The North Face

Digital Strategy + UX/UI

2025

(SCROLL TO EXPLORE)

Building a digital experience with altitude

We reimagined The North Face digital experience around the same sense of movement, exploration and confidence that defines the brand. Every page now invites people further in, turning product discovery into the first step of their next expedition.

Services

Digital Strategy · UX/UI · Development

Industry

Outdoor Apparel & Equipment

Deliverables

Website · Design System · Editorial Templates

The introduction

The North Face has spent decades outfitting people who go further — its digital experience needed to feel the same way.

From expedition gear to everyday outerwear, The North Face speaks to a wide audience: mountaineers, skiers, runners and people who simply love being outside. Online, that range had turned into a crowded experience where product, campaign and editorial content competed for attention.

We partnered with the team to rethink the experience from UX strategy and visual direction through to responsive design and development, with one goal: make every visit feel as purposeful as a day in the mountains.

The challenge

Great products and powerful stories were there, but they were buried in a journey that felt heavier than the brand.

Years of campaigns, seasonal launches and regional content had left the site fragmented. Product pages, athlete stories and editorial features each followed their own rules, making it hard for visitors to move between inspiration and gear.

The challenge was to bring structure without losing spirit — a system that could carry bold imagery and storytelling while making it far easier to find, compare and buy.

Structure

Structure

Untangle product, campaign and editorial content into one clear, connected journey.

Untangle product, campaign and editorial content into one clear, connected journey.

Immersion

Immersion

Let imagery and athlete stories lead without slowing people down.

Let imagery and athlete stories lead without slowing people down.

Scale

Scale

Give regional teams a system they can launch every season with.

Give regional teams a system they can launch every season with.

The solution

“Cerno understood that our customers don’t just buy jackets, they plan adventures. The new experience finally reflects that, and it’s made every launch since easier to tell.”

Elena Marsh

Director of Digital Experience

We built a sharper, more immersive experience across product, campaign and editorial content — designed to move like the brand.

We started with the journey, mapping how people move from inspiration to product and back again. Navigation was rebuilt around activities and conditions, so a skier, a climber and a commuter could each find their path in a few taps.

The visual direction puts full-bleed photography and confident typography up front, with motion used sparingly to add a sense of momentum rather than decoration.

Underneath, a modular design system covers everything from product grids to long-form stories, giving the internal team reusable components for every launch, season and market.

“Cerno understood that our customers don’t just buy jackets, they plan adventures. The new experience finally reflects that, and it’s made every launch since easier to tell.”

Elena Marsh

Director of Digital Experience

The impact

A clearer content structure and a more immersive visual system helped people explore products and stories with less friction.

With the journey reorganised around how people actually explore, visitors spent more time with both products and stories, and moved between them far more naturally.

The new system also changed how the team works: seasonal campaigns now launch from shared components, keeping every market consistent without slowing anyone down.

+38% Engagement

A clearer content structure and more immersive visual system helped users explore products and stories with less friction.

A clearer content structure and more immersive visual system helped users explore products and stories with less friction.

+27% Product Discovery

More visitors moved from editorial stories into product pages.

More visitors moved from editorial stories into product pages.

−19% Bounce Rate

Activity-led navigation kept more first-time visitors exploring.

Activity-led navigation kept more first-time visitors exploring.

2.1× Launch Speed

Seasonal campaigns shipped faster from shared components.

Seasonal campaigns shipped faster from shared components.

Your next chapter starts here.

Whether you're launching something new or ready to rethink what you already have, we'd love to be part of what comes next.

Your next chapter starts here.

Whether you’re launching something new or ready to rethink what you already have, we’d love to be part of what comes next.

Your next chapter starts here.

Whether you’re launching something new or ready to rethink what you already have, we’d love to be part of what comes next.

124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX

© Cerno Studio. All rights reserved

Ready to build something bold?

© 2026

Q3

Join Newsletter

CERNO

©2026

[ CR®-00 ]

Ready to build something bold?

© 2026

Q3

124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX

© Cerno Studio. All rights reserved

Join Newsletter

CERNO

©2026

[ CR®-00 ]

Ready to build something bold?

© 2026

Q3

124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX

© Cerno Studio. All rights reserved

Join Newsletter

CERNO

©2026

[ CR®-00 ]

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