I helped design Charlotte Tilbury’s native app, transforming its web experience into a seamless mobile journey. My focus was on optimizing onboarding, refining user flows, and collaborating with engineers to ensure smooth implementation. The result was a high-performing app that enhanced user engagement and is now live on the App Store.
Role:
Product Designer (UI/UX)
Industry:
E-Commerce
Duration:
6 months
The Idea
Charlotte Tilbury’s global website was already a success, but the next step was bringing that experience into a fully native app. As a product designer, my role was to help transition the existing digital experience into an intuitive, high-performing mobile product.
This meant tackling a range of design and technical challenges—rethinking user flows, refining onboarding, and ensuring a seamless transition for both new and returning users.
Making it real
To kick things off, I led a full audit of the user journey, from onboarding to setting up beauty preferences. With a diverse audience—some familiar with the brand, others entirely new—the onboarding experience had to be both welcoming and efficient.
Designing Onboarding
We defined four key principles: Simple, Clear, Appealing, and Fast. The goal was to create an onboarding flow that felt effortless while providing enough guidance for first-time users.
We iterated through multiple wireframes, refining the flow to reduce friction.
A video welcome screen was introduced to make the experience more engaging and human-centric.
A “skip” option allowed experienced users to jump straight into the app.
Collaboration with Engineering
From the start, we worked closely with developers to ensure a smooth transition from web to native app:
Understanding technical constraints of our proposed designs.
Evaluating build time and complexity for each feature.
Iterating based on developer feedback to balance feasibility with UX.
Since the website had over a million users, every decision needed to consider both usability and technical scalability.
Curveballs
Building a native app for an established brand came with challenges:
Feature Adaptation: Migrating web-based features into a seamless mobile experience without compromising performance.
Technical Constraints: Some design solutions had to be adjusted due to platform limitations and engineering feasibility.
Tight Timelines: With a strict release schedule, we had to make fast design decisions without sacrificing quality.
By staying agile and working in sync with developers, we tackled these hurdles and refined the product in real time.
Results that matter
The final product was a polished, high-performance app that successfully extended Charlotte Tilbury’s brand experience to mobile.
A seamless onboarding experience that catered to both new and returning users.
Thoughtfully adapted beauty tools and features from the web.
A live app on the App Store, embraced by the brand’s global audience.
This project was a fast-paced, collaborative effort that reinforced my ability to ship large-scale products under real-world constraints. The result? A product that feels as premium and intuitive as the brand itself.
Conclusion
This project was an exciting challenge—blending design, technology, and brand storytelling into a cohesive native app experience. It reinforced my ability to balance business needs, technical constraints, and user expectations while working in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
Through collaboration, iteration, and problem-solving, we shipped a product that not only met Charlotte Tilbury’s standards but also provided an engaging and intuitive experience for its users.
