REI Co-op web app for enterprise retail execution

Details

REI needed more than a communications site. The Co-op needed a centralized system to align store displays and merchandising layouts across a large retail footprint without the operational drift that erodes brand consistency.

I designed and led an engineering team to build a custom back of house tool on WordPress VIP that translated complex merchandising data into clear, mobile-first instructions for store managers and field teams.

Annual usage grew from approximately 80,000 visits in 2021 to over 380,000 visits by 2024, expanding the impact of visual merchandising in-store.

My Role

  • End‑to‑end product design

  • UX architecture and process modeling

  • UI design system development

  • Project management

  • Development road map

  • Prototyping & Testing

 

01 Operational modeling

I began by mapping REI’s operational flow before any visual design work started. Process models and structural diagrams gave stakeholders a shared view of how information should move from central teams to store-level execution.

I conducted a qualitative survey and QA interviews with store and field participants. Research revealed key opportunities around usability, homepage navigation, and content discoverability during active floor work.

 

02 Design systems

We developed a complete UI toolkit to standardize interactions across the application, including buttons, icons, type systems, color rules, alerts, and utility patterns—applying WCAG best practices and leveraging components from REI’s Cedar Design System to ensure consistency across back of house tools.

 

03 Utility-First engineering

The Visual Journal is designed to be fast to navigate and intuitive during moments of interruption, mirroring the store’s physical layout so employees can quickly find guidance while on the sales floor.

To support REI’s specific language and workflows, we built a custom application on top of WordPress rather than relying on off-the-shelf templates.

The platform was engineered to be:

  • Fully responsive across REI-approved devices

  • Optimized for high-efficiency information delivery

  • Aligned to REI terminology and operational logic

  • Equipped with custom utilities, including print-focused workflows for in-store execution

 

04 Data-Driven evolution & concepting

Redesign informed by real usage. After initial deployment, we analyzed a full year of usage patterns and direct team feedback. That intelligence informed a deeper re-think of hierarchy, navigation, and site architecture.

The 2021 redesign moved the application from a functional tool (seen below) to an enterpreise-aligned more scalable platform with a significantly improved user experience.

 

05 Enterprise-Grade performance

As the roadmap expanded, we re-engineered core architecture and indexing. The updated system was designed for long-term scalability, stricter governance, and future channel expansion.

Key technical outcomes:

  • Scalable data structures for high-volume internal use

  • Complex user permissioning aligned to enterprise security protocols

  • API-first foundations to support native iOS and Android products

 

06 Notifications & Personalization

The homepage provides a real‑time snapshot of what matters most at a given moment in time. Research highlighted the need for users to easily resume work after breaks or customer interactions, directly informing the layout and prioritization of homepage content.

 
 
 

07 Scalable production design

As the impact of Visual Merchandising at the Co-op has grown, I have served as a key strategic design stakeholder, developing enterprise design solutions that support the program’s expansion and scalability.

When I joined REI in 2019, the visual program relied on seasonal guidance and training rather than industry-standard space planning. Over the past several years, we re-mapped every store in the fleet, documenting fixture layouts, capacities, and adjacencies to create a standardized annual program of feature displays.

To support this growth, I designed a scalable Figma component library of REI’s core products, enabling teams to build pre-merchandised fixtures similarly to visual merchandising software. With layered variations and seasonal color adaptability, the system has significantly increased the VM team’s production speed, consistency, and capacity for detailed merchandising guidance.