Flare
Flare is a safety bracelet that gives you options for escaping unsafe situations. I worked with Flare for two years as they crafted their brand identity, beta-tested, launched, and optimized their website.
Role
UX/UI Designer & Front-End Developer
Tools + Skills
Conversion Rate Optimization, Photography + Retouching, Graphic Design, Shopify, Sketch, InVision, Adobe Creative Suite
Team
Duration
Overview
Flare is a safety bracelet that allows wearers to escape unsafe situations with a button quickly. I worked with Flare for over two years to help launch and optimize their website.
Roles and Responsibilities
In true startup fashion, the team was small, and my role was expansive. As a UX/UI designer and front-end developer, my role at Flare was varied and multifaceted. I was responsible for everything from crafting the website's design to improving conversion rates and even contributing my skills in photography.
Pre-Launch Phase
In my first year with Flare, we faced the exciting challenge of creating their first storefront while concurrently developing their brand identity with a branding agency.
We began by utilizing the initial direction chosen by Flare and developing a pre-launch beta version that debuted in mid-2019. This phase was a critical opportunity to gather honest user feedback for the bracelets and pricing model from Flare's team of brand ambassadors before going live publicly.
After the beta was live, we welcomed another talented UI designer temporarily to expand the guidelines for the complete website launch. My role was to work alongside this designer to build a user-friendly and visually appealing website.
Launching Into A Pandemic
The launch of Flare's complete Shopify store in February 2020 was a momentous achievement, but it was immediately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic disrupted Flare's original marketing strategy, which emphasized the bracelet as a tool for meeting new people and going out.
With people confined to their homes and social distancing guidelines in place, the need for such a product became uncertain. The Flare team had to quickly re-evaluate their marketing strategy and messaging to align with the new reality.
Adapting to Change
In April 2020, I took over as the lead UX designer. The team needed to pivot to address the change in demand and relaunched the site in June 2020.
Relaunch + Testing
We conducted multiple A/B tests to determine the most effective content and optimized critical areas of the site. I worked closely with the team to execute tests and iterate new strategies for Flare’s online presence. I also created landing pages for influencers and marketing campaigns.
Optimizing Critical Areas
One of the most significant issues we had to address was the overwhelming amount of information on the product detail page (PDP), making it challenging for customers to convert.
To solve this problem, I designed a new version of the PDP hero that displayed the information in digestible sections. Instead of using paragraphs and a long list, I organized the content into accordions and icons to improve readability. This update significantly improved the conversion rate for the site.
Takeaways
- The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to re-evaluate the marketing strategy and optimize the website to meet the new demands.
- We overcame these obstacles through collaboration and quick pivots and created a successful online storefront for Flare's smart safety bracelets.
Lauren is a quick and creative problem solver, whose combination of design, analytical, and technical skills are extremely rare and valuable. I have twice hired Lauren for fast-paced, high-stakes work and could not have been happier with the results. Lauren is incredibly reliable, communicative, friendly, and an exceptional team member.
