Service Design at Nordstrom

To lead global cross-functional collaboration optimizing digital assets workflow, collaborating with vendors like Nike, Free People, UGG.

• 30+ stakeholder interviews with global cross-functional stakeholders across merchandising, buying, image processing, IT, marketing, and product
• 20+ vendor interviews with brands like Vuori, Cole Haan, Tommy Bahama.
• 10+ ideation workshops and strategy sessions hosted to understand key pain points across each team, ensuring optimized cross functional collaboration
• Creation of service blueprint highlighting Nordstrom’s key internal processes, optimizing collaboration across global teams to increase efficiency in site updates by 30%. 

30+ stakeholder interviews revealed three key problems around global cross-functional collaboration:

• Delayed Asset Delivery: 40% Vendors fail to provide required assets or product copy in time for the scheduled live date, causing launch delays. 
• Non-Compliant Submissions: 30% submitted assets do not meet Nordstrom’s quality or format standards, requiring additional rounds of correction.
• Inconsistent Vendor Processes: Certain vendors do not follow Nordstrom’s standard procedures, requiring extra coordination and custom handling.

Over 10 ideation workshops and strategy sessions generated actionable ideas for improving global cross-functional collaboration, including with key vendors such as Vuori, Cole Haan, and Tommy Bahama.

• Vendor-focused sessions highlighted the need for regular training to keep partners aligned with Nordstrom’s evolving asset and copy requirements.
• Internal stakeholder workshops revealed that breaking down asset requests into individual components can accelerate product launches when vendors are missing complete submissions.

Synthesized over 40 interviews and 10 ideation workshops to create a service blueprint for the future state of all global cross-functional collaboration at Nordstrom.

• Prioritized Product Launches: Implement a partial upload process to allow products with complete copy and assets to go live first. Proactively involve buyers when asset completion is at risk near the launch date to minimize delays.
• Category-Based Standards & AI Support: Establish clear, minimal asset requirements tailored to each product category. Leverage AI tools to streamline image processing and increase tolerance for minor inconsistencies.
• Specialized Vendor Support Team: Create a dedicated team with expertise in handling non-standard vendor processes, ensuring smoother collaboration and reduced bottlenecks.

• 30% reduction in time to upload assets.
• Reduced cost by $80k per month due to reduced time to collaborate between vendors and stakeholders
• Increased asset uploads by 3X over 6 months across 120 brands