Macy’s E-Commerce
Virtual AR Try-On Optimization

  • The objective of this thesis project was to enhance Macy’s online shopping experience by introducing and optimizing an AR-driven virtual try-on system for the jewelry category.

  • The goal was to create a more immersive, confident, and user-friendly shopping experience that improves engagement and purchase decisions.

The objective was to improve:

UI Design and Prototyping

Duration: 6 Month

Graduate Retail UX Research Initiative
New York Institute of Technology - Master’s Thesis Project
Fall 2024

My Role : UX/UI Designer & Research Lead

Tools & Process: Figma, Miro, SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, Dovetail.ai, Google Sheets, Visily.ai, Attention Insight.

Process & Responsibilities:
UX/UI Design, Advance Research / Navigation / Unity for AR / End-to-end research / LO-FI, HI-FI Wireframing/ Prototyping / User Testing / Competitive Analysis / Data Analysis / Performance Evaluation / Project Management

A Quick Peek Into the Solution

We launched a functional MVP of the project, with:

  • A deep understanding of the problem around lack of AR awareness and usability

  • Identified gaps in navigation, visibility, and product interaction

  • Designed and tested an AR-based jewelry try-on experience

  • Created low and high fidelity prototypes

  • Validated the solution through user testing and data analysis

What was the gap?

  • The key gap identified was:

    • No AR feature for jewelry try-on

    • Low awareness and visibility of existing AR features

    • Poor navigation and discoverability

    • Non-intuitive AR icons and flows

    • Lack of product details within AR interface

    As highlighted in your thesis, users were unable to visualize products in real-world context, leading to hesitation and abandoned purchases

Diagram showing the process of augmented reality virtual try-on for jewelry. It includes three sections: Input, Throughput, and Output. Input lists increasing online purchases, website time, user satisfaction, and lower return rates. Throughput states it involves static videos and no AR try-on. Output highlights high return rates, customer inconvenience, and limited engagement. A gap statement explains the issue of customers unable to try jewelry virtually and proposes implementing AR for better navigation, satisfaction, and sales.
Gray line with curved and downward arrows
Flowchart illustrating five reasons why users don't interact with jewelry pages, including technical issues, time limitations, remote shopping concerns, style preferences, and purchasing without seeing jewelry physically. It also shows the causes, user segments, and a diagram of key findings, highlighting decreases in return rates, increased online jewelry searches, customer satisfaction scores, and time spent on the website.

How will the solution benefit Macy’s?

Enhancing the AR experience can:

  • Increase user engagement and time spent

  • Improve purchase confidence

  • Reduce return rates

  • Boost conversion rates and sales

  • Strengthen Macy’s competitive position in e-commerce

Your research also showed that AR can significantly improve decision-making and satisfaction, making it a strong business opportunity.

A woman writing on a wall covered with research papers, charts, and sticky notes.

Research and Analysis

  • Literature Review

    Understood & Read Research paper on AR & its Pros/Cons.

  • A presentation slide titled 'Analyzing Impact on Sales & Customer Satisfaction for other industries and Jewelry Brands of AR.' The slide contains two bar charts comparing data before and after AR feature implementation for various jewelry companies including Kay Jewelers, Zales, Blue Nile, Bulgari, Macy's (Proposed), Wary Parker, Sephora, and IKEA. The charts show impact on sales and customer satisfaction, with notable increases after AR adoption.

    Competitive analysis

    By synthesizing cross-industry research and market data, we found that AR creates high-value retail confidence in other industry.

  • A presentation slide titled 'Statistical Highlights' about augmented reality (AR) customer engagement. It includes a pie chart showing key AR statistics across different studies, with segments labeled 'Increased Conversion Rates,' 'Increase in Sales for Shopify,' 'US Population Using AR by 2021,' 'Global AR Spending,' and 'Purchase Intent Boost.' The slide also lists percentages and statistics related to AR in a bulleted list on the left side.

    Impact of AR in Shopping

Macy's Partnership with AR Companies

Red storefront window with a Snapchat QR code for scanning, surrounded by red decorations and reflections of people and buildings outside.

AR Advertisements 

  • Macy's partnered with Verizon Media to create AR ads

A woman using an augmented reality feature to try on a Disney princess dress at Macy's store in Herald Square, New York City, with shelves of toys and merchandise in the background.

AR mirror Disney Princess Try on.

  • Macy's partnered with Zero10 to create an AR mirror experience  

A furniture showroom display with a large dark gray wall featuring the words "see your SPACE IRL (in real life)" and a neon outline of a bed and nightstand. In front, there's a white, tufted, curved sofa facing a TV monitor. To the left are white chairs and a table, and to the right are white chairs with wooden legs. The wall also has a list of four steps for virtual room visualization, including sizing, decorating, seeing how it looks, and sharing.

AR VR Furniture View 

  • Macy's partnered with 3D Cloud to develop AR and VR furniture

Image of a woman with half of her face showing makeup options for lipstick in an app, with a selection of red lipstick shades and an 'Add to Bag' button.

AR Cosmetic TRY ON

  • Macy's partnered with Modiface

Understanding Existing Feature

Sequence of four images demonstrating the use of Macy's furniture AR app to view a sofa. The first image shows the sofa and an option to view in 3D. The second shows the app's interface with an indicator to place the virtual sofa. The third provides instructions for moving or scaling the sofa using two fingers, with a screenshot tool option. The fourth displays a 3D view of the sofa in a room with a color palette below.
A collage of five screenshots showing an online beauty product shopping experience on Macy's website. The first screenshot displays a makeup product page for an eye look with options for colors and sizes. The second shows a webcam open for taking a photo or choosing a picture for virtual try-on. The third depicts a woman using a virtual try-on feature, and the fourth contains an image of a woman’s eye, likely for eye makeup testing. The fifth is a screenshot of a woman with dark hair and makeup in a mall or store setting.

 Navigation Hierarchy of macy's

  • Diagram showing steps to find Macy's homepage using Google, with options to search 'Macy's' or 'Macy's Virtual Makeup AR Try on,' and a red box indicating 'Hierarchical Relationship.'

    Navigation Flow

    When you search on Google, it shows two different sites.
    (Red Box Shows the Hierarchical Relationship )

  • Navigation Hierarchy of macy's Through Modules and Element


    Red Box=Hierarchical Relationship

    Green = Associative Relationship

    Yellow= Dependency Relationship

  • Flowchart illustrating types of relationships between Google search results, with hierarchy, association, and dependency relationships indicated by red, green, and yellow lines.

    Visual Relationship OF macy's Current flow

LOW fI & HI FI WI (Existing and Proposed feature)

  • Comparison of early and high fidelity designs for Macy's augmented reality jewelry navigation system, with labeled sketches and digital mockups.
  • Comparison of existing and proposed augmented reality (AR) try-on icons. The existing icon has a black circle with white text that says 'TRY IT ON NOW,' and a pink gradient background. The proposed icon has a black circle with white text that says 'Try it on now' and features a white AR scanning cube icon inside a frame. There are red and green boxes highlighting the existing and proposed icons, respectively, with descriptive labels.
  • Comparison of two augmented reality landing pages: one for beauty products by Macy's showing a woman with makeup, and one proposed for jewelry showing a woman with jewelry and a face scan feature.

User Testing & Research Methodology

To evaluate the effectiveness of the redesigned AR experience, I conducted scenario-based usability testing comparing Macy’s existing experience with the proposed AR solution.

Approach:

  • Observational, scenario-based usability testing

  • Mixed methods: qualitative + quantitative analysis

Two women are sitting at a table, working on a laptop in an office or classroom setting. They appear focused, and various papers and items are on the table.

Process:

  • Pre-test: Assessed user familiarity and comfort with AR

  • Task-based testing:

    • Find AR feature in jewelry category

    • Navigate Macy’s existing AR (beauty flow)

    • Use redesigned AR jewelry try-on

  • Post-test: Gathered feedback on usability, clarity, and experience

This ensured both behavioral insights + measurable validation

Final Impact

  • Increased user satisfaction and engagement

  • Improved purchase confidence

  • Reduced reliance on guesswork

  • Strong preference for AR-enabled shopping

Users described the redesigned experience as: “intuitive, engaging, and confidence-building”

Key Tasks Evaluated

  • Discoverability of AR features

  • Ease of navigation

  • Product understanding within AR

  • Confidence in purchase decisions

  • Overall user experience

Bar chart comparing user ratings for existing versus redesigned AR experiences, with user IDs on the x-axis and ratings on the y-axis, showing higher ratings for redesigned experiences

Final Reflection

This project reimagines Macy’s shopping experience by introducing AR as a core interaction layer rather than an add-on feature. By addressing gaps in visibility, navigation, and product visualization, the solution enables users to make more confident and informed purchase decisions.

The redesigned experience improved engagement, usability, and purchase confidence, while also supporting business goals like increased conversions and reduced returns.

Ultimately, this project highlights how AR can bridge the gap between digital and physical retail, creating a more immersive, intuitive, and future-ready shopping experience.

A woman with long dark hair sitting in front of a computer monitor displaying a webpage for an AR drawing app for beauty, with a brick wall visible through a window and a paper with text taped to the wall behind her.
A woman in business attire stands in front of a presentation screen displaying arrows, images, and text about Macy's AR partnership. She is gesturing with her right hand. There are tables, chairs, and objects such as flowers and a cellphone on the table in the foreground.

"Design is not just what it looks like. Design is how it works and how it makes you feel seen.