Led end-to-end product, brand, and customer experience strategy for a D2C wellness startup, from HCD discovery and validation through identity, packaging, eCommerce, and go-to-market. Sold-out first product run.
• CX & UX Strategist
• Lead UX Designer
• Web Development
• HCD Strategy
• Team Coordination
This was a Sack Lunch Agency project, under the supervision of co-owner and Principal Designer Kara Clapp. I led the project as Strategist and Lead UX Designer, helping guide the team through discovery, validation, UX, and delivery. The work would not have been possible without the brilliant Sack Lunch team, including junior UX designers, graphic designers, copywriters, and WordPress developers.
Halo 42 is a purpose-driven wellness company created to help people recognize their beauty, health, and worth through products, services, and meaningful connections. The company came to Sack Lunch Agency looking to launch a direct-to-consumer startup and build a strong brand in the crowded wellness market.
The project also became an opportunity to bring a more structured HCD process into the agency's digital work, connecting strategy, team collaboration, and execution from the start.
• CX & UX Strategist
• Lead UX Designer
• Web Development
• HCD Strategy
• Team Coordination
This was a Sack Lunch Agency project, under the supervision of co-owner and Principal Designer Kara Clapp. I led the project as Strategist and Lead UX Designer, helping guide the team through discovery, validation, UX, and delivery. The work would not have been possible without the brilliant Sack Lunch team, including junior UX designers, graphic designers, copywriters, and WordPress developers.
Our first challenge was to organize the project and define a clear plan of action. To address this, we conducted a Core Strategy session focused on understanding the current situation, aligning stakeholders, and building a practical path forward.
We conducted market research and developed the key personas we were designing for. To complete this cycle, we finished with a brand direction exercise, combining what we learned from strategy and research into three different creative directions, each exploring a different goal and personality for the brand.
To validate the direction, we moved into a research and feedback phase, presenting the brand story, product direction, and goals to potential customers from the owners' network and key demographic profiles.
We conducted in-person interviews and small-scale social/test events to gather feedback, validate the direction, and understand potential interest in the product line.
This input helped us refine the strategy, confirm that the brand was resonating with the target audience, and build an invaluable communication line for user research throughout the process.
One significant challenge in this project was the design of a physical product line. That required research, testing, suppliers, packaging, production timelines, and a substantial upfront investment.
To hit our target goals, we needed to start with the product line early, arrange suppliers, define the printing process, and produce photorealistic renders before the final product was available.
Those renders helped us make decisions on the final design and allowed us to build the website and promotional materials ahead of product delivery.
We used the information from the Core Discovery session and priority list to define a path forward, agree on the MVP, and establish the scope of work after exploring several options.
We created a strategy deck to use as a shared reference throughout the process. The deck included the mission statement, brand attributes, four user personas, and early market research with a broad view of the space and references mentioned during the strategy session.
This also helped the agency guide the client with clearer strategic thinking before jumping into execution.
After defining the information architecture, we mapped three potential user flows through the website: the first-time visitor, the returning customer, and the explorer interested in learning more about beauty and self-care.
This helped us understand how different users might discover the brand, what questions they would have, and what kind of content could guide them toward trust and purchase.
Access to potential customers, combined with a clearer understanding of our positioning and differentiation, helped us map the different journeys users would have throughout the eCommerce experience.
UX helped us reduce friction. CX helped us create the right kind of tension: enough story, trust, and emotion to guide a first-time visitor through the discovery process.
Understanding the different stages of the journey helped us build empathy inside the team. Seeing the experience through the eyes of a first-time visitor allowed us to create a stronger introduction to the brand, the product line, and what Halo 42 was here to do.
Thanks to a clear path forward, close collaboration with the client, and the brilliant Sack Lunch team, we managed to design the brand identity, a powerful website to tell the brand story, packaging for the planned product line, and the go-to-market campaign in less than four months.
Thanks to close collaboration with the client and the Sack Lunch team, we created a strong brand identity and customer experience for Halo 42. The website, packaging, content, and campaign all worked together to communicate the company's purpose and story.
We saw strong early engagement across the eCommerce website and social channels, collected positive feedback from the first batch of physical products, and the first product run sold out.
Taking the time to define our "why" from the start, and placing the user at the center of the decision-making process, helped us co-create a strong human-centered brand from scratch.
Different team members and stakeholders actively collaborated around a shared path, and the Sack Lunch team excelled across strategy, design, content, production, and development.
My role was to help connect those pieces, guide the process, mentor the team, and keep the work aligned with the customer, the business goals, and the launch timeline.
I want to thank Sack Lunch director Kara Clapp and Gladiola Quintanilla for the opportunity, and I wish Halo 42 a successful future of testing, learning, and growth.
