Summit Series (The North Face)

ROle

Senior UX Manager,
VF Corporation

Objective

Relaunch The North Face’s Summit Series with a premium digital experience that communicates the product line’s elite positioning. Our goal was to educate the consumer by creating an immersive experience that balances brand storytelling with a shoppable UX.

TEAM

Insights

→ Boosted year-over-year revenue by 23.58% with improved UX and conversion flow.
→ Mobile conversion increased 41% by prioritizing content hierarchy, speed, and layout clarity.
→ Created a premium content experience that aligned the product story with elite athlete credibility.

How do you translate elite performance into digital storytelling—and make customers feel it?

As Senior Manager of UX, I led the strategic redesign of The North Face Summit Series experience: a fully integrated collaboration between brand, UX, research, and engineering—the first of its kind at VF Corporation in the five years I was at the company. Our goal was to launch a high-performance landing page that paired shoppable product storytelling with immersive athlete imagery.

To deepen user understanding and drive purchase confidence, we structured the experience to mirror how Summit Series gear was displayed in physical retail—layered from base to shell to outer layer—bringing the in-store education model into the digital space. By weaving together technical innovation and human achievement, we created a digital experience that educated, inspired, and ultimately reconnected users with the Summit Series purpose.

THE CHALLENGE

Although Summit Series represents the pinnacle of The North Face’s technical innovation, customers didn’t understand what set it apart—or why it carried a premium price tag. Our research surfaced a clear pattern: lack of education was preventing conversion.

Key insights included:

• Shoppers were unclear on why the gear cost more than standard outerwear

• Many didn’t understand how the pieces were meant to layer and function together

• Product pages lacked the storytelling, context, and emotional connection needed to build confidence

• As a result, users hesitated to engage—or abandoned the journey before purchase

This wasn’t a product problem—it was a communication problem.

Our challenge was to

• Bridge the gap between technical performance and user understanding

• Create an experience that educates, inspires, and drives purchase confidence

• Align brand, UX, product, and engineering teams under a unified strategy

• Deliver a digitally immersive shopping journey that mirrors the in-store experience

Quick Stats

→ +54K sessions YOY

→ Mobile conversion up 51%

→ 1 unified cross-functional workflow

→ 1 modular page system allowing for flexibility and customization by brand content teams across seasons

image of the landing page shown on a desktop and mobile device

Project Timeline

I partnered with the brand sponsor to map out the work. With a three-month timeline, we dedicated one month each to research, strategy, and design before engineering handoff.

Project Results

Within 30 days of launch, the redesigned Summit Series experience demonstrated strong early traction—especially on mobile. Unique sessions increased from 47K to 54K, while total pageviews climbed from 58K to 73K year over year. Most notably, mobile conversion improved by over 50%, rising from 0.99% to 1.5%, signaling greater user confidence and engagement. While desktop conversion saw a modest dip (from 4% to 2.6%), overall traffic and mobile performance pointed to a successful first phase of impact.

image of initial findings post project launch

The current summit series page Designs

The existing Summit Series page lacked focus and clarity. It operated as a catch-all for information, resulting in a disjointed user experience. The tab structure felt arbitrary and unrelated, making navigation confusing and unintuitive. Users struggled to find relevant products, with limited options to review or purchase directly from the page. Additionally, inconsistent and unreliable imagery weakened the brand’s visual credibility.

image of several current summit series pages, desktop only. There is a main landing page along with 4 tabbed pages.

Phase 1: Research & Discovery

We began by grounding the project in user and business insights:

Ecosystem Mapping: Reviewed legacy product pages and related marketing channels
Usability Testing: Evaluated previous Summit launches to understand pain points and opportunities
Persona & Journey Refinement: Identified key behaviors, emotional drivers, and navigation habits of our core outdoor consumer

Image of our research steps, Step 1: Generate Interviews, Step 2: Usability Testing, Step 3: Provide Recommendations

Phase 2: UX Design iteration

With research in hand and continuing alongside design, we moved into agile co-creation and strategic design:

Design Sprints & Workshops with brand, UX, and visual design teams
Prototype testing with both core and casual outdoor shoppers

image of our brainstorming artifacts, a white board, a user journey flow chart and how to section off the page.

image of 2 concepts, 1 modular and 1 interconnected. There are also strengths, weaknesses and a user quote for each design.

Image of strategic direction, text only.

Wireframes and COntent Recommendations

We took an approach that appeal to your average user, as products within this series, are meant to be work by everyone, not just extreme athletes. We designed a repeated layering content block that unifies technology, product details, and benefits to give users a clear, comprehensive understanding of the Summit Series system. To strengthen storytelling and build trust, we incorporated an athlete quote from the directive deck—reinforcing the brand’s outdoor credibility while highlighting the versatility and breadth of the system.

image of our recommended layout, left side features wireframe blocks and right side features content recommnendation.

Phase 3: Final Design

Once the UX strategy was approved by brand partners, the creative team at The North Face brought the concepts to life through a striking visual design. They infused the Summit Series ethos into every detail—leveraging breathtaking photography, dynamic layouts, and immersive video to create a rich, engaging experience that draws consumers in and deepens their understanding of the product line.

image of the final design on desktop and two mobile screens.

post project: Team Retro board

Once the project wrapped, the UX team held a retrospective to reflect on the process. While the project was a success overall, the team identified several opportunities for improvement. Key takeaways included setting more realistic timelines, prioritizing function over form in early stages, and establishing clearer communication throughout the project.

Why it mattered

This was more than a product launch—it was an opportunity to elevate how premium performance stories are told digitally. Through deep research, smart systems design, and strong cross-functional partnership, we delivered a flexible platform that met both creative vision and conversion goals.