Leif Morton

PRODUCT DESIGNER | NYC

Work
About
CASE STUDY | 2024
VINYL ME, PLEASE
Optimizing the desktop and mobile web experience for VMP, an online record store and Record of the Month Club.
CASE STUDY | 2023
JOSIE APP
Building a web application from scratch as the founding product designer at Josie, an AI-powered career development platform.
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CASE STUDY | 2021
ROTATE WATCHES
Redesigning key site pages with a focus on boosting engagement for the e-commerce brand, Rotate Watches.
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STUDENT PROJECT | 2021
RAMBLE
Designing an MVP mobile application to help readers discover books they'll love.
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STUDENT PROJECT | 2021
GALLERY PAL
Creating an initial proof-of-concept prototype for the hypothetical mobile app, Gallery Pal, within a one-week sprint.
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STUDENT PROJECT | 2021
MUNARI CYCLES
Designing a Brand Image/Logo/Style Guide, Product Detail Page, Comparison Feature, and Guest Checkout Flow for the hypothetical e-commerce brand, Munari Cycles.
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UX Case Study | 2024

About the role

In August 2023 I joined Vinyl Me, Please, an online vinyl shop and Record of the Month Club celebrating ten years as a key player in revitalizing the medium. As Product Designer, I was tasked with leading design initiatives focused on simplifying, optimizing, and unifying the digital presence of VMP as the brand postured itself for another decade of success.

Projects included: conducting site audits, building landing pages, creating a design system, and (as illustrated in the following case studies) overhauling the brand's subscription funnel, site navigation, and "product detail page" template.

Project 1: Navigation

The Problem

Once exclusively a Record of the Month subscription service, the brand has since evolved to include a robust e-commerce store selling records, box sets, prints, and more. While the site navigation grew in options to support these updates, it was never really overhauled to adequately reflect the changing user needs. Interviews, analytic site data, and competitive analysis pointed to a number of problems with the current navigation, including:
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–Lack of quick access to Account, Support, or About pages
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–Unclear distinction between store and membership
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–Difficulty browsing on mobile (very reliant on hamburger menu)
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–Inconsistencies across mobile and desktop
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–Imposing top navigation bar

The Solution

Given the inherent complexities of the brand’s hybrid business model (a subscription service and à la carte storefront), the ethos of my solution lay around simplification and progressive disclosure. To achieve this, I organized all of the navigation options into three bucket categories– Shop, Membership, and More. From there I designed the following:
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–Shortcuts on the mobile homepage to jump to any of the three main site areas (without needing to open the menu)

–A redesigned top nav bar that includes an Account page shortcut, feedback around what area of the site you’re currently on, a list of subpages within each section for quick access on mobile and desktop, and transparency on the homepage to give more emphasis to the hero image

–An updated hamburger menu to reflect the three-pronged approach and include easy access to the Support and About pages

–Quick access to both general and specific pages to address different user needs and browsing preferences

Project 2: Product Detail Page

The Problem

When I discovered that less than 50% of users on mobile were scrolling far enough on the Product Detail Pages to see the “Add to Cart” CTA, I knew that something needed to change. Further auditing revealed a series of issues with the page template, including:
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–An imposing but largely ineffective membership info module
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–Unintuitive groupings of product details
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–Unclear labels (e.g. “Nutrition Facts” and “By the Numbers”)
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–Too much info hidden by default on mobile
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–Too much info displayed by default on desktop
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–Redundant information (e.g. description listed twice- short/long versions)
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–Confusing interface for viewing the tracklists of multiple LPS

The Solution

Given the wealth of information this page template needed to store, I started by doing an inventory of all the data on display and then running sorting exercises to determine intuitive groupings and labelings. My designs focused on maintaining a consistency between mobile and desktop versions, while still optimizing for different screen sizes. Other design elements I added include:

–A combined Details and Tracklist section segmented by a toggle button and featuring dynamic info cards that display information purposely and concisely

–Doing away with the short/long versions of the Description, and instead having one full description featured as an expandable preview

–Optimized communication of the membership, including featuring info, benefits, and CTA's on key places across the page

–Sticky product image carousel on desktop to improve visual appeal and address cognitive overload issues in previous designs

Project 3: membership funnel

The Problem

The Record of the Month subscription service lies at the core of the VMP brand and offers users an exclusively-pressed record each month, along with a variety of member perks. Traditionally, customers would join the membership by selecting one of five available “Tracks” (music styles – e.g. Country), which would determine the record they’re sent each month. If a user doesn’t like the month’s selection, they have an opportunity to select one of the other monthly options or pick a record from the VMP archive.
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Customer feedback and observed user behavior suggested that the current experience was confusing and unaligned with how members actually viewed the service (i.e. not wanting to subscribe to a specific “Track” and instead wanting to make their own selections each month depending on the available options). Other issues with the experience included:
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–A landing page that was lengthy, complicated, and disordered

–No distinction between the membership experience and the rest of the site

–Lack of options for users seeking more information about the service

–No clear list of member perks

–Proprietary terms like “Swaps” and “Tracks” used throughout without context

The Solution

I set out to design an updated membership funnel that would greatly reduced emphasis on the “Tracks”, quickly and clearly communicate the service’s value, and feel distinct from the rest of the site (while remaining aligned with the brand’s aesthetic identity). I achieved this through the following:
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– A new landing page with a purposeful hierarchy and concise communication of the service and its value
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– A unique visual identity for the membership that can be applied to membership features across the site

– An immersive, multi-step sign-up flow

–“Learn More” buttons in known “painpoint” areas

–Clearly listed member perks in strategic places throughout the funnel

– Prominent sections to address known topics of confusion (e.g. swapping a record)

Bonus Project: Interactive Poster

As part of their 10th anniversary celebration, VMP commissioned illustrator Gus Morais to create a poster featuring all the artists whose music the company had released thus far. After seeing the poster myself, I pitched the idea of building an interactive digital experience around it, which would feature two modes– a clickable ("Discover") version of the poster and a Where's Waldo-type game. While the idea was never fully developed due to resource constraints, enough interest was generated for me to be given a couple days to design the following prototype to illustrate my concept.