Consistency People Can Build On
Unified a fragmented design system into a trusted, modular framework—simplifying experiences for customers and reducing development complexity across millions of interactions.
Examples of OOUX elements, wireframes, and prototypes for Macys.com.
Situation
Macy’s, a leading American department store, operates a vast digital portfolio, including its website and mobile applications, aiming to provide a seamless shopping experience across platforms.
Challenge
The UX team, of 36 UX designers, faced challenges in balancing user-centered design with innovation. Cross-functional designers often created unique UX elements for each project, leading to redundant components. Developers then had to code each variation, increasing complexity, development time, and maintenance costs. Customers experienced inconsistencies, causing friction in their interactions.
Question
How can Macy’s simplify the user experience and reduce development inefficiencies by standardizing UX design elements?
Cross-functional task force
A dedicated team comprising product managers, UI developers, and UX designers was established to identify tasks, discuss progress, and share achievements.
Object-Oriented UX framework
The team received training on the OOUX framework, which is based on users’ mental models. They identified key user tasks—browsing, researching, and buying—and extracted objects from these tasks to develop a library covering 50% of existing use cases.
Created and tested UI elements
The team translated identified objects into UI elements, built prototypes, and conducted user testing. The successful tests confirmed that the OOUX framework aligned with customer thinking and developer workflows.
Object-oriented mapping of Macys.com UX design elements.
Results
Enhanced communication
The shared language of UX principles and patterns improved cross-functional team communication and reduced assumptions.
Efficiency gains
The creation of a responsive modular system of shared UX design patterns allowed for reuse in multiple contexts, simplifying the user experience and enabling measurable success.
Success metrics
The initiative identified a 3:1 ratio of existing-to-required UX objects, only twenty-five UX objects were necessary, thereby reducing maintenance costs by two-thirds.
Conclusion
By implementing the OOUX framework, Macy’s successfully streamlined its digital user experience and reduced development efforts, leading to a more consistent and efficient platform for both users and developers.
