SNKRS
We spent months brainstorming, conceptualizing, and prototyping various ideas. We knew it had to be simple, familiar, and unobtrusive. In just a few years, SNKRS had gone from an experiment to the largest DTC launch platform in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people were coming to the app to buy sneakers at a time. This created some interesting constraints. We knew that not everyone would get a pair, win a draw, or even hit a SNKRS pass. We designed with friction in mind and security was a top priority.
Through user-testing and working with our data science team, we had incredible insight as to time spent, number of sessions, and AOV. People already knew what they were coming for. With this redesign, we were just making it easier for them to get in, out, and want to come back. We did this through improved filtering, updated copy, exciting interactions, and larger, more dynamic product cards. We also made it easier for people to discover sneakers by consolidating multiple sizes and color ways under a single product profile.
All in, we spent a year building this. By the time it was in development, I had already moved on to a few other projects. One was an integrated marketplace concept that incorporated resell directly within SNKRS. The second, a new and improved draw experience that was more fair and randomized. The third, a content series called Street SNKRS where we'd feature curated on-feet photos from around major cities like NYC, Atlanta, LA, etc. The fourth was a community feature called Kickcheck where anyone could submit on-feet photos to be featured directly within product pages.
Looking back, I can't believe I was there to witness our collaboration with Virgil on the 10, our first Air Force 1 for Hispanic Heritage month, and so many other cultural milestones. Being a part of this team and working on this was an incredibly special feeling.
I spent months pitching some crazy ideas. Square shaped CTAs, a calendar, contextual headers, and skeuomorphism. I was trying to get us to embrace text and let the UI take a back seat to the sneakers. A few weeks later, GOAT announced their redesign and went with a black and white, brutalist theme. In hindsight, I'm glad we did something more classic and subtle.
With this redesign, we were just making it easier for them to get in, out, and want to come back. We did this through improved filtering, updated copy, exciting interactions, and larger, more dynamic product cards. We also made it easier for people to discover sneakers by consolidating multiple sizes and color ways under a single product profile.
If you've never been able to hit a SNKRS pass it's because the supply has never anywhere near the demand. Our existing experience was also drowning in web crawlers that would backdoor the entire process. It was clear that first come first serve no longer made sense. With this redesign, I proposed we turn it into a private lottery. By having everyone enter, get through the door, and into a waiting room, we could randomize winners and make the process more fair.
Even though this design was never built, working on the animations for this concept was a ton of fun and did create conversation internally. That's why projects like these are important. It helps visualize and articulate problems, bringing the right stakeholders into a thread and talking through alternatives.
It's actually incredible to see how far this has project come. At first, we just wanted a tool to create, publish, and distribute content in a new way. Today, Street SNKRS has an entire media team. They have people on the ground across all the major cities, covering moments, and partnering with some of the worlds biggest personalities.
This project was actually the precursor to Street SNKRS. I pitched it as a way to bring UGC to the platform but there were a ton of dependencies. We had to figure out how to manage, QA, and approve submissions. We would have also had to create a social graph from scratch. For the sake of time, we decided to strip some of the features out and go with a curated content series instead. Really glad with where it ended up.