lululemon
Product Design leadership, design system, and sprint cadence for ecommerce
Timeframe
Jul 2018 to Jun 2020
Company
lululemon
Role
Manager, Product Design, North American E-commerce (UX)
Read time
2 min
Read with...
- 01Built and led an 8-person Product Design team for North American ecommerce
- 02Shipped a digital design system, reduced component variation by 60%
- 03Delivered UX changes tied to +30% ecommerce revenue
This work was about turning ecommerce UX into a repeatable system. Build the team, set the cadence, standardize the foundation, then use it to ship in the journeys that mattered.
Ownership: ecommerce product design
I owned the North American ecommerce Product Design function and the operating cadence that made it scale:
- Built and led the North American ecommerce Product Design team (8 designers).
- Made design sprints the default loop for cross-functional delivery.
- Reduced component variation by investing in shared foundations, not one-off patterns.
- Shipped guest-facing changes in navigation, browse, and the product description page.
Operating problem: component variation at scale
We had too much component variation and too many one-off patterns. That created delivery friction and made UX consistency harder to maintain across key journeys like navigation and the product description page.
Operating loop: design sprints
Design sprints became the default cadence. They forced tradeoffs, tightened cross-functional collaboration, and made shared foundations a first-class deliverable.
The tradeoff was depth over breadth. We reduced one-off design work and invested in shared systems, sprint cadence, and cross-functional rituals that scaled across teams.
What we shipped: design system, navigation, PDP
- Digital design system, reduced duplication and variation.
- Product description page redesign, improved clarity and engagement.
- Navigation taxonomy redesign, improved browse and findability.
- Sweatlife Community, supported community-first digital experiences.
- Program management support for high-stakes moments (Black Friday/Cyber Monday), to keep execution tight under load.
What changed: design sprints as the default loop, a design system as the shared foundation, and less component variation across the journeys that mattered.
Results: revenue, consistency, and velocity
These outcomes come from ecommerce performance reporting, design system governance tracking, and Voice of Guest program reviews from this period. This page is the primary published record of this work.
- Ecommerce revenue increased by 30%.
- Digital component variation decreased by 60% through design system adoption.
- Voice of Guest complaints declined as UX consistency improved.
- Cross-functional design and delivery velocity improved through sprint-based operating cadence.
Decision support
FAQ: Fast answers, no filler
The objective, outcomes, and next best path in under a minute.
01What is the lululemon case study about?
Turning ecommerce UX into a repeatable system: build the team, set the sprint cadence, invest in shared foundations, then ship improvements in the journeys that matter.
02What was Michael Preuss's role at lululemon?
Manager, Product Design, North American E-commerce (UX) from Jul 2018 to Jun 2020. I led an 8-person Product Design team and owned the operating cadence that made delivery scale.
03What problem did the operating model solve?
Delivery did not scale when every journey and component was treated as bespoke. The operating model made sprints and shared foundations the default, so teams could ship faster with less variation.
04What was built in the operating model?
Design sprints as the default loop, a digital design system as the shared foundation, and a cadence for steering committee reviews and executive alignment.
05What results are documented in this case study?
Ecommerce revenue increased 30% and digital component variation decreased 60% through design system adoption. Design and delivery velocity improved through sprint-based operating cadence.
06Who is this approach for?
Best for teams scaling ecommerce UX across multiple journeys where delivery speed and consistency matter. Less useful when the surface area is small or a full redesign is the primary lever.
07Where should I start if I want the mechanics?
Start with Product Details Page Redesign. Then Navigation & Taxonomy Redesign. Then Sweatlife Community. Then Design System.