Services, deliverables, and outcomes.
Rosie enabled me to thrive, she gave me perfect combination of direction and autonomy to achieve the desired outcomes.
— What
Discovery and research
Value proposition design
User-interface design (UI)
User experience design (UX)
Senior stakeholder management
Workshop planning and facilitation
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)
— How
Wireframes
User journey maps
Co-design workshops
Functional prototypes
User-interface designs
Management of 9 direct reports
🏆 Outcomes
Digital sales grew by 51% year-on-year, reaching in excess of £100 million, as the team became central to planning and executing all digital initiatives.
Balancing BAU operations with high-value proposition design, my team’s impact expanded across the organisation. I focused on hiring and mentoring talent, strengthening agency partnerships, I even won an award internally for my contributions.
The client
Wickes is the UK's second-largest home improvement retailer, operating 233 stores nationwide. In 2023, the company reported revenues of £1.55 billion, securing approximately 6% of the £27 billion UK home improvement market. As part of a 5 year transformation programme, I was hired to build and nurture a user experience capability who were central to all customer propositions, our goal was to align a multi-channel strategy.
Transforming the Kitchen buying experience
Wickes’ kitchen category accounted for one-third of transactions, yet two-thirds of customers began their journey online before visiting a store. Despite this, the existing digital experience lacked engagement, leading to drop-offs and lost sales.
The goal was to create a seamless, research-led experience that guided customers through their buying journey, driving more consultation bookings and ultimately increasing sales and customer satisfaction.
Transactions related to Kitchens
Decline in design & installation sales
Installer teams nationwide
Increase in lifestyle Kitchens sales
What we set out to do
Improve the customer experience
The project aimed to transform Wickes’ digital kitchen sales journey, creating a seamless experience for customers to research, plan, and purchase with confidence. The ultimate goal was to convert online interest into in-store action by making the journey more engaging, informative, and frictionless.
How success was measured,
Conversion rates – tracking online bookings and completed purchases
Net Promoter Score (NPS) – customer satisfaction and brand advocacy
Customer confidence metrics – evaluating trust and decision-making
Business goals
Drive more Design Consultant bookings
Improve online-to-store conversion rate
Increase digital engagement for the kitchen category
Enhance the customer research and decision-making process
Customer Research
A comprehensive research phase was conducted, combining quantitative data analysis and qualitative customer insights to shape the new experience. Customer personas, behaviour tracking, and competitive benchmarking helped uncover pain points and barriers in the current journey.
These findings formed the foundation for the digital optimisations, ensuring every update addressed a real customer challenge while strengthening the business case for continued investment in digital transformation.
Customer pain points
Customers needed clearer product information to compare options easily and make decisions faster
Friction in the online-to-store experience reduced consultation bookings and potential kitchen sales
Customers relied heavily on reviews, imagery, and interactive content when researching kitchen purchases
Competitor analysis revealed missed opportunities in how kitchen information was structured and presented
Ideation
Workshops
Through research and competitive analysis, co-design workshops with key stakeholders identified gaps between insights and internal perceptions. The Anti-Problem technique reframed the customer journey, highlighting weaknesses. Persona profiling, team sketching, and stakeholder prototyping ensured all users were considered, feeding directly into the wireframing and design phase.
Solution sketching
After proposition analysis and co-design sessions, the team translated insights into sketches and component designs for the future responsive framework. Early drafts were photocopied into paper prototypes, enabling rapid layout mapping and rigorous peer review to refine usability before moving into wireframing and digital design.
Improving UX and UI
Redesigned category and product pages enhanced readability and engagement, making it easier for customers to explore kitchen options. Site navigation and filtering were optimised, allowing users to find relevant information quickly. These changes helped simplify the decision-making process and reduced drop-off rates.
Usability testing
Recruiting the right participants
Drawing from research and discovery insights, the team developed clear participant profiles to ensure meaningful usability testing. It was essential to include both couples and individuals to capture diverse perspectives. Studio testing was prioritised to create a realistic environment before moving into A/B testing, allowing for a controlled yet natural experience. This approach ensured that findings were both contextually accurate and actionable, providing a solid foundation for improving the customer journey.
Recruitment criteria
Home improvers rather than trade professionals
Recently bought or planning to buy a kitchen
Aged 30-70, representing a broad demographic
Regularly use online channels for inspiration and planning
Comfortable using laptops and modern smartphones
Testing setup and execution
Usability sessions were conducted at The Insight Rooms in Old Street, London, across 3 days, with 15 participants. Each participant evaluated individual components, page structure, and the full customer journey to assess how well the proposition supported customer needs.
Collaborative testing
Moderators conducted sessions while the wider team ran a parrllel co-design workshops in a video-linked room, capturing insights in real-time. Observations were mapped using post-it notes, categorising positives, negatives, and usability concerns.
What did the users say?
Make it easy to use
The team synthesised key findings and prioritised refinements. Overall, the proposed experience tested well, with Wickes perceived as a strong source of inspiration. However, some usability gaps were highlighted, particularly around interactive design tools and filter discoverability.
Provide inspiration
While Wickes offered inspirational content, a common theme in participant feedback was the lack of an interactive tool to help visualise kitchen designs. Customers wanted the ability to experiment with layouts, styles, and configurations online before committing to a store visit.
In their own words...
Refinement
Navigation
Visibility
Layout & Structure
Improving the funnel
A structured Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) strategy was implemented to improve customer engagement, streamline the research process, and drive more conversions. Using A/B testing and behavioural analytics, we refined key digital touchpoints, ensuring a seamless journey from research to booking a consultation. The optimisations focused on usability, accessibility, and reducing friction in the conversion funnel.
Stronger CTAs – Improve placement and messaging to encourage more design consultation bookings.
Optimised navigation and filtering – Make product discovery faster and more intuitive.
A/B testing-driven refinements – Ensuring every design choice was backed by customer insights.
Outcomes
The process provided valuable insights that drove meaningful improvements to the Wickes online experience, ensuring that the digital-to-store journey was more intuitive and effective.
These changes led to higher engagement, improved user confidence, and increased conversion rates, reinforcing customer-centric design.
Digital sales grew by 51% year-on-year
Driving revenue in excess of £100 million
Established a centeralised UX function
First time cross-functional collaboration
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