IMVU Next
IMVU, a pioneer in the virtual social space, was at a crossroads. While its platform had a devoted user base, it needed to evolve to stay relevant in an increasingly mobile and modern digital landscape. IMVU Next was a multi-year initiative aimed at reimagining the platform across messaging, e-commerce, and accessibility, making it more intuitive, scalable, and future-proof. As a lead designer, I helped craft a seamless experience across multiple touchpoints, ensuring that each update aligned with the company’s vision for the next generation of IMVU.
Client
IMVU
Deliverables
User research Wireframes Prototypes Design specs
Year
2014 - 2017
Role
Lead Product Designer
TL:DR;
As a lead product designer, I helped craft a seamless, scalable, and engaging experience across multiple areas, including:
Shop 2.0 – Redesigning the virtual e-commerce experience for better discoverability and usability.
Responsive Web – Ensuring IMVU worked seamlessly across all devices.
Messaging – Creating a modern, responsive chat system.
Platform-wide UI/UX Modernization – Aligning aesthetics and interactions with current design standards.
Research & Strategy: Understanding the Users & Problems
To drive IMVU’s transformation, we conducted user research, competitive analysis, and UX audits. Key findings included:
Navigation & UI inconsistency – The desktop and mobile experiences were vastly different, frustrating users.
Shop friction – Users struggled to discover and purchase items efficiently.
Messaging fragmentation – Conversations weren’t seamlessly synced across devices, leading to user drop-off.
These insights shaped the IMVU Next roadmap, ensuring we tackled the most impactful UX challenges.
Major UX Initiatives & Solutions
Each phase of IMVU Next focused on solving critical usability and engagement issues.
Responsive Web: Making IMVU Truly Cross-Platform
📌 Problem: IMVU was desktop-first, making it completely unavailable on mobile. Users couldn't access the two main activities—chat and shop—on mobile devices.
📌 Solution: Built a responsive design system that:
Established adaptive UI components for different screen sizes.
Optimized navigation & interactions for both mouse & touch.
Improved performance to reduce load times across devices.
Provided a foundation for the IMVU mobile app, ensuring a scalable approach.
📌 Impact:
✔ IMVU became accessible on mobile for the first time, expanding its user reach.
✔ Set the groundwork for IMVU's dedicated mobile app, enabling future growth.
✔ More seamless transitions between desktop & mobile, improving retention.
Shop 2.0: Modernizing Virtual E-Commerce
📌 Problem: The shop's outdated taxonomy and navigation made item discovery frustrating.
📌 Solution: Redesigned the shop with:
Better filtering & search UX for faster item discovery.
A more structured taxonomy for intuitive browsing.
Personalized recommendations based on user behavior.
📌 Impact:
✔ Improved conversion rates and session duration.
✔ Users could find and buy items more efficiently.
Results & Impact
Over the course of five years after this overhaul, IMVU successfully reversed the declining business and achieved over 15% year-over-year growth. This transformation reinforced the importance of user experience improvements in driving long-term business success.
📈 IMVU became fully accessible on mobile, unlocking new user engagement.
📉 Improved discoverability and shopping experience, reducing friction.
🔄 More seamless cross-platform messaging, improving chat retention.
IMVU Next successfully modernized the platform, setting a foundation for future scalability and growth.
Lessons Learned
🚀 Cross-platform UX requires deep systems thinking – Designing for mobile, web, and desktop simultaneously requires flexible frameworks.
📊 User research is key to prioritization – Understanding pain points and behaviors shaped our strategy.
🔄 Iterative design is essential for large-scale redesigns – Testing and continuous iteration were critical for success.
