In 2024 I launched A Happy Cactus, an e-commerce streetwear brand demonstrating how UX principles drive measurable business results beyond digital interfaces. By integrating blockchain authentication, NFC-enabled storytelling, and sustainable packaging, I achieved an 80% sell-through while showing how physical products can function as interactive experiences.
Product Designer & Founder
Impact & Overview
Key Results
With an 80% sell-through rate generating $3,700 in revenue over 8 weeks (vs. 60% industry average) and 10% of profits donated to the Saguaro National Park, I built a fashion experience where transparency, emotional connection, and long-term value were embedded from day one. By integrating blockchain authentication and NFC-enabled tag scanning, 220+ users engaged with our system during the marketing rollout, validating our $3,000 investment across digital and physical touchpoints. The brand expanded from 2 to 6 enterprise clients (200% growth) through referral-driven business development, including Grammy award-winning Avenged Sevenfold. Over 14 months, I maintained 100% project deadline adherence while building cross-functional teams across UX, blockchain, and illustration using Agile project management. Most importantly, my work resulted in a system that proved UX and product design can extend beyond the screen, ultimately shaping physical products, storytelling, and the lasting relationship between a brand and its customers.
How might we build a fashion brand that integrates digital provenance and user-centered design systems from day one?
Early research showed that consumers valued transparency, emotional connection, and long-term value, but rarely experienced all three within a cohesive user-centered experience. The gap wasn’t visual appeal or exclusivity, but a system that made people feel valued and part of something meaningful. I saw an opportunity to reimagine UX in fashion by starting with the system around the garment. My goal was to create a scalable product model that invited customers into a larger story about perseverance, supernatural forces, and the environmental impact of climate change. Partnering with Berify, I launched NFC-enabled tags linking to digital artifacts, manufacturing notes, and authenticity data. I also designed packaging, digital interactions, and a lore-based system that framed each drop as part of a larger narrative.
Discovery
Most labels sell a product, but few build lasting relationships with their customers.
Before launching A Happy Cactus, I immersed myself in the direct-to-consumer fashion landscape to identify where UX principles could elevate not only the buying experience, but the long-term relationship between a brand and its customers.
To understand the problem space I utilized a mixed-methods approach, combining user interviews, competitive analysis, social listening, and experiential insights to uncover opportunities across the full purchasing journey.
Methods
User Interviews
Competitive Analysis
Social Listening
Experiential Research
Sample Sizes
15 Retail Buyers
10 Brand Audits
User Groups
Streetwear Buyers
Online Resale Communities
Myself as the User
Tools Used
Google Docs / Notion
Reddit / Discord
Berify Dashboard
Miro
Opportunity
Build connection through narrative.
User Interviews
To understand emotional and behavioral drivers around streetwear purchases. Users felt disconnected post-purchase.
Opportunity
Make authentication an interactive feature.
Competitive Analysis
To assess how leading brands built hype and trust. Audited and found gaps within use of storytelling and authentication.
Opportunity
Extend product life with digital continuity.
Social Listening
To analyze sentiment across resale platforms. Monitored complaints about counterfeit risk and lack of deeper meaning behind products.
Opportunity
Bridge product with a larger ecosystem.
Experiential Research
To reflect on challenges I faced as a customer. Highlighted need for sustainable post-purchase systems that extend value.
Solution
I designed the brand as a system where every touchpoint builds trust, deepens the narrative, and extends its value.
To address the gaps I uncovered within existing brand models, I designed A Happy Cactus as a fully functional, cross-medium interaction system, with emotional, practical, and narrative touchpoints built around user motivations identified in my research.
Blockchain Authentication
Each garment included a card with a Berify NFC tag. When tapped, customers accessed product information, ownership confirmation, and authenticity verification. This built trust and positioned each garment as a collectible asset within a traceable system on the Polygon blockchain.
Characters & Lore
The world of A Happy Cactus is rooted within an evolving story. Each drop introduces new lore, original characters, and additional commentary on Sonoran ecology and Stoic philosophy. These visuals and narratives transform each garment into a fragment of a larger world.
Grow Your Happy Cactus Event
Format: Mailed NFC tags to friends, family, and Discord members across the world
Interaction: Four weeks, every Friday, users scanned their tags to “grow” their virtual cactus
Grow Your Happy Cactus Event Cont'd
Result: 220 global scans over four weeks, visualized in heatmaps across the U.S. and Europe
Impact: Created pre-drop narrative momentum with measurable engagement
Sustainable Engagement
To counter fast fashion’s disposability, I designed every part of the ecosystem to enhance the post-purchase value. Packaging was positioned as a collector’s box, designed to be kept and reused. Post-drop engagement included limited NFT airdrops tied to specific NFC tags.
Iteration
Where It fell short… (and how I fixed it)
Post-scan experience felt “one-and-done.”
Early feedback revealed a drop-off in engagement after the first NFC scan, with users asking, “now what?” While I couldn’t modify the Berify UI, I updated the content tied to each tag with evolving story fragments, NFT rewards, and post-drop lore to encourage repeat scanning. This repositioned the tag as a narrative touchpoint, giving users ongoing reasons to re-engage with their garment.
Packaging was visually striking, but logistically challenging.
The original cactus green collector’s box elevated the unboxing experience but was expensive and inefficient to ship, especially overseas. I began transitioning to a more scalable solution: a lightweight satchel bag with a hand-sprayed logo. The new bag reduced shipping friction while preserving the brand’s visual identity and collectible appeal.
Lore delivery was too vague and too fragmented.
I initially leaned into mystery, sharing abstract visuals and cryptic phrases across posters, packaging, and social media posts. While this built intrigue, users were confused about how it all connected, especially around Cal, our cowboy skeleton and central character, whose name was never revealed. I addressed this by embedding clearer story context into the scan experience. Each artifact now includes character references, themes, and drop-specific lore, turning each scan into a moment of discovery, not just verification.
These changes helped clarify the user journey, close the loop between product and story, and position each garment as part of a long-form interactive system, rather than just a static purchase.
Conclusion
This project taught me that UX principles extend far beyond the screen.
A Happy Cactus challenged me to design not just garments, but a narrative system, digital infrastructure, and emotional journey users could return to. By thinking holistically and designing across mediums, I turned fragmented moments like a scan, an unboxing, or a post-drop NFT into meaningful, continuous touchpoints.
I learned how to guide users through ambiguity, clarify the story without removing the mystery, and create feedback loops between what people wear and what they believe in. I also saw firsthand how constraints like packaging logistics or third-party platform limitations can become prompts for smarter, more intentional design.
Most importantly, I proved to myself that UX can live beyond the screen. Whether it's a blockchain scan, a box on a doorstep, or a virtual cactus growing over time, every interaction is an opportunity to build trust, shape narrative, and create something worth keeping.
If I were to iterate further, I would explore ways to evolve the scan experience over time, such as unlocking new story layers, linking past drops, or letting users contribute to the narrative themselves.
