Complete Site Redesign During Rails Upgrade
Led a full visual overhaul while coordinating with engineering through a Rails upgrade and database refactoring, all on a tight timeline. Built a full design system to replace years of inconsistent components, set performance targets and hit them, and phased the rollout to avoid breaking the site during backend changes.
Problems
Inconsistent Components
Years of rapid iteration had created dozens of button styles, card layouts, and form patterns. No single source of truth made development slow and bug-prone.
Performance Issues
Heavy pages with unoptimized images and excessive JavaScript. Couples and vendors complained about slow load times, especially on mobile.
Dated Visual Design
The interface hadn't been refreshed in years. While functional, it no longer matched modern wedding aesthetic expectations or competitor offerings.
Coordination Complexity
Engineering was refactoring the database and upgrading Rails. We needed to redesign without blocking their work, then integrate everything smoothly.
Approach
I started by auditing every component across the site, documenting all the variations and inconsistencies that had accumulated through years of rapid iteration. I worked closely with the lead engineer to ensure the new design system would map to reusable Rails partials and CSS classes, making it practical to implement alongside the backend upgrade.
Rather than a big-bang launch that would risk breaking the site during the Rails upgrade, I designed a phased rollout starting with low-risk pages (about, FAQs, static content) and progressively moving to higher-traffic pages. Since vendors managed their own profiles and would be directly affected, I set up proactive in-app notifications with preview screenshots to reduce surprise and support load.
Solution
The redesign launched in phases over three months. The visual refresh introduced a lighter, more modern aesthetic with increased whitespace, refined typography, and a more sophisticated color palette that felt aspirational yet accessible. It matched the quality of weddings couples were planning without feeling intimidating or exclusive.
Implementing the component library with reusable Rails partials meant developers could build new features faster with consistent styling. What previously took days to style now took hours. Future updates to the design system propagated automatically across the entire site. Updating button styling once changed every button everywhere.
Vendor profile improvements simplified the management experience. I removed redundant fields that vendors rarely filled out and made key information like pricing, availability, and portfolio more prominent and easier to update. Post-launch, support tickets about "how do I update my profile" dropped significantly as the new interface made common tasks obvious.
Impacts
3x Faster Page Loads
Performance optimizations cut load times by 3x. Pages per session increased as the experience felt snappier and more responsive.
Vendor Satisfaction
Vendors praised the simpler profile management experience. Support tickets about "how do I update my profile" dropped significantly after the redesign.
Development Velocity
The component library accelerated feature development. What previously took days to style now took hours, and visual consistency improved across the board.
Mobile Experience
Mobile traffic increased as performance improvements made the site actually usable on slower connections and older devices.
Reflections
The upfront investment in documentation and component libraries paid dividends immediately, and continued to for years after.
The trickiest part was coordinating with engineering during their database refactoring. We had to frequently adjust timelines as backend complexity revealed itself. Close communication and flexibility were essential.
If I could do it again, I'd involve vendors earlier in the process. We did testing internally but could have benefited from vendor beta testing before the full rollout. Their feedback would have caught a few profile management edge cases sooner.