Henry Joel
• 35% time on product pages
How I validated new products with AI, redesigned PDP-first, and improved retention for a founder-led men’s grooming DTC brand
Context
Henry Joel — men’s grooming brand built around a well-known stylist and his salon clientele. The store originally ran on a standard Shopify template with limited differentiation and weak retention mechanics.
Problem
No fast way to validate new product ideas before production, PDPs weren’t designed for paid traffic and first-time visitors, Brand story wasn’t clearly communicated online, Retention and repeat purchases were underperforming, Video content existed but wasn’t integrated into the conversion flow
What I owned
As a Senior Product Lead, I led end-to-end product and growth design:
– product and line expansion strategy
– PDP-first UX architecture
– AI-assisted product ideation and validation
– brand positioning for men’s grooming
– conversion, retention, and subscription flows
– integration of video into commerce experience
PDP conversion rate
bounce rate
time on product pages
Key decisions
– Used AI tools to generate and prototype new product concepts to test profitability before committing to production
– Started design from the PDP, assuming most users would land directly there
– Built a sequential, conversion-focused PDP with clear narrative and trust-building blocks
– Integrated video content directly into PDP flow to increase engagement and reduce uncertainty
– Grounded brand tone and styling in real feedback from existing salon clients
– Reworked subscription and repeat-purchase logic to support long-term retention
Outcome
+22% PDP conversion rate
+18% bounce rate
+35% time on product pages
+19% increase in returning customers
+27% growth in subscription opt-ins
