Case 02 · PartnerChosen · anonymised
Creator videos on the product page.
I built the carousel the brief asked for, and beside it a better version, on brand. The client chose mine.
- Blind pick
- 4 of 6 won
- Video before a tap
- None
- Layout shift
- None added
- Code
- In their theme
- Chosen
- Version D
The case, step by step
The version asked for, and a better one.
A front panel of three modules: me, two copies of the product page side by side, and the client, joined by patch cables. The client sends a brief: a carousel of five vertical videos, like its sister site. On the first copy, version A is built as asked: tiles under the related products, and a click opens a full-page player. On the second, my version D: round bubbles under the product, and only a tap opens the feed, with the creator and a product to shop. One of its checks fails, the player not closing, then passes once fixed. In a blind pick of six pairs, four go to my version, two are too close to call, none is lost. I press my V key, the previews reach the client, and the client picks D.
The ask
A brand received creator videos with broadcast rights and wanted them on the product page, as a test on its best seller. The brief was short: a carousel like the one on its sister site, five videos visible, a click opening a full-page player, shown only when the product has videos. Without it, the test would have turned into advice on which app to use.
The real need was creator content that helps sell, not a copy of the sister store. An app would have bound the page to its limits, and cost it speed.
What I brought
Both versions run on the same data: creator videos and photos as entries the merchant fills in the admin, each with its creator, its products and a rights expiry date. Both are code in the client’s own theme, with no app.
- Version A, as asked: the carousel under the related products. A click opens a full-page player with progress bars, the creator and the products.
- Version D, mine, from how people already watch creators on their phones: round story bubbles under the product, a ring on the ones not yet seen. Nothing moves or loads until a tap, then a vertical feed with progress bars, the creator, the description and the products to shop.
On a desktop, D is the same experience in a modal. A tap pauses, a double tap shows a heart, and share copies a link that opens on that exact video.
How it was built and proved
Every version was built in isolation on its own unpublished copy of the live theme, so they could be compared without touching each other or the store. Mine went through a design process: an extraction of the theme’s own style, three variants, a blind pick, passes against a design rubric, and an exam.
The checks held before I looked:
- No layout shift added, and no video loaded until a tap.
- Reduced motion respected, tap targets sized for a phone, no sideways scroll at 360 px, no new theme-check offence.
- Testing found that the theme’s own Escape handler broke the player’s close. That was fixed in the block and checked again.
Then, blind: my version against one built from the same spec without the process, in six scenes at phone and desktop width. Mine won four, two were too close to call, none was lost, on finish: the scrims, the cards, the balance.
What the client chose
Version D, since the real need was creator content, not a copy of the sister store. A product block shows the story bubbles under the product, and the feed plays the creators’ videos and photos with their products. It appears only on products that have creator content.
Bring me your next change.
My first reply is questions, not a quote.