Jun 23 - Jun 25
DM is Europe’s largest drugstore, and they wanted to transform their digital presence into a true growth engine, so I focused on designing onboarding, retention, and referral experiences that turned strong brand love into measurable outcomes, ultimately driving the app to rank among Germany’s top 5 shopping apps.
Full breakdown of the case study available on request
Jun 23 - Jun 25
DM is Europe’s largest drugstore, and they wanted to transform their digital presence into a true growth engine, so I focused on designing onboarding, retention, and referral experiences.
Overview
DM-drogerie markt, one of Europe’s largest drugstore chains, set out to strengthen its digital presence and compete in an increasingly omnichannel retail market. While in-store performance was strong, the digital platform was underperforming on key growth metrics such as user activation, repeat purchase, and cross-channel engagement.
Goal
Our goal was to transform dm’s app and digital experience into a growth engine by: increasing first-time purchase activation, improving repeat purchase frequency, driving omnichannel retention with features bridging online and in-store journeys, and exploring subscription and referral strategies to expand user acquisition.
My Role
As Lead Product Designer, I guided the UX/UI redesign and strategy, aligning closely with engineers, 3D artists, and AI prompt engineers. My focus was on simplifying decision-making, reducing errors, and ensuring the system was both fast and intuitive across devices.
My Process
I led workshops and discovery sessions with the marketing team to uncover pain points in the old configurator, which was slow, cluttered, and prone to errors. From there, I collaborated with AI engineers and 3D specialists to rebuild flows, refine interaction logic, and introduce a modular design system that supported flexibility and speed. Through iterative usability testing, we ensured the tool removed unnecessary steps and allowed the team to focus on creating visuals seamlessly.
Final Outcome
The redesigned configurator became a streamlined internal tool that guides users step by step, confirms selections visually, and dynamically renders vehicles in real time. It turned what was once a frustrating process into a smooth and reliable experience.
Impact
Post-launch testing showed dramatic improvements, such as 30% faster task completion, 12% fewer errors, +22% in user satisfaction, faster, higher-quality CGI outputs for campaigns, and positive adoption across Smart’s marketing teams and internal showrooms in Germany
Overview
DM-drogerie markt, one of Europe’s largest drugstore chains, set out to strengthen its digital presence and compete in an increasingly omnichannel retail market. While in-store performance was strong, the digital platform was underperforming on key growth metrics such as user activation, repeat purchase, and cross-channel engagement.
Goal
Our goal was to transform dm’s app and digital experience into a growth engine by: increasing first-time purchase activation, improving repeat purchase frequency, driving omnichannel retention with features bridging online and in-store journeys, and exploring subscription and referral strategies to expand user acquisition.
My Role
As Lead Product Designer, I guided the UX/UI redesign and strategy, aligning closely with engineers, 3D artists, and AI prompt engineers. My focus was on simplifying decision-making, reducing errors, and ensuring the system was both fast and intuitive across devices.
My Process
I led workshops and discovery sessions with the marketing team to uncover pain points in the old configurator, which was slow, cluttered, and prone to errors. From there, I collaborated with AI engineers and 3D specialists to rebuild flows, refine interaction logic, and introduce a modular design system that supported flexibility and speed. Through iterative usability testing, we ensured the tool removed unnecessary steps and allowed the team to focus on creating visuals seamlessly.
Final Outcome
The redesigned configurator became a streamlined internal tool that guides users step by step, confirms selections visually, and dynamically renders vehicles in real time. It turned what was once a frustrating process into a smooth and reliable experience.
Impact
Post-launch testing showed dramatic improvements, such as 30% faster task completion, 12% fewer errors, +22% in user satisfaction, faster, higher-quality CGI outputs for campaigns, and positive adoption across Smart’s marketing teams and internal showrooms in Germany
Activation
To increase activation and first-purchase conversion, we created a personalized onboarding process that asks users to choose their interests: this allows DM to customize coupons, product recommendations, and live shopping events. This feature has been rolled out in production.
Activation → Acquisition
We designed a referral program that encourages the growth of word-of-mouth advertising giving both the inviter and the invitee a €5 voucher. The dm app makes it simple for users to track referral progress, send out invites, and redeem rewards. This feature has been rolled out in production.
Activation → Acquisition → Retention
We created dmLIVE, a serie of interactive product streams that blend inspiration, special deals, and direct purchase, to increase retention. We kept users interested and coming back by fusing shopping with entertainment. This feature has been rolled out in production.
Activation → Retention → Acquisition → Monetization
We introduced flexible shopping models to increase monetization: cart synchronization made cross-channel purchases easy. This concept was developed and validated in pilot with limited user groups.
Subscriptions increased customer loyalty and produced steady recurring income.
This concept was developed and validated in pilot testing with limited user groups.
Copyright © 2025
Copyright © 2025
MattiaSorrentino
Copyright © 2025