Design Into Space:
Product Reinvention
I spearheaded a visual-first overhaul of seasonal product development, driving conversations with the cross-functional teams and vendors, cutting sample waste by 85% and driving faster, more aligned assortment decisions across teams.
Category
Easter/Spring
Client
Michaels
Year
2022
My Role
Product Development & Strategy Lead
The Challenge
The prior seasonal development process was inefficient and wasteful | Hundreds of unnecessary samples were requested across multiple vendors | No early alignment with merchants led to 5× more SKUs sampled than needed | Time was lost unpacking, sorting, revising, and reworking products | Designers and merchants lacked a shared early vision
The Goal
Streamline the process, improve collaboration, and reduce wasted time, effort, and money by introducing “designing into the space” — a new, visual-first approach to assortment planning.
My Solution
Identified the problem and led the strategic rework of the sampling process
Created a cross-functional workflow between Design, Product Management, and Merchants
Introduced high-level schematics to visualize assortments early
Led and presented the first-ever Merchant Kickoff Meeting for alignment
Built a system to sample targeting best-selling product needs, improving focus and quality
The Results
Fewer revision rounds and clearer merchant buy-in
85% reduction in unnecessary samples
Saved weeks of labor and sample review time
Stronger assortments and a more efficient path to final buys
Positive adoption across teams and leadership
"Kathleen is a highly collaborative & innovative product development leader that always goes above and beyond! Kathleen has a strong ability to look at a project from every angle & to bring out strengths in her partners while still delivering a strategic & innovative product line. She is not only a pleasure to work with for all of her partners, she also improves the process along the way!"
- Andrea Manning, Senior Creative Director: Trend & Design