BACKGROUND
Vault Shopping App
Jazwares, a global toy leader with top IPs like Squishmallows, Pokémon, and Star Wars, operates Jazwares Vault, a dedicated collector-focused DTC destination for limited releases, exclusives, and premium drops. As collector behavior evolved and demand for time-sensitive releases increased, leadership identified an opportunity to extend Vault beyond the browser with a dedicated mobile app, one designed to support real-time engagement, deepen collector loyalty, and eliminate missed moments around drops, restocks, and preorders.
Role
UX/UI Designer
Duration
4 weeks (Ongoing)
Team
Product Manager, UX Designer, Brand Manager, Development Vendor
Platform
iOS & Android
The wins
Leadership Endorsed the Vault as a Core DTC Experience
The collector-first Vault experience was approved by leadership as a strategic extension of Jazwares’ DTC ecosystem, validating the product vision and long-term direction.
The Full Product Experience Was Approved for Build
The end-to-end experience, from insights to high-fidelity flows, was delivered and approved for development, and is currently being built by an external engineering partner.
The Vault App Sparked a Broader App Ecosystem Vision
Internal alignment led leadership to explore expanding the mobile app ecosystem across additional brands, including Squishmallows, positioning Vault as a foundation for future brand-specific experiences.
The DTC website failed to build an ongoing relationship with its customers, leading to missed opportunities.
My Role
I was brought onto the Vault shopping app after leadership decided to pivot away from an external app agency whose direction no longer aligned with Jazwares’ vision for the product. Once the experience was approved, we would move forward with selecting an external development partner.
THE ASK
How might we design a collector-first mobile experience that delivers real-time access to drops, restocks, and exclusives, without losing trust, context, or momentum between visits?
UNDERSTANDING OUR USERS
Google Analytics Insights
I reviewed GA4 analytics to understand how users actually interacted with the DTC site over time, focusing on repeat visits, timing between sessions, and behavior during drops. The goal was to uncover where intent was lost after a session ended.
83% visited only once within a 30-day period
Most users treated the DTC site as a single-purpose destination, arriving to browse or buy, then leaving without returning.
Average return time: 21+ days
When users did return, it was typically weeks later and driven by external triggers such as social posts or email campaigns.
Drops saw 3–4× increases then drop-offs
Traffic surged during product drops, but quickly returned to baseline levels. Engagement was drop-based.
72% of traffic came from mobile
While most users accessed the site on mobile devices, mobile sessions were shorter and less likely to result in repeat visits.
Users Were Upset With Missing The Moment
Across social channels and community comments, a consistent theme emerged: users were frustrated by missing drops, restocks, and pre-orders. The issue wasn’t lack of interest, but lack of timely awareness, many users discovered products only after they were already sold out.
Competitor Analysis
I analyzed existing collector and marketplace experiences to understand how other platforms support discovery, engagement, and purchase intent. This analysis helped clarify where friction existed, where collectors were underserved, and where Vault could differentiate by combining low-friction access, meaningful collector insight, and a brand-driven experience built around fandom rather than pure transaction.
Hasbro Pulse
The biggest opportunity was reducing early drop-off by shortening onboarding and allowing collectors to browse and engage as a guest before committing to an account.
While it lets users track ownership, there’s a major gap in providing collector insights like market trends, rarity context, or guidance on why a piece matters.
Amazon lacks any collector-focused brand experience, surfacing excessive and irrelevant products without curation, community context, or a sense of fandom.
Learning from Squishmallows Collectors
Although Squishmallows would not live within the Vault app, O studied how Squishmallows collectors navigate drops, restocks, and availability as a proxy for high-intent collecting behavior. This helped me design Vault around real collector needs rather than casual shopping patterns.
Users consistently missed drops and restocks because the website had no way to proactively notify them at the moment intent was highest.
Collectors lacked a single place to evaluate an item’s value and demand, forcing them to leave the site to seek validation before deciding to buy.
Users had no way to track, organize, or revisit their collection, causing context and intent to reset every time they returned to the site.
Designing for the Collector Who Doesn’t Want to miss a Drop
I defined a single collector persona after research showed that Vault usage is driven almost entirely by high-intent, time-sensitive collectors. Analytics, community feedback, and drop behavior all pointed to the same user: someone who actively tracks releases, expects precision, and disengages quickly when moments are missed.
DESIGNING THE EXPERIENCE
KEY SOLUTION #1
Real-time, product-level notifications that take users directly from intent to checkout, eliminating missed moments.
Insight: Users consistently missed drops and restocks because the website had no way to proactively notify them at the moment intent was highest.
KEY SOLUTION #2
Integrated product insights, market trends, and collector commentary in one place, so collectors can make confident decisions without leaving the app.
Insight: Collectors lacked a single place to evaluate an item’s value and demand, forcing them to leave the site to seek validation before deciding to buy.
KEY SOLUTION #3
A collection feature that saves products, organizes them by brand and series, and preserves context across visits, so engagement continues instead of resetting.
Insight: Users had no persistent way to track, organize, or revisit their collection, causing context and intent to reset every time they returned to the site.
Built with Jazwares Playkit
To ensure visual consistency and accelerate delivery, I leveraged Jazwares’ internal design system, which I previously helped build and maintain. Using established components, typography, spacing, and interaction patterns allowed the experience to feel immediately familiar and on-brand while dramatically reducing design time compared to starting from scratch. This approach enabled me to focus more deeply on solving user problems and refining key moments in the experience rather than rebuilding foundational UI patterns.
Reflection
Designing the Vault app was an incredibly rewarding experience and a meaningful moment in my career. Being trusted by leadership to take over the product direction after an external agency engagement was both validating and motivating. Getting the opportunity to attend San Diego Comic-Con and speak directly with collectors gave me firsthand insight into their passion, urgency, and expectations, which deeply shaped the product.
Next Steps
Once the Vault app is fully developed and launched, the plan is to transition ongoing improvements to our internal engineering team so the product can continue to evolve based on real collector behavior and feedback. If successful, this experience will serve as a blueprint for future shopping apps across Squishmallows and other Jazwares brands, extending the collector-first model to additional toy and fandom communities.
