Athleta Omni-Channel Experience Evaluation
Athleta had the product, the values, and a loyal customer base, but it lacked an experience that matched.
Across channels, touchpoints felt disconnected. In-store technology lagged, the app and web weren't in sync, and the returns journey created friction at exactly the moment customers needed confidence. I joined the Material+ team to lead a comprehensive evaluation of the omnichannel experience and translate the findings into a strategic roadmap.
Rather than auditing channels in isolation, we mapped the full customer journey across every touchpoint: social ads, website, app, fitting room, in-store purchase, and returns. Five methods, run in parallel, to make sure no insight lived in a silo.
The Approach
Step 1. UX Audit — current state analysis across web, app and in-store
Step 2. Qualitative Interviews — customers and store associates
Step 3. Data Analytics — validating findings against Athleta's own numbers
Step 4. Quantitative Survey — testing assumptions at scale
Step 5. Journey Mapping — turning it all into something actionable
What We Found
The core problem wasn't any single channel. It was the lack of connectivity between all of them.
In-store technology was holding associates back. Devices dropped off wifi, logged out constantly, and couldn't surface customer purchase history. Associates wanted to deliver a boutique experience but were working with infrastructure that made that nearly impossible.
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Customers described Athleta as an “under-the-radar brand” that delivered the same quality as Lululemon, only quieter. For some, that was a loyalty driver. For others, it read as a lack of confidence. The experience wasn't closing the brand’s perception gap.
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Omnichannel promises were breaking down. Orders placed in store didn't appear in the app or online, returns were tedious unless the customer went in, and branding on packaging and checkout was diluting the Athleta identity in moments where it should have been reinforced.
The Framework
To evaluate each journey consistently, we built a 14-heuristic framework across three dimensions:
Omnichannel Experience Principles (Empower Me, Inspire Me, Show Me You Care)
Brand Basics (fonts, color, logo, voice, key messages)
Usability Standards based on Nielsen Norman (personalized, seamless, fresh, accessible, coherent).
We mapped six core journeys, each of which was assessed against all 14 heuristics.
Below are a few project artefacts:
The Outcome
Recommendations were delivered to leadership and actioned into the product roadmap.
The work gave the team a shared language for evaluating experience quality across channels and a clear picture of where investment would have the most impact, not just on conversion but on the kind of brand loyalty that keeps customers coming back.
