Overview
Goals:The goal of the HGTV My Design project was to refresh the existing visual design and elevate the overall look and feel of the app before launch. The product was already in late development, so the focus was on modernizing the interface, simplifying layouts, and achieving a cleaner, more polished aesthetic that reflected the HGTV brand.
I was tasked with creating high-fidelity mockups of key screens to raise the visual quality bar to a consumer-ready level suitable for release on the App Store. The objective was to ensure the app not only functioned smoothly but also looked contemporary, cohesive, and visually appealing to users at launch.
Challenges: Working independently as a contractor, I was given one month to revamp the existing design system for the HGTV My Design app. The goal was to refresh the visual direction—making it cleaner, more modern, and consumer-ready—while clearly communicating how each component should both look and function.
With the app already near launch, I focused on updating key screens and UI patterns to align with HGTV’s brand quality and improve usability, ensuring the experience met App Store–ready standards within a tight delivery window.
Solutions: Working independently as a contractor, I had one month to revamp the existing design system for the HGTV My Design app. The goal was to modernize the interface and clearly define how each element should look, feel, and functionfor a polished, launch-ready experience.
I created a revised design system and an optimizable UI component library that improved readability, contrast, and visual interest across both light and dark themes. These updates helped the overall look and feel pop visually while aligning with HGTV’s brand standards and elevating the product to consumer-level quality.
Outcomes: The refreshed design system and UI component library contributed to the successful launch of HGTV My Design, which was released overseas in June 2021. The app achieved around 50,000 total installs with steady user engagement in its supported regions, though it remained limited to select international markets and was not broadly available in the U.S.
Despite company-wide restructuring and layoffs that followed, the project delivered on its core goal—elevating the app’s visual polish and usability to meet consumer-level quality standards. The updated look, improved contrast, and optimized light and dark themes helped align the product more closely with HGTV’s brand identity and prepared it for its global release.
