Designing Staples’ Experience to Align Expectations With Reality

In short

I led the design strategy for two product portfolios spanning top-of-funnel pages, the design editor, and associate tools, driving improvements in both sales and customer satisfaction for Staples print services.

Working closely with my product partners,  I led a team of six designers and collaborated with various teams across the organization. I based the strategy on customer research, data, and business outcomes.

Together, we delivered design solutions that helped customers find the right product, choose the right options for their needs, and create designs that would print successfully. We also significantly improved the tools associates use in stores to ensure quality products.

Results:

Successful initiatives:

Framing the problems

Qualitative and quantitative insights clearly showed that the there was a big area of opportunity in the top-of-funnel pages, where most customers dropped off before entering the design builder.

When customers visit a Staples store to print something, they are assisted by associates who provide consultations and guidance to find the perfect product for their needs. In the online experience, customers are often not print experts so they struggled to find the right product and options, frequently causing a big gap between what they saw on screen vs the final printed product.

The Staples print site had an expectations-versus-reality problem.

Customers wanted to:

• Find the right product for their specific needs
• Choose the right sizes and materials
• Understand how different options impact the price
• Know upfront how fulfillment methods change avaialable options
• Avoid printing mistakes

Finding the right product

Helping customers to find a product was essential to decrease site abandonment and start them on the right path to make the right choices. To achieve this, I oversaw the complete redesign of the top navigation and search experience which resulted in significant improvements, especially in the mobile experience.

Beyond the top navigation, I led the creation of components for the top-of-funnel pages that allowed customers to find what they needed quicker.

These components were created in a CMS powered by Bloomreach and were designed to be flexible so they can display multiple variants that are repurposed and updated across the site. This enabled the UX and marketing teams  to experiment frequently with content and layout without development releases.

Understanding options

Customers choose materials and options based on how they plan to use a print product; they want to learn about attributes such as durability, ease of transport, weather compatibility, installation, etc. I led the design of a product configurator that uses clear copy, imagery, and progressive disclosure to help customers make confident choices.

Proofing and troubleshooting

Customer disappointment was highest when the design builder allowed them to create a product that wouldn't print well. Many customers reported that their designs looked good on-screen but failed in print due to issues like low resolution, margin or bleed errors, or text that was too small to read.

I led multiple initiatives within a dedicated portfolio for the design builder to design warnings, interactions, recommendations, and protective guardrails that increased print quality and reduced errors—improving both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

The thin line between a promoter and a detractor

Even with a strong online experience, store associates play a key role in ensuring customer success. When equipped with the right tools and communication, associates can quickly resolve issues and build long-term trust and loyalty.

This is why I advocated for and oversaw portfolios focused on improving in-store tools—making it easier for associates to review, adjust, and produce high-quality prints for customers.

Scaling design while staying intentional

One of the achievements I’m most proud of is how my team created scalable, flexible UI components that maximized design impact. I guided designers to build patterns that worked across the entire site—from the homepage to product pages—and adapted seamlessly across print products like posters, banners, business cards, and stamps.

We delivered detailed documentation to the CMS development team outlining variants and use cases for each component. By enabling UI elements to be toggled on or off and supporting multiple layout configurations, a single component could power numerous experiences across the site.

Working across these two portfolios—Product Assurance and Proofing & Troubleshooting—required deep omnichannel thinking. We aimed to make the online experience feel as reassuring and guided as an in-store consultation. Many design decisions focused on helping customers make informed choices without overwhelming them.

To support this, I encouraged designers to contribute content recommendations for copy and imagery to creative and marketing teams. After extensive interviews with customers and store supervisors, we had a deep understanding of what information users needed. I made sure our team contributed beyond UI specifications—bringing our customer insights directly into the content strategy.