Preview customization flow that increased acquisition
Company
My Role
Sole designer
Team
Leadership, product, merchandising, and engineering
Platform
Responsive web
Timeline
2-3 weeks
Responsibilities
Define scope
Design direction
Research
Interaction design
Visual design
Prototyping
Overview
FabFitFun offers seasonal subscription boxes where members customize their products before each shipment. Customization is the core value, but it was hidden behind a paywall, making it hard for non-members to understand and leading to acquisition drop-off.
As acquisition declined from 5.25% in 2020 to 3.02% in 2021, the business relied more on discounts and paid marketing.
This project focused on improving acquisition by helping customers understand the product before checkout, without breaking inventory rules, security constraints, or member-tier fairness.
I led the design and partnered closely with multiple stakeholders to make the existing customization system work for a new experience, given the limited time and constraints.
Our goals
Business
Increase organic conversion to reduce reliance on discounts and paid marketing
User
Experience customization upfront so they can make a confident subscription decision
Customization is more complex than it looks
Customization happens four times a year, during short windows. In each window, members choose 4 to 6 products from 100+ seasonal products.
The experience changes a lot depending on the membership. Annual and Seasonal members get different access, timing, and choices. If someone misses the customization window, the system randomly fills the box for them.
This is where both potential customers and some existing members get confused.
Annual vs Seasonal memberships
Season opens
Season opens
# of products
Customization
Shipping
Annual
Seasonal
First week of the month
3 days later
6
6
Can select all 6 choices
Can select only 4 choices
Remaining items selected by FFF
Earlier
Later
We were burning money on acquisition that didn't convert
This was a problem because FabFitFun sells an experience built on surprise and personalization, not just items. For potential customers, that value was hard to understand.
This confusion showed up in our acquisition numbers. Conversion dropped by over 2% in one year, increasing our reliance on paid marketing and making growth more expensive.
People weren’t ready to commit because they didn’t understand customization. Static images and copy weren’t enough. We needed a better way for customers to experience customization before subscribing.
The challenge of making this solution work for every team
The preview customization idea was good, but making it work required navigating the needs of many stakeholders.
Every decision affected multiple teams. My role was to surface those trade-offs, balance their needs, and help the team align on the right solution.
Different stakeholders' needs
Merchandising
Protect inventory and prevent sellouts
Security
Prevent bots and abuse of the flow
Engineering
Reuse the existing customization flow
Marketing
Increase sign-ups with organic acquisition
Leadership
Maintain fairness between prospects and members
What potential customers were confused about
Beyond stakeholder needs, I also needed to understand customer needs and pain points. So I looked into forum discussions, support tickets, and session recordings. And two insights stood out:
Customization was unclear to new customers
It was hard for them to understand how many choices they would get and how selection worked
The difference between Annual and Seasonal memberships
They assumed the difference was just how many boxes they would get
These insights shaped the design. I focused on explaining how customization works, how each membership plan differs, and what trade-offs customers make before committing.
User pain points from multiple sources
How customization actually worked
Botkier
Bond Tote
Recommended for You
Botkier
Trigger Backpack
Recommended for You
Surprise Me
check
$10
Why they couldn't select all the popular products
How the Annual and Seasonal memberships differed
$45.00 / box
Billed Annually @ $179.99
Annual
Best Value
🔥
Customize entire box
info-circle
✅
Seasonal Box (6+ Products)
✅
✅
Early access to Customize
✅
✅
Cancel anytime
Earlier Shipping
✅
Unlimited Swap for Credit
info-circle
✅
Early access to Add-Ons & Edit Sales
$49.99 / box
Billed Quarterly
Seasonal
Customize entire box
😭
Seasonal Box (6+ Products)
✅
😭
Early access to Customize
✅
Cancel anytime
Earlier Shipping
✅
Pick 4 choices
info-circle
✅
Unlimited Swap for Credit
info-circle
😭
😭
Early access to Add-Ons & Edit Sales
What they were committing to long-term
Designing the journey from curiosity to commitment
I explored multiple directions for the three core screens: sign up, customization, and checkout.
Sign up screen
I considered how to capture contact information in a way that prevented bots and abuse while keeping sign-up friction low. The sign-up flow only required the necessary inputs and was broken into a multi-step flow to make the process feel simpler.
Customization flow
I explored different ways for potential customers to switch between Seasonal and Annual plans to see how their ability to select items changed. I chose the version that clearly conveyed the differences without getting in the way of experiencing customization.
Checkout screen
I tried out different nudges for Seasonal prospects to upgrade to the Annual plan, and ultimately chose the solution that made the value plainly obvious.
Sign up
Customization
Checkout
You’re experiencing the Seasonal Membership
change Membership
1
Select Plan
3
Create Account
2
Customize
Customize Your Box
Choose a product below. You can pick more products per choice at an additional cost.
6
1
3
4
2
5
Annual Only
Click to Unlock
Polaroid
Zip Instant Photoprinter
Retail Value $110
Learn More
Annual Only
Click to Unlock
Stila
Stay All Day Liner + Huge Mascara Bundle
Retail Value $25
Learn More
V1
You’re experiencing the Seasonal Membership
Annual Membership
1 box/season | $179.99 billed annually | $45.00/box
Seasonal Membership
1 box/season | $49.99 billed seasonally | $49.99/box
1
Select Plan
3
Create Account
2
Customize
Customize Your Box
Choose a product below. You can pick more products per choice at an additional cost.
How Customization Works
6
1
3
4
2
5
Annual Only
Click to Unlock
Polaroid
Zip Instant Photoprinter
Retail Value $110
Learn More
Annual Only
Click to Unlock
Stila
Stay All Day Liner + Huge Mascara Bundle
Retail Value $25
Learn More
Your selections will be saved and processed upon checkout.
BACK
NEXT
V2
Annual
Seasonal
View Membership Details
1
Select Plan
3
Create Account
2
Customize
Customize Your Box
Choose a product below. You can pick more products per choice at an additional cost.
How Customization Works
6
1
3
4
2
5
Annual Only
Click to Unlock
Polaroid
Zip Instant Photoprinter
Retail Value $110
Learn More
Annual Only
Click to Unlock
Stila
Stay All Day Liner + Huge Mascara Bundle
Retail Value $25
Learn More
Your selections will be saved and processed upon checkout.
BACK
NEXT
V3
Winner
Reason for choosing the winner
Showing info upfront and collapsing it on scroll kept the experience clear and focused
Getting ahead of leadership concerns
My product manager and I shared the designs with executives, and a few concerns came up. Many of the concerns raised were ones I had already anticipated and addressed below.
By positioning this as a simplified experience instead of full customization, we preserved membership value and reduced confusion.
Final designs
Meet the new Fabfitfun preview customization experience where you get to see and feel the thrill of customizing your box like a member without having to commit to anything.
Experience customization for free and subscribe when you're ready
Want to choose all your choices instead?
No problem, you can always upgrade at checkout
How we would measure success after launch
Unfortunately, this project had not shipped by the time I left the company. But these were some of the metrics we would have measured:
Conversion from preview funnel
Compared against the existing landing page flow
Annual vs Seasonal sign-ups
To see if better understanding led to more confident, long-term commitments
Membership related support tickets
To measure whether clearer expectations reduced confusion
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