Overview
VRAI, a luxury jewelry startup based in Los Angeles, sought to redefine the digital engagement ring shopping experience by offering high-quality, customizable lab-grown diamond rings online.
As the company shifted toward a more elevated, tech-driven brand identity, one of the biggest challenges was designing a streamlined and intuitive UX for a highly complex product catalog.
Engagement rings featured hundreds of diamond variations—by cut, carat, clarity, and more—making the experience overwhelming for users.
With the site split between Shopify and React, and technical limitations in product variants, the goal was to create a clean, high-end experience that made customization simple without sacrificing transparency or personalization.
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Outcomes & Opportunities
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Successful Product Launch: The redesigned engagement ring shopping experience generated $22K in sales on day one, with engagement rings contributing to 20% of total conversions and 80% of total company revenue.
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Significant Business Growth: Following the UX revamp, VRAI saw a 100% increase in conversion rate, with gross revenue doubling from $6.5M in 2018 to $13.5M in 2019.
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Enhanced User Experience: The new interface delivered a mobile-first, intuitive, and luxurious shopping experience, guiding users through the complex customization process with clarity and ease.
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Strong Collaboration: Cross-functional teamwork across UX, engineering, and leadership ensured alignment and rapid iteration—even amidst shifting priorities.
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Flexible Design System: A scalable and modular design allowed for post-launch improvements based on analytics and user behavior (via tools like Crazy Egg and Google Analytics).
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Improve Personalization: Leverage user data to tailor product recommendations, especially in diamond selection and setting combinations.
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Enhance Mobile Experience: Implement planned features such as a sticky image element on the PDP and improve mobile-first checkout interactions.
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Support High-Intent Users: Introduce features like “Book an Appointment” or live support for hesitant buyers navigating high-cost, emotional purchases.
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Refine Filtering & Inventory Handling: Continue optimizing the diamond selection drawer with clearer messaging for out-of-stock items and better edge-case handling.
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Strengthen Education: Expand on-lab diamond content and design clarity to support first-time buyers and build trust in new technologies.
How might we design a seamless and personalized engagement ring shopping experience that simplifies complex product choices, builds trust, and reflects the luxury and transparency of the VRAI brand—while supporting a highly customizable and high-stakes purchase journey?
My role:
Major Stakeholders: VRAI & Oro Founder (Vanessa Stofenmacher), Ecommerce Manager, Shopify & React Developers, Director of Operations and the UX Designer (myself).
My role as a UX Designer / Product Designer was to:
- Help to collect and draft the requirements,
- Brainstorm with the main stakeholders,
- Define the user profiles,
- Define the user flow and stories,
- Create prototypes and wireframes,
- Produce the final UI.
QA as the project gets implemented:
- Participate in daily standup, weekly sprint planning and retros with dev/tech team and Ecomm manager,
- Follow up and help to track the project on Jira,
- Create iterations of the online product to constantly adapt to users’ needs throughout the sales funnels to reach business goals.
Stakeholders:
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VRAI & Oro Founder (Vanessa Stofenmacher)
Provided creative direction, business vision, and final approvals. Closely involved in product and UX decisions. -
Ecommerce Manager
Managed overall online sales strategy, coordinated between teams, and ensured alignment with business goals. -
Shopify Developers
Handled front-end and back-end development for the jewelry e-commerce platform. -
React Developers
Developed the engagement ring customization tool to overcome Shopify variant limitations. -
Director of Operations
Oversaw operational logistics and supported project prioritization and resource allocation. -
UX/Product Designer (your role)
Led user research, defined flows, created wireframes and prototypes, designed UI, and coordinated QA/testing throughout development.
Softwares & Tools:
Preview of the Case Study:
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For confidentiality and to respect NDA agreements, my case studies are password protected to safeguard sensitive data and client privacy password protected. Please feel free to request the password to gain full access and explore my detailed UX work.
