Case Study: Enhancing Nu Skin’s Digital Experience through Comprehensive UX Research

By Philip Burgess - UX Research Leader

Project Background

Nu Skin, a global leader in personal care and wellness products, sought to redesign its NuSkin.com website and associated mobile applications to better serve its diverse user base, including affiliates and customers. The goal was to improve usability, streamline navigation, and optimize key user flows such as sign-up and checkout to drive engagement and conversions.

Role and Responsibilities

As the UX Research Lead, I was responsible for designing and executing a multi-method research strategy to uncover user pain points, validate design hypotheses, and provide actionable recommendations to guide the redesign process.

Research Objectives

• Navigation Optimization: Understand how users interact with the site’s header and footer to improve access to key content and reduce friction.

• Search Behavior Analysis: Identify top searched products and keywords to enhance search relevance and discoverability.

• Sign-Up Process Improvement: Analyze the onboarding experience to reduce drop-offs and simplify account creation.

• Cart and Checkout Enhancement: Investigate abandonment causes and optimize the purchase flow to increase conversion rates.

Research Methodology

To achieve these objectives, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was employed:

• Mobile App Best Practices Review: Benchmarking against industry standards to identify opportunities for improvement.

• Card Sorting and Tree Testing: To validate and refine site navigation and information architecture.

• Prioritization Matrix: To align features and fixes with business goals and user needs.

• Usability Testing: Both moderated and unmoderated sessions to observe real user interactions.

• Site Intercept Surveys: To gather in-the-moment feedback from active users.

Enterprise Customer Engagement Framework

In parallel, an Enterprise Customer Engagement Framework was developed to address organizational challenges impacting UX research and implementation. This framework covered:

• Environment: Addressing silos and incentive misalignments.

• Management: Improving scheduling, prioritization, and communication.

• Data and Knowledge Management: Enhancing data sharing, legal compliance, and ethical considerations.

• Tools and Infrastructure: Ensuring availability and integration of research tools.

• Organizational Context: Aligning staffing, governance, and maturity levels.

Challenges

• Managing scope changes and aligning multiple redesign initiatives across consumer and sales leader apps, NuSkin.com, and global components.

• Mitigating risks related to personnel changes and tool availability.

• Balancing qualitative insights with quantitative data to form a holistic understanding.

Outcomes and Impact

• Delivered a comprehensive set of findings and recommendations that informed the redesign of navigation, search, sign-up, and checkout experiences.

• Improved user satisfaction by simplifying key workflows and reducing friction points.

• Provided a scalable framework for ongoing UX research and customer engagement within the enterprise.

• Enabled cross-functional alignment through clear prioritization and communication strategies.

Tools and Resources

• Utilized UX research platforms for participant recruitment, session scheduling, and data analysis.

• Employed enterprise tools such as Dovetail for repository management and Microsoft Word for documentation.

Conclusion

This project exemplifies how a structured, multi-method UX research approach combined with an enterprise-level engagement framework can drive meaningful improvements in digital product experiences. The insights gained not only enhanced Nu Skin’s digital platforms but also established a foundation for continuous user-centered innovation.