Heather Shoon is the Senior Director of Product Design, Audience Experience at Vox Media where she leads a team of designers supporting its digital brands.
Vox
When Vox News migrated to a new platform, we took the opportunity to redesign the site and refresh the visual design, overhauling the front end and using our newly established design system as its foundation. The redesign focused on better supporting the needs of the editorial team, including an expanded article system that enabled richer, more flexible storytelling. We also created stronger connections across Vox’s three core content formats - written journalism, video, and podcasts - making it easier for audiences to discover and engage with the full breadth of Vox’s work.
Eater
As with Vox, when Eater migrated to a new platform, we redesigned the website, overhauling the front-end, using our design system as its foundation. We created a scalable multi-community system for its 100+ local sites, revamped the maps experience to improve venue discovery and browsing, and designed an expanded article system for increased editorial expression and variety.
Verge Follows
We launched Following on the Verge, a feature that enables readers to follow authors and topics, access a personalized homepage feed, and receive email updates according to their. The initiative was intended to drive account creation, increase CTR and reader engagement, and establish a foundation for future personalization.
Popsugar
As part of Popsugar’s rebrand, our team participated in a one-day design charrette to quickly explore new visual directions for the site and brand. This was my concept from the sprint.
Birchbox
Birchbox pioneered the monthly beauty subscription model, using personalized samples to introduce casual beauty consumers to new products and ultimately drive e-commerce purchases. I built and led the product design team responsible for the site experience, translating the delight and discovery of the physical box into digital. We focused on making beauty feel approachable rather than overwhelming, using education, storytelling, and personalization to build confidence and drive purchases, while creating a compelling top-of-funnel experience that converted new audiences into subscribers.
