Clienteling, Reimagined

I started this project with a solid background in managing client relationships, knowing that building loyalty often hinges on quick responses, genuine connections, and making clients feel special.

I developed a digital clienteling concept for SSENSE, emphasizing privacy-first connections with high-potential clients. By interviewing the personal styling team and VICs, I gained insights into trust and exclusivity in luxury contexts.

This project allowed me to blend clienteling expertise with UX design, creating a personal and exclusive messaging system. It challenged me to scale personalization while maintaining authenticity.

4 weeks

product designer

Canada

figma

Stylists needed a way to communicate selectively with loyalty program clients while ensuring privacy. Messages like runway previews and private invites required a solution that balanced discretion with SSENSE's brand identity.

I came in confident in navigating anything to do with clienteling, but quickly ran into challenges around privacy and data security. In a digital space where we’re sharing runway looks, exclusive drops, and sensitive info, maintaining trust and discretion became the core design challenge.

My goal was to design a messaging system that feels intentional and human - helping stylists build real relationships while letting clients stay fully in control. I wanted the final product to be seamless, easy, and intuitive.

Balancing personalization with privacy wasn’t simple, and I had to rethink how digital clienteling could scale without ever feeling pushy or transactional.

To kick off my research, I began by interviewing key stakeholders—starting with Sonia Sun, the manager of SSENSE’s personal styling team and a former colleague. 

I reached out to her to better understand who the users really were: the clients her team was targeting and why.

“We already know who our most promising clients are—they’re browsing often, buying across categories, and engaging with early access drops. If we can get them to come back just one more time a month, that’s a major win.”

Sonia Sun,

Sonia Sun

Manager, Personal Styling Team

SSENSE

Montreal, Canada

Sonia leads the personal styling team and spearheads its expansion across Canada. She has deep expertise in client acquisition and relationship building within luxury ecommerce. Her focus is on scaling the team while maintaining the high-touch, exclusive experience SSENSE is known for.

Challenges

Balancing scalability with exclusivity and discretion
Lack of digital tools tailored to personal styling outreach at scale
Navigating privacy concerns around sharing sensitive client info digitally
Ensuring consistency in client experience across regions

Goals

Grow SSENSE’s high-potential client base nationwide
Maintain personalized, discreet communication that aligns with SSENSE’s luxury brand.
Ensure stylists have efficient tools to manage relationships without losing intimacy
Protect client privacy and comply with data security regulations

Project Influence

Sonia’s insights were crucial in defining the target user group and setting expectations for the messaging system. Her priorities shaped the need for a tool that balances personalization with privacy, enabling scalable yet intimate clienteling.

Key Findings and Insights from Qualitative Research

But first, need to define what SSENSE considers sensitive client data, as it's protected by laws like PIPEDA and GDPR. Designing for high-potential clients required safeguarding trust. Personal data, from purchase history to stylist notes, needed careful handling to avoid making clients feel exposed.

Strategic Reflection: Balancing Loyalty and New Acquisition

My initial research focused on VIC clients—the loyal, high-spending segment already enjoying many perks. Insights from these clients shaped early design assumptions. 

Conversations with Sonia highlighted the growth potential in targeting beyond VICs, shifting the focus from rewarding loyalty to strategic outreach for retention and acquisition.

why invite-only

Opening messaging to all users would dilute its value and overwhelm stylists with low-intent interactions.

The invite-only messaging system targets high-potential clients, maintaining exclusivity and privacy while enabling stylists to provide impactful communication.

Defining high-potential clientele

To clearly identify who SSENSE’s high-potential clients are, I combined insights from Sonia Sun with behavioural data and engagement signals. 

Sonia emphasized clients who consistently spend, show loyalty, and are receptive to personalized outreach. Building on that, I looked at specific criteria such as:

Spending $1,000 or more on luxury fashion within the past 3–6 months
Purchasing across multiple product categories (e.g., accessories and ready-to-wear)
Actively using features like wishlists, size alerts, and waitlists
Responding to early access drops or engaging with editorial content
Interacting with fashion via social media or resale platforms
Preferring online-first luxury shopping on platforms like SSENSE, Farfetch, and Net-a-Porter

Together, these data points helped me pinpoint clients who are not only valuable in terms of purchase volume but also deeply engaged and likely to build lasting relationships with SSENSE through personalized styling.

Identifying The User

I reached out to 12 people in my personal network, screened them against the emerging high-potential client profile, and selected 5 participants who best matched the criteria.

This approach let me conduct deep contextual interviews grounded in real behaviours and expectations—rather than hypothetical scenarios.

From my interviews with high-potential clients, a few consistent themes emerged:

Privacy is non-negotiable. Clients want to feel in control of when and how they’re contacted. Any communication needs to feel optional, not invasive.
Trust starts with relevance. Messages need to be personal and timely—mass outreach or irrelevant styling tips can damage trust quickly.
Luxury is quiet. The tone and design of the interaction matter. Participants preferred subtlety over flashy interfaces, and valued restraint over pushiness.
Human connection still matters. Despite being online-first shoppers, clients appreciated knowing there was a real person behind the message—someone who understands their taste and isn’t just trying to sell.
Access Is a Reward. Not everyone gets in. Messaging should feel like a benefit reserved for clients who’ve built a strong connection with the brand. The experience should reinforce that this is something they’ve earned.

“I don’t go on SSENSE to buy. I go to browse and get inspired”

Participant 1

“If I get a message from SSENSE, it needs to feel like it's from someone, not a bot.”

Participant 4

Harlow Chung (29)

The Under-the-Radar Loyalist

Creative Director (Freelance)

Vancouver, Canada

Goals

Access unique, high-end fashion before the crowd
Receive recommendations that match personal taste
Stay low-profile while still feeling valued

Challenges

Doesn’t know if they’re considered “VIP” despite frequent purchases
Mass marketing feels impersonal
Feels loyalty is invisible in online shopping
No easy way to connect with a stylist or get product questions answered

Needs and Opportunities

A discreet opt-in messaging system for personalized stylist contact
Recognition through access and experience, not discounts
Interface tone that reflects SSENSE’s elevated, minimal aesthetic
Clear privacy controls and ability to manage preferences.

Shopping Behaviour

Spends $1,200–$2,500 quarterly on fashion and shops across categories (RTW, footwear, niche accessories). She often visits SSENSE 2–3x/month for new arrivals & inspiration. She uses wishlist and email notifications regularly.

Based on what I learned from clients and stakeholders, I defined a few key principles to guide the design:

Access Is a Reward:

Invite-only messaging for loyal, engaged clients.

Discreet by Default:

Minimal, subtle messaging notifications.

Personal, Not Promotional:

Relationship-focused communication only.

Human-First Experience:

Warm, thoughtful stylist messaging.

Editorial & Brand-Aligned:

Reflect SSENSE’s aesthetic and tone.

Trust-Forward by Design:

Built-in privacy and consent controls.

I began by sketching how the messaging system could live in the SSENSE app, focusing on discreet message notifications and editorial-style message views. Early concepts explored how stylists could craft personalized messages while clients maintained control over replies and privacy.

Loyalty program hub, messaging center, and privacy settings integrated smoothly into the SSENSE app dashboard, respecting the minimalist aesthetic.

User Flow Highlights:

Client eligibility confirmed based on behavior
Exclusive e-invitation to join the loyalty messaging program
Clients manage privacy and communication preferences anytime
Client opts in to messaging
Stylists send curated messages
Onboarding highlighting perks: free delivery, unlimited returns, invite-only sales, & the messaging feature

Information Architecture:

Loyalty program hub, messaging center, and privacy settings integrated smoothly into the SSENSE app dashboard, respecting the minimalist aesthetic.

Once I had the structure mapped out (via information architecture and user flows), I built a mid-fidelity prototype to test key flows:

Receiving and accepting an invite
Onboarding into the loyalty messaging experience
Navigating the message inbox
Managing privacy preferences

My goal wasn’t just to test if the UI worked—it was to see how it felt: Did the experience feel exclusive? Did users feel in control of their data? Did it reflect SSENSE’s luxury tone?

Validating the Experience: Prototype & Usability Testing

Testing was conducted through Useberry and moderated via video calls, allowing for real-time observation and user feedback.

I tested the prototype with 3 out of the 5 VIC participants from earlier interviews, as well as 2 personal stylists from Sonia's team. I asked them to walk through the key flows and share impressions aloud.

80% success

Understand the purpose of the e-invitation
4 out of 5 users correctly identified that the invite was for a loyalty-based messaging feature

60% success 
(flagged for improvement)

Navigation and comprehension of the shared dashboard
3 out of 5 felt the shared dashboard was “confusing” or “too much information”

67% (2/3 clients) 
described it as feeling ‘clinical’

Comfort level around personal data visibility
2 out of 3 clients expressed discomfort seeing their exact spend displayed so prominently

Key Iteration: Splitting the Dashboard Experience

Original Assumption:

At first, I designed one shared dashboard. The idea was to streamline data and create transparency.

What I realized:

The shared dashboard created more confusion than clarity. Clients didn’t need the same level of data that stylists do.

“It started feeling less like luxury—and more like a spreadsheet.”

participant 2

Creating two UI for two different users (client Vs. stylists) calls for two separate research. I decided to keep working with the client interface and have the stylist dashboard as a next feature to conduct deeper research on geared as a CRM tool.

Client Loyalty View

Current tier + unlocked perks
Invitation status
Messaging preferences & opt-in
A minimal, editorial tone that aligns with the SSENSE brand

Stylist Dashboard (Future Exploration)

Spend breakdown by category
Order history & wishlist signals
Loyalty tier indicators
Message history & stylist notes

Insights vs. Design Iterations

Users wanted clearer information about privacy and data usage before opting in.

Enhanced the opt-in screen copy to explicitly explain what data is collected, how it’s used, and that messaging is fully opt-in and controllable. Added a “Learn More” link to a privacy FAQ.

Participants found it difficult to locate and adjust messaging preferences within the app.

Added a direct shortcut to messaging preferences from the inbox screen and user settings menu for quicker access. Made preferences more visually prominent with clear labels.

Users responded positively to a clean messaging UI but felt some interaction elements could be more intuitive.

Refined UI elements like message bubbles and navigation icons to better align with familiar chat apps while maintaining SSENSE’s minimalist aesthetic for ease of use and brand consistency.

“I appreciate that the stylist feels real, not like a bot.”

participant 2

“Knowing who I’m talking to makes this feel more personal and secure.”
‍
Participant 5

“I’d want more upfront info about what data is shared before opting in.”

Participant 1

Curated Dashboard Powered by Behavior & Algorithm

Imagine logging into SSENSE and seeing not just your wishlist, but a personalized editorial feed that evolves based on how you interact with the platform.

A smart dashboard that merges commerce with culture, showcasing fashion, art, music, and events tailored to individual styles. This transforms SSENSE from a shopping app into a lifestyle destination, especially engaging the VIC segment between purchases and enhancing the brand's cultural impact.

Potential Journey Milestones:

Stage 1: Earn invite-only messaging access
Stage 2: Unlock free shipping and private sale access
Stage 3: Receive curated lookbooks or private client styling
Stage 4: VIC status—unlocked by consistent spend + engagement
Stage 5: VIC onboarding and concierge-style support

UX Opportunities:

Subtle tier progress tracker (optional, for those who opt in)
Nudges via editorial content ("Keep building your world")
Celebrate tier unlocks with beautiful invitations or packages
Give clients agency: let them personalize their loyalty goals (e.g., “More access,” “Style help,” “Perks”)

Loyalty shouldn’t feel like a points game. It should feel like you’re being noticed. By making this journey feel human, curated, and delightfully slow, we create brand attachment—not just customer retention.

This project was a rewarding journey, enhancing my approach to UX challenges and aligning my passion for luxury retail with user-first digital experiences. I'm eager to apply these insights to future projects.

Trust the Process, Trust Yourself

I found myself revisiting decisions often, second-guessing choices as I balanced business goals, user needs, and brand values. Over time, I learned that early insights and research are solid ground. It’s okay to pivot, but it’s equally important to move forward confidently and let testing validate or redirect.

Keep the User Story Front and Center

Luxury retail is nuanced, especially when dealing with privacy and exclusivity. This project reminded me to always anchor the narrative around who I’m designing for and why it matters to them—whether that’s a stylist needing quick insights or a client seeking trust and connection. Clear personas and explicit goals made all the difference.

Simplify Complex Ideas Without Losing Depth

The layers of loyalty tiers, data privacy, and personalized messaging could easily overwhelm. Breaking these down into digestible sections and telling the story through iterations helped me communicate complexity clearly. It also reinforced the power of good UX: making the complicated feel effortless.

Final Thought

Designing for high-potential clientele at SSENSE has deepened my understanding of how luxury brands can innovate in digital clienteling—creating experiences that feel personal, respectful, and elevating. 

I look forward to bringing this blend of empathy and strategic thinking to future product challenges.