condé Nast’s wholly owned Vogues* have a unified design system from Italy to India. They use common typefaces, sharing components and patterns served by a single design system. They can flex where necessary to bring the balance of global and local experiences to the user.

* Excluding Vogue US

Building a robust UX practice

Condé Nast lives and breathes design, but UX design and user centred design processes were not as mature. Hiring senior UX Designers and Researchers and working with them to evangelise, and encourage a shift in thinking away from print focused editorial teams was key to evolving our products, and improving engagement metrics.