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Nordstrom

Um...what size do they wear?

Role: Principal UX Designer — Scope: concept → flow → validation → implementation — Tools: rapid concepting + prototyping + usability testing

The problem

Gift giving depends on guesswork:

size, color, and taste are often unknown
senders want something personal, not a generic gift card
getting it wrong creates returns, friction, and cost
traditional gift cards remove risk, but also remove intent

The issue wasn’t just returns.

It was:

how do you preserve the feeling of a gift while removing the risk of being wrong?

What made it hard

This sits directly in the tension between:

emotion → this is a gift
system → this is a transaction

Too flexible → becomes a gift card
Too rigid → breaks when the guess is wrong

Additional constraints:

needed to align with Nordstrom’s brand expectations
had to move fast (initial concepts in ~72 hours)
required coordination across business, product, and partner teams

What I did

I designed an eGifting system that resolves uncertainty before fulfillment.

Instead of:

sender → purchase → ship → hope

We introduced:

sender → gift intent → recipient confirms → fulfillment

Core idea:
Let the recipient choose size, color, or swap—without losing the feeling of receiving a gift.

Key design decisions:

framed the experience as a gift interaction, not a transaction
allowed controlled choice instead of open browsing
designed sender + recipient flows as a single system
built a configurable foundation adaptable to other retailers

The reSULT

launched within 3 months of concept to implementation
generated $100K+ in its first week
introduced a new model for gifting without direct inventory commitment
reduced return friction by resolving uncertainty earlier

Why it matters:

Most systems assume users know the right answer up front. This one doesn’t.

It absorbs uncertainty and resolves it at the right moment.

That shift:

reduces operational overhead
improves customer confidence
preserves the emotional intent of giving

Walkthrough available on request (full presentation contains prototypes & detailed artifacts).