Turning an In-Store Experience into a Digital Shoe-Finding Journey
My Role Lead Designer • UX/UI Design • Product Strategy • Brand Identity
Project Breakdown:
Overview
Another Chance to Do Something I Had Never Done Before
UX/UI DESIGN
DIGITAL PRODUCT DESIGN
EXPERIENCE STRATEGY
BRAND IDENTITY
Road Runner Sports had something really special in its stores. Associates actually spent time with customers. They asked questions. Watched how they moved. Learned how they ran. Then helped them find the right shoe.
The goal was to bring that same level of care online.
After Kelly’s Running Warehouse, I started getting pulled into bigger projects. FitFocus was one of them. I partnered with the Senior Product Developer to completely rethink the existing ShoeDog experience from the ground up. The strategy. The experience. Even the name.
And I was excited. This wasn’t another eCommerce redesign. It was an entirely different kind of problem to solve.
Another project I had never done before? Sure, why not. I was starting to realize those were usually my favorite ones.
The Challenge
Finding the right running shoe can get complicated.
In a store, you have someone there to help. They can ask follow-up questions. Explain things that don’t make sense. Change direction based on your answers. Basically, all the little things a good conversation does naturally.
A website doesn’t get that luxury.
We had to figure out which questions actually mattered. What could go away. How one answer should lead into the next. And how to make the whole thing feel helpful without making someone feel like they were filling out a ridiculously long questionnaire.
Basically, we were trying to turn a really good conversation into a digital experience.
Defining the Experience
Figuring Out What We Actually Needed to Ask
The in-store experience worked because associates knew what to ask. So that became our starting point.
We mapped out the questions that could actually help narrow down the right shoe. Some were obvious. Shoe size. Width. What you’re using them for. Others went deeper. Arch type. Cushion. Flexibility. Pain points. Goals.
But we also knew we couldn’t ask everything. Nobody wants to fill out a 47-question survey just to buy running shoes.
The goal was to find the sweet spot. Ask enough to make the recommendation feel personal. Not so much that finding a shoe starts to feel like homework.
The Game Plan
We Had the Vision. Now We Needed a Plan.
We knew where we wanted FitFocus to go. But trying to rebuild the entire experience at once wasn’t realistic. So we broke it into phases. First, make the experience easier to use. Especially on mobile. Then build toward the bigger vision: a fully responsive experience that could take someone from a few questions to the right shoe. This gave us something we could actually build toward. One step at a time.
Phase 1: Simplify the Experience
The existing experience wasn’t designed with mobile in mind. That had to change first. I reworked the flow for smaller screens. Fewer distractions. Simpler interactions. One question at a time. The goal was pretty straightforward: make eight steps feel quick, not exhausting. The entire experience could be completed in under three minutes.
Phase 2: Deliver the Recommendation
The next phase expanded FitFocus into a fully responsive experience. Same questions. Same logic. But now everything worked together across desktop and mobile. And most importantly, there was a payoff. Answer a few questions. Get a shoe recommendation that actually feels like it was picked for you.
Building the Experience
Starting With the Flow, Not the Finish
Before worrying about colors, imagery, or making anything pretty, I needed to make sure the experience actually worked. I started with mobile wireframes and mapped out the entire flow. One question at a time. One decision leading naturally into the next. Nothing fancy yet. Just figuring out the clearest path from “Let’s get started” to “Here are your shoes.”
The Transformation
A Better First Step
ShoeDog threw a lot at you right away. Branding. Progress indicators. Instructions. Even a tiny little form before you really knew what was happening. FitFocus needed a cleaner start. I stripped the experience back and focused on one thing: get someone into the flow without making them think too hard about it. A stronger brand moment. A simple first question. And one clear way forward.
Before
After
Turning Eight Steps Into One Conversation
This is probably the most important before/after on the page. ShoeDog treated the process like a form. Multiple questions appeared at once. You answered them, moved forward, and repeated. I wanted FitFocus to feel more like the associate experience we were trying to recreate. So I turned the entire journey into one continuous flow. One question at a time. Your answers stayed visible. You could go back and make a change. And you always knew where you were.
Before
After
Making the Recommendation Feel Worth It
After answering all those questions, the old experience gave you… one shoe. That felt like a pretty underwhelming finish. FitFocus made the recommendation feel like an actual payoff. We led with the strongest match, explained why it was right for you, and gave you additional options to explore. Then we took it one step further with complementary products based on the same goals. The result wasn’t just a shoe. It was a more complete path forward.
Before
After
A Strong Idea That Never Made It Across the Finish Line
FitFocus was designed to bring one of Road Runner Sports’ strongest in-store experiences online.
We had the strategy. The flow. The new identity. And a completely reimagined experience ready to go.
Then priorities shifted. FitFocus never made its live debut. Resources shifted before the project could move into full development. It happens.
But I still consider the project a win. We took an outdated experience and completely rethought it. Made it simpler. Smarter. Mobile-first. We created a clearer path from “I need running shoes” to “these are the shoes for me.” It may not have crossed the finish line, but it absolutely moved the thinking forward.
Would I have loved to see people actually use it? Obviously. I designed the whole damn thing.
Lesson Learned
Sometimes the Best Insight Comes From Living the Experience
Not going to lie, one of the best perks of working at Road Runner Sports was the 50% employee discount. And oh yes, my shoe closet definitely benefited.
But even with everything I learned about running shoes while working there, I still used the in-store fitting experience. A lot. I trusted the associates. They asked questions I wouldn’t have thought to ask myself. And they helped me find shoes I genuinely loved and continued wearing for years.
So when FitFocus came along, I already knew what made the in-store experience special.
I had experienced it myself.
That gave me a different perspective on the project. I wasn’t trying to digitize a questionnaire. I was trying to recreate that feeling of having someone listen, understand what you need, and point you toward the right shoe.
Of course, turning an actual human conversation into a digital experience was the hard part. But that was also what made the project so interesting.
My Research = Buying More Shoes