Fashion Mingle
2025
Redesigning a community platform so its value is clear from the first scroll
As the sole UX/UI design intern, I redesigned the home, About Us, and Press Room pages so visitors immediately understand what Fashion Mingle offers and why to join.
Overview
Making a niche fashion community easier to understand
Fashion Mingle's website was functional, but it didn't clearly communicate its value or encourage people to join and subscribe. With the launch of its Career Hub, a central feature for job opportunities, collaborations, and professional growth, the platform needed a refreshed identity and experience for modern fashion professionals.
The goal
How might we transform Fashion Mingle from a service-based directory into a dynamic, subscription-driven community and career hub?
What changed
I redesigned the three most-visited pages: the homepage, About Us, and Press Room. I worked as the sole UX/UI design intern with marketing interns on the photography and with journalism and writing interns on the copy. Leadership responded well to the redesign.
01
Authentic first impression
Real community photography from Sydney luncheon replaced the generic stock hero image.
02
Clear primary action
"Join the Network" now leads, with "Explore Memberships" as the secondary option.
03
Findable About Us
Restructured navigation so About Us is no longer hidden behind a dropdown.
04
A reason to subscribe
"Join to See More" previews encourage registration to unlock career and event content.
Problem
Great features, unclear value
When visitors landed on the homepage, About Us, and Press Room pages, the feedback was consistent.
“It's evident that the site offers a lot of interesting features, but I didn't quite understand how it could be useful for me.”
User 1
Fashion Mingle user, on the original site
“Add more pictures to the front page to give more of a visual of how they [the user] will succeed using Fashion Mingle.”
User 2
Fashion Mingle user, on the original homepage
The opportunity was to help people understand the benefit right away.
Research
Finding where Fashion Mingle could stand out
Fashion is a niche industry with specific professional needs, so I ran a competitive analysis of other platforms serving fashion and creative professionals to find strengths, gaps, and opportunities.
Platform | Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fashion Mingle | Niche focus, events, directories | Small user base, UX gaps | Stronger community, local events | Larger platforms |
Massive reach, job tools | Not fashion-specific | Specialized features | Default professional platform | |
The Dots | Visual-first, creative-friendly | Mainly UK, limited real-time | Real-time, local networking | Superior UX, growing base |
Model Mayhem | Established, job-focused | Outdated, safety issues | Safer, modern alternative | Legacy community |
Massive fashion audience | No structured networking | Structured networking, safety | Dominates fashion visibility | |
Business of Fashion | Industry credibility | Paywall, less community-driven | Accessible, grassroots connections | Authority in the fashion world |
What I took from it
Differentiate on community. Real-time discussions, member activity, and visible engagement make the platform feel alive rather than like a static directory.
Leverage local. Events and location-based networking are something global platforms often lack.
Inspire action. Small, meaningful call to action (connect, message, join) help users build professional momentum.
Who I designed for
The people most likely to visit looking for opportunities are students, businesses, and fashion professionals. I created personas and a user journey map for these three segments.
Ideation
Exploring layouts, then deciding with judgment
I used AI as a creative partner to quickly generate alternative homepage layouts and content strategies, compare competitor patterns, and spot gaps in the existing design. I then applied my own UX judgment to filter and refine those ideas against Fashion Mingle's brand refresh goals. This directly shaped the authentic hero photography, a slideshow highlighting community events, and restricted content previews in the Career Hub.
Wireframes
Starting from the original site, I wireframed the homepage to explore ideas quickly. Version 1 added a Members Spotlight (to promote paid members, combined with the live feed) and an Upcoming Events strip featuring a carousel of 2 to 3 in-person and virtual events. Version 2 iterated on the spotlight with an infinite-scroll image slider.
Wireframe V1
Wireframe V2
First two homepage wireframe versions, exploring a members spotlight and an events feature.
Solution
Clarity, community, and conversion
Fashion Mingle works with one developer in a different region and timezone, so I designed within the existing WordPress template's features and typography. That meant the team wouldn't need extra time to learn how to update the site.
The final design makes the next step obvious, replaces the generic hero image and unclear calls to action with visuals that reflect the community, and makes content more concise and user-focused. It also brightens the color scheme to feel more inviting.
Color
I added the orange from Fashion Mingle's brand kit and Career Hub to the main buttons and titles for a fresher look. My color research suggested orange signals creativity and encourages social interaction. The old blue buttons also weren't accessible against the new hero photo, so I kept the brand blue for accents and links.
Typography
The original homepage had no typographic hierarchy. I kept the existing typeface and varied weights and colors across headings on all three pages. Users I spoke with said this helped them know where to look first and made the experience feel cohesive.
Designing around real content
Rather than designing around placeholder content, I worked with the team that created the real material. Marketing interns supplied community photography, which let me replace the generic stock hero with images that show Fashion Mingle's actual members. Journalism and writing interns wrote the About Us and Press Room copy, and I shaped the layout, hierarchy, and typography around it so the brand story reads clearly at a glance.
Button hierarchy
The original homepage had two equal blue calls to action ("Join for Free" and "Member Dashboard") competing for attention. I made "Join the Network" the primary action (bold dark orange with white text) and "Explore Memberships" the secondary (light orange with dark orange text). This guides new visitors toward joining and supports the move to a subscription model.
Before and after
Homepage: before and after
About Us: before and after
Press Room: before and after
Fixing a hidden navigation problem
In the original navigation, hovering over "About Us" opened a dropdown with only Press Room and Fashion Shows. The About Us page itself wasn't listed, so users had to know to click the header text directly. The dropdown implied those were the only destinations, leaving people unsure the page existed. I restructured the navigation so About Us is directly accessible, which also gives more weight to Fashion Mingle's brand story.
Restructured navigation making About Us directly accessible.
Lessons
Small decisions on high-traffic pages matter most
This project showed me how much small changes in labeling and hierarchy affect comprehension, especially on the pages people see first. Focusing on the most-visited pages let me make a meaningful impact with limited resources.
What I learned
Navigation clarity matters most on high-traffic pages, which is why hiding About Us behind a dropdown cost so much. Consistency across pages builds trust and professionalism. Designing alongside writers and marketers made the work stronger, because real content and photography shaped better layout decisions than placeholders would have. And observing real interactions reveals pain points that are easy to miss in early designs.
What's next
I'd run usability testing to validate the changes, refine the information hierarchy using behavior analytics, explore interactive elements to increase engagement, and expand accessibility work, including responsive layouts and contrast improvements.