Helping Users Return
Confidently

Helping Users Return Confidently

Helping Users Return
Confidently

Platform

VS mobile app and
responsive web

Team

UX Designer (me), Product Manager, Engineering Lead, UX Copywriter

Where We Started

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

The project began as an effort to reduce escalating support costs from password resets and minimize fraudulent login attempts. But as we dug deeper, we uncovered broader user friction around login behavior.

This case study walks through how we redefined the problem, what we discovered, and the design decisions that followed.

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials.
The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

Before redesigning, we dug into the data to understand where users were struggling.

61%

Rate

76%

Drop-off Rate Post Error

2.3 min

Average Login Time

UX Framework

A clear structure we followed to turn user pain points into tested, user-first design solutions.

Empathized with Users
Conducted surveys, empathy mapping, and journey mapping to understand user pain points.

Defined Core Problems
Used affinity mapping and "How Might We" framing

to distill insights into action

Ideated Solutions
Sketched early concepts, user flows, and low-fidelity wireframes to explore design

Built & Tested Prototypes
Created high-fidelity mockups and validated them through usability testing to refine the final experience.

The Show Starts Now!

Before exploring solutions, we ran discovery with VS Loyalty Gold-tier users (Age group 25–45) to map their mental models and login behaviors on our existing login experience. Through empathy mapping and task-based interviews, we uncovered friction rooted in cognitive overload, low recall, and mismatched expectations.

What she Feels

What she Thinks

What she Says

What she Does

“Has that always been there? I never scroll down.”

“Can you explain this loyalty program to me?”

“Paying for shipping just kind of bothers me.”

Conflates the rewards program with the store credit card.

Isn't sure whether points are worth tracking at all.

Assumes free shipping is the main perk and isn't impressed by it.

Rarely scrolls to the bottom of the shopping bag.

Has been a member 5+ years without fully realizing it.

Waits until order review to think about points.

Mildly surprised when she does spot her balance.

Appreciative of the visual tracker, when she finds it.

Unbothered rather than frustrated the program isn't on her mind.

What she Feels

What she Thinks

What she Says

What she Does

“Has that always been there? I never scroll down.”

“Can you explain this loyalty program to me?”

“Paying for shipping just kind of bothers me.”

Conflates the rewards program with the store credit card.

Isn't sure whether points are worth tracking at all.

Assumes free shipping is the main perk and isn't impressed by it.

Rarely scrolls to the bottom of the shopping bag.

Has been a member 5+ years without fully realizing it.

Waits until order review to think about points.

Mildly surprised when she does spot her balance.

Appreciative of the visual tracker, when she finds it.

Unbothered rather than frustrated the program isn't on her mind.

What she Feels

What she Thinks

What she Says

What she Does

“Has that always been there? I never scroll down.”

“Can you explain this loyalty program to me?”

“Paying for shipping just kind of bothers me.”

Conflates the rewards program with the store credit card.

Isn't sure whether points are worth tracking at all.

Assumes free shipping is the main perk and isn't impressed by it.

Rarely scrolls to the bottom of the shopping bag.

Has been a member 5+ years without fully realizing it.

Waits until order review to think about points.

Mildly surprised when she does spot her balance.

Appreciative of the visual tracker, when she finds it.

Unbothered rather than frustrated the program isn't on her mind.

Qualitative Questions

Quantitative Questions

Research Insight

When did you last check your rewards balance?

Walk me through your shopping bag — tell me what you see.

What do you know about this loyalty program?

Qualitative Questions

Quantitative Questions

Research Insight

When did you last check your rewards balance?

Walk me through your shopping bag — tell me what you see.

What do you know about this loyalty program?

How Others Do It

We patterned top retail and beauty brands—both direct and indirect competitors—to understand what worked, what didn’t, and where Victoria’s Secret could lead.

Key Takeaways for Victoria’s Secret

These patterns directly influenced our recommendation to pivot away from a traditional password-first form.

Account Uncertainty
Help users orient themselves early in the flow without making assumptions.

Password Fatigue

Reduce reliance on memory and offer lower-effort authentication paths.

No Dead Ends
Design fail-safe scenarios that gently guide users forward—whether that’s retrying, resetting, or switching methods.

Experience Benchmarking
Align the flow with common mental models and frictionless patterns already familiar to users.

Design Concepts

From insights and audits, we proposed two core redesign concepts

Accounts

Redesign Login Experience

100%

Page 1

Assets

Layers

Assets

Layers

Rahul

Josh

Siddhi

Smith

You

Export

Effects

Stroke

100%

E5E5E5

Mixed

Fill

Click + to replace mixed content.

Background

Layer

Pass Through

100%

Constraints

Mixed

Group

208

Code

Prototype

Design

Option A: Password-first + optional OTP fallback

Keeps traditional form structure
Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Familiar Format

Leverages users' muscle memory with traditional email-password login structure.

Copy Address

Quick Build

Copy Address

Unclear Routing

Copy Address

Hidden Flexibility

Option B: Email-first (sniffer) flow + choose OTP or password

This layout begins with a single email input. Based on whether the email matches an existing account, the user is then guided to sign in using a password or OTP—or directed to create a new account.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Recognition First

Low Cognitive Load

Breaking the flow into smaller steps eased mental effort compared to A’s all-at-once form.

Copy Address

Flexible Choices

Copy Address

Extra Step

Making the Call

We ran a two-quarter A/B test using a controlled rollout. 50% of users continued on the existing login flow (control), while the other half experienced Option A or B.

We tracked core UX metrics: login success, time to complete, user confidence, and error rates.

Option A felt familiar—like an old login form users had seen before, tapping into Jakob’s Law. But when things went wrong, recovery was unclear—violating the principle of Error Prevention and increasing Cognitive Load.

Option B acted more like a smart concierge. It applied Recognition over Recall by checking account status upfront, and used Hick’s Law to simplify choices—offering just what the user needed, when they needed it. It reduced friction, restored user confidence, and gave them back a sense of control.
It proved more adaptable, confident, and user-centric making it the clear winner.

Option A felt familiar—like an old login form users had seen before, tapping into Jakob’s Law. But when things went wrong, recovery was unclear—violating the principle of Error Prevention and increasing Cognitive Load.

Option B acted more like a smart concierge. It applied Recognition over Recall by checking account status upfront, and used Hick’s Law to simplify choices—offering just what the user needed, when they needed it. It reduced friction, restored user confidence, and gave them back a sense of control.
It proved more adaptable, confident, and user-centric making it the clear winner.

Finally this is how

She Signs In

The Outcome: Real Impact at Scale

Once we rolled out the redesigned login experience to 100% of our user base, the shift was immediate.
What started as a UX problem -users forgetting credentials & abandoning login- turned into measurable business wins.

61%

84%

76%

32%

Drop-off Rate Post Error

2.3 min

1.2 min

Average Login Time

The Impact — What It Meant for the Business

More users logged in, fewer got stuck, and support costs dropped. OTP adoption soared, anonymous sessions declined, and the business saved over $1.1M in just one quarter.
A simple login change, a massive ripple effect.

65.7%

Preferred OTP

+23%

Signed-in Users

↓54%

Reset Password

What’s Next? And What We’d Do Better

While the redesigned flow delivered major wins, there’s always room to grow. A few edge cases still challenged users especially those on poor networks or with older devices and while OTP worked well, not everyone prefers email…

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Context-Aware

Tailor login requirements to user goals — quick sign-in for order tracking, secure entry for credit cards, and more.

Copy Address

Add Social Login

Copy Address

Enable SMS OTP

Thanks for reading

behance.net/harsh_chauhan

Helping Users ReturnConfidently

Helping Users Return Confidently

Helping Users Return Confidently

VS mobile app and responsive web

VS mobile app and responsive web

UX Designer (me), Product Manager, Engineering Lead, UX Copywriter

UX Designer (me), Product Manager, Engineering Lead, UX Copywriter

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

The project began as an effort to reduce escalating support costs from password resets and minimize fraudulent login attempts. But as we dug deeper, we uncovered broader user friction around login behavior.

This case study walks through how we redefined the problem, what we discovered, and the design decisions that followed.

Victoria’s Secret is a global fashion brand with millions of users, most of whom shop during key seasonal events.

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials. The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

Before redesigning, we dug into the data to understand where users were struggling.

A clear structure we followed to turn user pain points into tested, user-first design solutions.

A clear structure we followed to turn user pain points into tested, user-first design solutions.

We patterned top retail and beauty brands—both direct and indirect competitors—to understand what worked, what didn’t, and where Victoria’s Secret could lead.

These patterns directly influenced our recommendation to pivot away from a traditional password-first form.

These patterns directly influenced our recommendation to pivot away from a traditional password-first form.

From insights and audits, we proposed two core redesign concepts

Keeps traditional form structureIntroduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

This layout begins with a single email input. Based on whether the email matches an existing account, the user is then guided to sign in using a password or OTP—or directed to create a new account.

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

We ran a two-quarter A/B test using a controlled rollout. 50% of users continued on the existing login flow (control), while the other half experienced Option A or B.

We tracked core UX metrics: login success, time to complete, user confidence, and error rates.

Option A felt familiar—like an old login form users had seen before, tapping into Jakob’s Law. But when things went wrong, recovery was unclear—violating the principle of Error Prevention and increasing Cognitive Load.

Option A felt familiar—like an old login form users had seen before, tapping into Jakob’s Law. But when things went wrong, recovery was unclear—violating the principle of Error Prevention and increasing Cognitive Load.

Once we rolled out the redesigned login experience to 100% of our user base, the shift was immediate.What started as a UX problem -users forgetting credentials & abandoning login- turned into measurable business wins.

More users logged in, fewer got stuck, and support costs dropped. OTP adoption soared, anonymous sessions declined, and the business saved over $1.1M in just one quarter.A simple login change, a massive ripple effect.

More users logged in, fewer got stuck, and support costs dropped. OTP adoption soared, anonymous sessions declined, and the business saved over $1.1M in just one quarter.A simple login change, a massive ripple effect.

While the redesigned flow delivered major wins, there’s always room to grow. A few edge cases still challenged users especially those on poor networks or with older devices and while OTP worked well, not everyone prefers email…

Keeps traditional form structure Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Thanks for reading

Thanks for reading

Thanks for reading

Helping Users Return
Confidently

Helping Users Return
Confidently

VS mobile app and
responsive web

VS mobile app and
responsive web

An average user only sign in twice a year, often unsure of their credentials.
The result? Confusion, drop-offs, and costly support.

Keeps traditional form structure
Introduces "Use Verification Code" as an alternate method

Once we rolled out the redesigned login experience to 100% of our user base, the shift was immediate.
What started as a UX problem -users forgetting credentials & abandoning login- turned into measurable business wins.

More users logged in, fewer got stuck, and support costs dropped. OTP adoption soared, anonymous sessions declined, and the business saved over $1.1M in just one quarter.
A simple login change, a massive ripple effect.

More users logged in, fewer got stuck, and support costs dropped. OTP adoption soared, anonymous sessions declined, and the business saved over $1.1M in just one quarter.
A simple login change, a massive ripple effect.