Client: J.Hilburn
Background:
Founded in 2007, J.Hilburn set out to reinvent men’s premium apparel by combining high-quality fabrics with custom tailoring. Over time, the brand grew into one of the world’s largest custom menswear companies, offering made-to-measure shirting, suiting, and a curated collection of ready-to-wear essentials.
Jump to
J.Hilburn’s business model is built on a direct-sales network of 2,500+ style advisers operating across 40 states. Advisers provide in-person measurements, styling guidance, and client service, while also benefiting from multi-level sales incentives.
The challenge was twofold:
1. Modernize the digital experience to attract new customers through e-commerce.
2. Introduce self-service tools without undermining or alienating the advisers who built the company’s reputation and reach.
I joined J.Hilburn as a Senior UX Designer, partnering closely with the Creative Director, Product Owners, Development, Marketing, and Business Intelligence teams. My responsibility was to strategize and design new interaction models that improved digital product experiences and ultimately drove sales growth.
For this case study, I’ll highlight three key initiatives:
Stylist Recruitment Funnel Redesign
E-commerce Multi-Platform Design
Digital Customer Experience
Approach:
Conducted user and stylist research to uncover pain points and opportunities.
Developed a digital vision that served both consumers and stylists.
Designed new features, flows, and interaction models for digital products.
Partnered with developers to ensure quality execution.
Defined the long-term vision and aligned stakeholders on priorities.
Provided hands-on design work, guidance, and oversight throughout delivery.
Research
Gathering Insights
Data and Analytics
To understand the impact of not having a design system from a project’s perspective, I began by immersing myself in multiple teams. My goal was to observe how they approached projects, the decisions they made, and where inconsistencies or inefficiencies emerged without a shared system in place.
User Survey
To better understand stylist motivations, I conducted a survey with 300 Personal Stylists to learn why they chose to join J.Hilburn. The survey achieved a strong 67% response rate, providing a rich dataset to analyze.
The results offered clear insights into the key drivers behind stylist sign-ups, which became the foundation for redefining the recruitment website. Below are excerpts from the final documentation shared with the team.
Strategy
What Does Success Looks Like
Experience Vision
Our vision for J.Hilburn was to leverage digital channels, branding, and improved UX to create a stronger business foundation while enhancing both customer and stylist experiences:
1. Empower Customers — Extend the role of the Stylist through a seamless digital experience. By introducing an e-commerce platform and expanding digital touchpoints, customers could meet their needs without the friction of appointments and scheduling.
2. Support Stylists — Provide tools that allow Stylists to scale their business, increase revenue, and serve clients through digital channels—without relying solely on in-person interactions.
3. Improve Recruitment — Redesign the stylist acquisition funnel and modernize the recruitment experience to attract new talent more effectively.
The Approach
We defined a multi-channel strategy as the path to realizing this vision, combining consumer-facing experiences, stylist tools, and recruitment initiatives. Below is a snapshot of the strategy documentation and experience vision.
Design
Designing & testing
One of our first initiatives focused on improving the overall client experience by rethinking and updating the e-commerce website.
We challenged our assumptions and began mapping the end-to-end experience across different customer states, including:
1. First-time visitors
2. Prospects without a Stylist
3. Customers with only in-person Stylist engagement
4. Customers with a single digital purchase
5. Customers with multiple digital purchases
This work ensured the redesigned site could deliver a tailored experience for every type of user, from new prospects to returning loyal customers.
Visual Design and Responsive Design
We introduced A/B testing in the hero area to validate messaging, imagery, and calls to action, ensuring the design resonated with both new and returning customers.
In parallel, we implemented a fully responsive design, creating a seamless experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
The Online Shirt Builder Experience
How do you create an intuitive and delightful shirt customization experience online? Traditionally, this process required an in-person appointment with a Stylist, making the transition to digital a major challenge.
Our goal was to design an interactive, easy-to-navigate experience that would give customers the confidence to order custom shirts independently—while driving new sales.
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Prototyping & Testing
Because this was a first-of-its-kind experience for J.Hilburn—and with no clear industry benchmarks to draw from—rapid prototyping and usability testing became critical. We created multiple design variations, tested them with users, and refined the experience through several iterations. This process ensured the final product was simple, engaging, and effective at guiding customers from customization to purchase.
Below are examples of the high-fidelity screens used in the final prototype.
Usability Studies
Validating the design was a critical step. The process unfolded in two phases:
1. Stylist validation — First, we worked closely with Stylists to confirm the interaction model aligned with how they envisioned clients using the tool.
2. Customer testing — Once Stylists were confident in the approach, I recruited six customers from their networks to test both the interaction model and the overall experience.
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Results
1. All 6 participants successfully customized a shirt using the prototype.
2. Participants expressed strong interest in having the option to design shirts online, without needing to schedule an appointment with a Stylist.
Results
Bringing it all together
Launching the new J.Hilburn Digital Stylist Experience
Results
In a short time, J.Hilburn successfully revamped its acquisition and e-commerce experience while launching the online shirt builder, enabling customers to place self-service orders with confidence. This innovation also helped Stylists boost sales and expand their reach beyond in-person appointments.
In addition, I contributed to the design of internal tools for Stylists and a redesigned Stylist acquisition funnel.
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