American Girl Connected Experiences & Custom Dolls
Connected digital and physical experiences and "Create Your Own" Doll app designed to delight families, simplify planning, and turn custom doll creation into unforgettable moments.
American Girl Connected Experiences & Custom Dolls
Connected digital and physical experiences and "Create Your Own" Doll app designed to delight families, simplify planning, and turn custom doll creation into unforgettable moments.
American Girl Connected Experiences & Custom Dolls
Connected digital and physical experiences and "Create Your Own" Doll app designed to delight families, simplify planning, and turn custom doll creation into unforgettable moments.
American Girl Connected Experiences & Custom Dolls
Connected digital and physical experiences and "Create Your Own" Doll app designed to delight families, simplify planning, and turn custom doll creation into unforgettable moments.
American Girl Connected Experiences & Custom Dolls
Connected digital and physical experiences and "Create Your Own" Doll app designed to delight families, simplify planning, and turn custom doll creation into unforgettable moments.
Overview:
This project focused on reimagining a holistic, interactive guest experience for American Girl’s 40,000 sq ft “Store of the Future” flagship in New York City and new "Create Your Own" Doll app. The work blended digital and physical touchpoints to create immersive, story-driven experiences that supported personalization, discovery, and emotional connection across generations. As Lead Designer, this role required setting creative vision, guiding interactive experience design, and collaborating closely with engineering, technology leadership, and stakeholders to translate brand storytelling into scalable, intuitive digital systems—both in-store and across web and mobile.
My Role:
Lead designer at MJD Interactive. These methods supported fast learning, cross-team alignment, and a shared understanding of how the experience should feel—not just how it should function. ✦ "Dreaming" and moodboarding what the elevated possibilities could be. How could these experiences feel magical? ✦ Benchmarking & competitive analysis ✦ Rapid sketching & concept exploration ✦ Information architecture ✦ Wireframes & experience flows ✦ Microanimations & interaction design ✦ Visual design & prototyping
The Story Begins. The Challenge:
Families don’t come to American Girl just to shop—they come to make memories. But inside a large, immersive flagship environment, parents often juggle time, logistics, and decision-making, while children want to explore, imagine, and play. The challenge was to design a digital experience that felt as magical as it was intuitive—supporting efficiency for caregivers without interrupting the wonder and storytelling that define the brand. The goal wasn’t to add more screens, but to use digital touchpoints to enhance the physical experience: guiding guests, supporting personalization, and helping every visit feel intentional, joyful, and memorable.
“I want to plan a magical day for my daughter without getting overwhelmed, I work alot and all I want is to spend more time enjoying the moment with her, not in front of screens or worrying about every little detail. I want to be fully present with her, and for her to have playful, memorable experiences that feels like magic."
The Vision:
The Story Begins: The Challenge
The Story Begins: The Challenge
The Story Begins: The Challenge
The experience needed to feel less like a collection of tools and more like a story unfolding. Each interaction—whether designing a doll, booking a salon appointment, or planning a celebration—had to connect naturally, reinforcing a sense of discovery and ownership. Digital moments were designed to quietly remove friction, invite imagination, and keep families focused on what mattered most: being present together.
Families don’t come to American Girl just to shop—they come to make memories. But inside a large, immersive flagship environment, parents often juggle time, logistics, and decision-making, while children want to explore, imagine, and play. The challenge was to design a digital experience that felt as magical as it was intuitive—supporting efficiency for caregivers without interrupting the wonder and storytelling that define the brand. The goal wasn’t to add more screens, but to use digital touchpoints to enhance the physical experience: guiding guests, supporting personalization, and helping every visit feel intentional, joyful, and memorable.
Families don’t come to American Girl just to shop—they come to make memories. But inside a large, immersive flagship environment, parents often juggle time, logistics, and decision-making, while children want to explore, imagine, and play. The challenge was to design a digital experience that felt as magical as it was intuitive—supporting efficiency for caregivers without interrupting the wonder and storytelling that define the brand. The goal wasn’t to add more screens, but to use digital touchpoints to enhance the physical experience: guiding guests, supporting personalization, and helping every visit feel intentional, joyful, and memorable.
Families don’t come to American Girl just to shop—they come to make memories. But inside a large, immersive flagship environment, parents often juggle time, logistics, and decision-making, while children want to explore, imagine, and play. The challenge was to design a digital experience that felt as magical as it was intuitive—supporting efficiency for caregivers without interrupting the wonder and storytelling that define the brand. The goal wasn’t to add more screens, but to use digital touchpoints to enhance the physical experience: guiding guests, supporting personalization, and helping every visit feel intentional, joyful, and memorable.
The Vision:
The experience needed to feel less like a collection of tools and more like a story unfolding. Each interaction—whether designing a doll, booking a salon appointment, or planning a celebration—had to connect naturally, reinforcing a sense of discovery and ownership. Digital moments were designed to quietly remove friction, invite imagination, and keep families focused on what mattered most: being present together.
Designing The Journey:
The Vision:
The Vision:
Rather than focusing on individual features, the team explored the full guest journey—before, during, and after a store visit. Through ideation, prototyping, and collaboration, several highly viable and desirable experiences emerged, each playing a distinct role in the overall narrative.
The experience needed to feel less like a collection of tools and more like a story unfolding. Each interaction—whether designing a doll, booking a salon appointment, or planning a celebration—had to connect naturally, reinforcing a sense of discovery and ownership. Digital moments were designed to quietly remove friction, invite imagination, and keep families focused on what mattered most: being present together.
The experience needed to feel less like a collection of tools and more like a story unfolding. Each interaction—whether designing a doll, booking a salon appointment, or planning a celebration—had to connect naturally, reinforcing a sense of discovery and ownership. Digital moments were designed to quietly remove friction, invite imagination, and keep families focused on what mattered most: being present together.
Designing The Journey:
Rather than focusing on individual features, the team explored the full guest journey—before, during, and after a store visit. Through ideation, prototyping, and collaboration, several highly viable and desirable experiences emerged, each playing a distinct role in the overall narrative.
Collaboration & Creative Leadership:
As Lead Designer, this role went beyond execution—I helped shape the creative vision and guided the experience from early concept through interactive prototyping. Working closely with engineering, the CTO, and creative leadership, I aligned cross-functional teams around a shared goal: designing an experience that felt magical for children and effortless for parents. I led concept exploration and iterative design reviews to ensure each touchpoint supported the larger guest journey. Throughout the process, I balanced creativity with feasibility, advocating for intuitive UX, playful interactions, and thoughtful personalization while collaborating with technical partners to bring ideas to life. The result was a cohesive ecosystem of experiences that felt connected, scalable, and emotionally resonant. The goal wasn’t just to design digital tools—it was to create moments of wonder that felt effortless for families and emotionally meaningful for children.
Methods & Craft:
These methods supported fast learning, cross-team alignment, and a shared understanding of how the experience should feel—not just how it should function. ✦ Benchmarking & competitive analysis ✦ Rapid sketching & concept exploration ✦ Information architecture ✦ Wireframes & experience flows ✦ Microanimations & interaction design ✦ Visual design & prototyping Multiple concepts for doll creation and party planning were prototyped and tested, revealing opportunities to simplify booking flows and add playful microinteractions. Iteration allowed the team to balance delight and efficiency, ensuring that the experience felt magical while remaining seamless for parents.
Collaboration & Creative Leadership:
As Lead Designer, this role went beyond execution—I helped shape the creative vision and guided the experience from early concept through interactive prototyping. Working closely with engineering, the CTO, and creative leadership, I aligned cross-functional teams around a shared goal: designing an experience that felt magical for children and effortless for parents. I led concept exploration and iterative design reviews to ensure each touchpoint supported the larger guest journey. Throughout the process, I balanced creativity with feasibility, advocating for intuitive UX, playful interactions, and thoughtful personalization while collaborating with technical partners to bring ideas to life. The result was a cohesive ecosystem of experiences that felt connected, scalable, and emotionally resonant. The goal wasn’t just to design digital tools—it was to create moments of wonder that felt effortless for families and emotionally meaningful for children.
Methods & Craft:
These methods supported fast learning, cross-team alignment, and a shared understanding of how the experience should feel—not just how it should function. ✦ Benchmarking & competitive analysis ✦ Rapid sketching & concept exploration ✦ Information architecture ✦ Wireframes & experience flows ✦ Microanimations & interaction design ✦ Visual design & prototyping Multiple concepts for doll creation and party planning were prototyped and tested, revealing opportunities to simplify booking flows and add playful microinteractions. Iteration allowed the team to balance delight and efficiency, ensuring that the experience felt magical while remaining seamless for parents.
Key Experiences Delivered:
✦ Create Your Own — Custom Doll Creation The heart of the experience. A playful, guided system that empowered children to design dolls, outfits, and accessories across in-store and digital platforms—turning personalization into a meaningful story of self-expression. ✦ Salon Services Digital Lookbook An interactive browsing experience that extended storytelling into styling and transformation, helping guests imagine possibilities before committing. ✦ Personalized Party Room System Designed to make celebrations feel effortless and special, allowing families to plan events that felt uniquely theirs. ✦ Digital Media Content Hub A centralized storytelling space that surfaced brand content, inspiration, and discovery throughout the store. ✦ Salon & Café Reservation System Quietly removed friction from planning and logistics, giving families more time to enjoy the experience together. Each experience was designed not as a standalone feature, but as a connected chapter in a larger story.
Designing
The Journey:
Rather than focusing on individual features, the team explored the full guest journey—before, during, and after a store visit. Through ideation, prototyping, and collaboration, several highly viable and desirable experiences emerged, each playing a distinct role in the overall narrative.
Collaboration & Creative Leadership:
Reflection.
Why It Mattered:
As Lead Designer, this role went beyond execution—I helped shape the creative vision and guided the experience from early concept through interactive prototyping. Working closely with engineering, the CTO, and creative leadership, I aligned cross-functional teams around a shared goal: designing an experience that felt magical for children and effortless for parents. I led concept exploration and iterative design reviews to ensure each touchpoint supported the larger guest journey. Throughout the process, I balanced creativity with feasibility, advocating for intuitive UX, playful interactions, and thoughtful personalization while collaborating with technical partners to bring ideas to life. The result was a cohesive ecosystem of experiences that felt connected, scalable, and emotionally resonant. The goal wasn’t just to design digital tools—it was to create moments of wonder that felt effortless for families and emotionally meaningful for children.
This work reimagined the American Girl flagship as a connected, living experience—where digital touchpoints didn’t compete with magic, but amplified it. By blending intuitive design with playful storytelling, the experience supported families in creating meaningful moments that extended beyond a single visit, reinforcing emotional connection, brand loyalty, and long-term engagement. This project transformed the flagship into a living story, where digital tools amplified the magic rather than distracted from it. Families created meaningful memories effortlessly, and the experience demonstrated how thoughtful, story-driven design can bridge physical and digital worlds. Leading this initiative strengthened my ability to inspire teams, solve complex design challenges, and deliver experiences that engage audiences emotionally.
Methods & Craft:
These methods supported fast learning, cross-team alignment, and a shared understanding of how the experience should feel—not just how it should function. ✦ Benchmarking & competitive analysis ✦ Rapid sketching & concept exploration ✦ Information architecture ✦ Wireframes & experience flows ✦ Microanimations & interaction design ✦ Visual design & prototyping Multiple concepts for doll creation and party planning were prototyped and tested, revealing opportunities to simplify booking flows and add playful microinteractions. Iteration allowed the team to balance delight and efficiency, ensuring that the experience felt magical while remaining seamless for parents.
“From the moment we stepped inside, the day felt like a story unfolding just for us. My daughter’s eyes sparkled as she created her doll, discovering surprises and little magical touches at every turn like her name on welcome screens. I didn’t have to worry about the details—everything flowed effortlessly—and I could simply be with her, laughing, exploring, and making memories."
Reflection.
Why It Mattered:
This work reimagined the American Girl flagship as a connected, living experience—where digital touchpoints didn’t compete with magic, but amplified it. By blending intuitive design with playful storytelling, the experience supported families in creating meaningful moments that extended beyond a single visit, reinforcing emotional connection, brand loyalty, and long-term engagement. This project transformed the flagship into a living story, where digital tools amplified the magic rather than distracted from it. Families created meaningful memories effortlessly, and the experience demonstrated how thoughtful, story-driven design can bridge physical and digital worlds. Leading this initiative strengthened my ability to inspire teams, solve complex design challenges, and deliver experiences that engage audiences emotionally.
The Story Begins: The Challenge
Families don’t come to American Girl just to shop—they come to make memories. But inside a large, immersive flagship environment, parents often juggle time, logistics, and decision-making, while children want to explore, imagine, and play. The challenge was to design a digital experience that felt as magical as it was intuitive—supporting efficiency for caregivers without interrupting the wonder and storytelling that define the brand. The goal wasn’t to add more screens, but to use digital touchpoints to enhance the physical experience: guiding guests, supporting personalization, and helping every visit feel intentional, joyful, and memorable.
The Vision:
The experience needed to feel less like a collection of tools and more like a story unfolding. Each interaction—whether designing a doll, booking a salon appointment, or planning a celebration—had to connect naturally, reinforcing a sense of discovery and ownership. Digital moments were designed to quietly remove friction, invite imagination, and keep families focused on what mattered most: being present together.
Designing The Journey:
Rather than focusing on individual features, the team explored the full guest journey—before, during, and after a store visit. Through ideation, prototyping, and collaboration, several highly viable and desirable experiences emerged, each playing a distinct role in the overall narrative.
Key Experiences Delivered:
This work reimagined the American Girl flagship as a connected, living experience—where digital touchpoints didn’t compete with magic, but amplified it. By blending intuitive design with playful storytelling, the experience supported families in creating meaningful moments that extended beyond a single visit, reinforcing emotional connection, brand loyalty, and long-term engagement. This project transformed the flagship into a living story, where digital tools amplified the magic rather than distracted from it. Families created meaningful memories effortlessly, and the experience demonstrated how thoughtful, story-driven design can bridge physical and digital worlds. Leading this initiative strengthened my ability to inspire teams, solve complex design challenges, and deliver experiences that engage audiences emotionally.
Collaboration & Creative Leadership:
This work reimagined the American Girl flagship as a connected, living experience—where digital touchpoints didn’t compete with magic, but amplified it. By blending intuitive design with playful storytelling, the experience supported families in creating meaningful moments that extended beyond a single visit, reinforcing emotional connection, brand loyalty, and long-term engagement. This project transformed the flagship into a living story, where digital tools amplified the magic rather than distracted from it. Families created meaningful memories effortlessly, and the experience demonstrated how thoughtful, story-driven design can bridge physical and digital worlds. Leading this initiative strengthened my ability to inspire teams, solve complex design challenges, and deliver experiences that engage audiences emotionally.
Methods & Craft:
This work reimagined the American Girl flagship as a connected, living experience—where digital touchpoints didn’t compete with magic, but amplified it. By blending intuitive design with playful storytelling, the experience supported families in creating meaningful moments that extended beyond a single visit, reinforcing emotional connection, brand loyalty, and long-term engagement. This project transformed the flagship into a living story, where digital tools amplified the magic rather than distracted from it. Families created meaningful memories effortlessly, and the experience demonstrated how thoughtful, story-driven design can bridge physical and digital worlds. Leading this initiative strengthened my ability to inspire teams, solve complex design challenges, and deliver experiences that engage audiences emotionally.
Reflection.
Why It Mattered:
This work reimagined the American Girl flagship as a connected, living experience—where digital touchpoints didn’t compete with magic, but amplified it. By blending intuitive design with playful storytelling, the experience supported families in creating meaningful moments that extended beyond a single visit, reinforcing emotional connection, brand loyalty, and long-term engagement. This project transformed the flagship into a living story, where digital tools amplified the magic rather than distracted from it. Families created meaningful memories effortlessly, and the experience demonstrated how thoughtful, story-driven design can bridge physical and digital worlds. Leading this initiative strengthened my ability to inspire teams, solve complex design challenges, and deliver experiences that engage audiences emotionally.
Collaboration & Creative Leadership:
As Lead Designer, this role went beyond execution—I helped shape the creative vision and guided the experience from early concept through interactive prototyping. Working closely with engineering, the CTO, and creative leadership, I aligned cross-functional teams around a shared goal: designing an experience that felt magical for children and effortless for parents. I led concept exploration and iterative design reviews to ensure each touchpoint supported the larger guest journey. Throughout the process, I balanced creativity with feasibility, advocating for intuitive UX, playful interactions, and thoughtful personalization while collaborating with technical partners to bring ideas to life. The result was a cohesive ecosystem of experiences that felt connected, scalable, and emotionally resonant. The goal wasn’t just to design digital tools—it was to create moments of wonder that felt effortless for families and emotionally meaningful for children.
Methods & Craft:
These methods supported fast learning, cross-team alignment, and a shared understanding of how the experience should feel—not just how it should function. ✦ Benchmarking & competitive analysis ✦ Rapid sketching & concept exploration ✦ Information architecture ✦ Wireframes & experience flows ✦ Microanimations & interaction design ✦ Visual design & prototyping Multiple concepts for doll creation and party planning were prototyped and tested, revealing opportunities to simplify booking flows and add playful microinteractions. Iteration allowed the team to balance delight and efficiency, ensuring that the experience felt magical while remaining seamless for parents.
Key Experiences Delivered:
✦ Create Your Own — Custom Doll Creation The heart of the experience. A playful, guided system that empowered children to design dolls, outfits, and accessories across in-store and digital platforms—turning personalization into a meaningful story of self-expression. ✦ Salon Services Digital Lookbook An interactive browsing experience that extended storytelling into styling and transformation, helping guests imagine possibilities before committing. ✦ Personalized Party Room System Designed to make celebrations feel effortless and special, allowing families to plan events that felt uniquely theirs. ✦ Digital Media Content Hub A centralized storytelling space that surfaced brand content, inspiration, and discovery throughout the store. ✦ Salon & Café Reservation System Quietly removed friction from planning and logistics, giving families more time to enjoy the experience together. Each experience was designed not as a standalone feature, but as a connected chapter in a larger story.