Madison Reed — Mobile App
Bridging Omnichannel Hair Color: How We Launched a Mobile Experience That Increased AR Try-On Conversions by 33%
Overview: Madison Reed is an omnichannel hair color company that evolved from online subscriptions to include physical Color Bars (salons) nationwide. When I joined, the company was rapidly expanding their salon footprint but lacked a unified mobile experience to connect their digital and physical touchpoints. As Lead Product Designer, I spearheaded the development of Madison Reed's first native mobile app, creating an integrated platform for subscription management, virtual color try-on using AR technology, and seamless salon experiences. I championed the mobile initiative to the C-suite and led the design from concept through launch over 18 months.
Impact: Customers using AR try-on feature showed 33% higher conversion rates. Delivered seamless omnichannel experience connecting online subscriptions, virtual try-on, and in-salon services. App achieved 4.9/5 star rating with 7,000+ reviews in app stores.
Role
Sr. Product Designer
Duration
16 months
Team (Besides Me)
2 PM, 2 Eng, CTO, 10+ Money Coaches
Establishing Context
Why this project mattered for the business
Confidence in Color Choice: AR try-on technology would eliminate guesswork + reduce the anxiety around new hair colors at home.
Seamless Experience Management: All touchpoints - subscriptions, color history, salon bookings - unified in a single, mobile interface.
Enhanced Salon Experience: In-location features like Bluetooth check-in + educational content would transform wait times.
Key Outcomes
Key Outcome 1
We created a unified mobile hub that connected all Madison Reed touchpoints.
This initiative mattered to the business because it established mobile as the central nervous system for customer relationships, enabling seamless transitions between online subscriptions, virtual experimentation, and in-salon services.
Subscription Management
Customers could easily modify delivery schedules, swap colors, and manage their recurring orders with push notification reminders, reducing churn and customer service contacts.
Location-Based Services
Bluetooth-enabled salon check-in and location-aware features created friction-free transitions between digital and physical experiences.
Integrated Color History
Complete color journey tracking across all channels, enabling stylists to access customer preferences and purchase history during salon appointments.
Key Outcome 2
We delivered innovative AR try-on technology that dramatically improved conversion rates.
This initiative mattered to the business because it solved the fundamental color matching problem that drove returns while positioning Madison Reed as a beauty tech innovator.
Virtual Color Experimentation
Advanced AR technology allowed customers to try unlimited color combinations in real-time, building confidence before purchase and reducing color-related returns.
33% Conversion Lift
Customers who used AR try-on features showed significantly higher purchase rates, validating the technology investment and providing clear ROI metrics.
Personalized Recommendations
AI-powered color matching suggestions based on skin tone, hair history, and virtual try-on behavior, creating a more personalized shopping experience than traditional e-commerce.
Handling adversity
Internal Alignment: Balancing Competing Channel Priorities
One of our most complex challenges emerged from conflicting stakeholder priorities across Madison Reed's rapidly expanding business model. The e-commerce team prioritized subscription retention features, the salon operations team wanted in-location engagement tools, and the executive team was focused on AR innovation for competitive differentiation.
Each group had compelling arguments: subscription revenue was the foundation of the business, salon expansion required digital support, and AR technology offered breakthrough differentiation. However, trying to satisfy everyone equally would have created a bloated, unfocused app experience.
As design lead, I facilitated a series of stakeholder workshops using customer journey mapping to demonstrate how these seemingly competing priorities actually reinforced each other. I showed how AR try-on would drive subscription confidence, how subscription data could enhance salon consultations, and how salon experiences could encourage virtual experimentation between visits.
This reframing transformed internal competition into collaboration, allowing us to design integrated experiences that served multiple business objectives while maintaining focus on customer value. The result was a cohesive app that strengthened rather than fragmented the omnichannel experience.
This is an example of absolute minimal friction for the member to input data / complete goals.
Conclusion: What I Learned, What I’d Do Differently
This project taught me the critical importance of positioning design as a unifying force in complex, multi-stakeholder environments. By focusing on customer journey integration rather than feature delivery, I learned how to transform competing business priorities into complementary experiences. If I were to approach this again, I'd invest more heavily in post-launch analytics and user behavior tracking. While we achieved strong conversion improvements with AR try-on, deeper data on feature usage patterns would have enabled more sophisticated personalization and faster iteration on user experience optimization.
I'd also push for more extensive beta testing with salon stylists before launch. Their insights into customer behavior during color appointments could have informed additional features that enhanced the physical service experience while driving digital engagement. Ultimately, this project demonstrated how mobile design can serve as the connective tissue for omnichannel businesses, turning fragmented touchpoints into seamless customer journeys that drive both satisfaction and business results.
