🐾 Nino’s Closet: UX Writing for a niche E-Commerce Brand
Nino’s Closet shows how I use UX writing to build trust, drive action, and shape the full product experience—from strategy to microcopy.
I led this solo project from research to final mockups, creating a consistent voice, clear content, and purposeful design for a niche audience.
It’s not just cute. It’s content that solves real problems.
0.1 Project overview 🐾
Role: UX Writer / Brand Strategist
Project Type: Solo capstone, 4-month UX Writing bootcamp
Focus: Research, content strategy, UX copy, brand voice
Tools: Figma, Maze, Google Slides, Miro, Notion
0.2 The opportunity ✨
Italian Greyhounds (Iggies!) have unique needs—and no one in Mexico City was designing for them. I created Nino’s Closet, an e-commerce concept for premium, sustainable dogwear tailored to Iggies’ long legs, tiny waists, and sensitive skin. But it wasn’t just about cute clothes—it was about building trust and delight into every interaction.
0.3 The insight 💡
From surveys, user interviews, and Maze testing, I surfaced three major user pain points:
Pain Point
Poor fit
Cheap materials
Vendor trust
Strategic Response
Tailor messaging around “finally something made for your Iggy”
Highlight quality + sustainability across product content
Use warm, clear, transparent content + trust-building flows
0.4 Meet the user 👤
Emmy & Hamlet became my north star.
Emmy is a digital nomad who just moved to CDMX with Hamlet, her 1-year-old Iggy. She cares about design, sustainability, and spending money with brands she believes in. She hasn’t found anything that fits Hamlet—until now.
0.5 Ideation & feature Prioritization 🧠
I prioritized features using a 4-quadrant framework:
Must-haves, delightful surprises, nice-to-haves, and future features.
This helped me scope the MVP while leaving room to delight users and stand out.
To guide design decisions, I mapped out the end-to-end user journey: from discovery to checkout to post-purchase loyalty. This helped me identify where tone, UX writing, and emotional reinforcement would make the biggest impact.
0.6 Journey mapping 🛍️
0.7 Voice & Tone: Based on the real Nino 🐕🗣️
Inspired by my own Italian Greyhound, I built Nino’s voice to be:
Friendly 🤝
Fun 🎾
Sweet 💕
Cheerful 🐶
And, of course, cute 🥹
Actual photo of Nino
To keep the tone consistent across every touchpoint, I created a content style guide that included:
Voice and tone principles grounded in Nino’s personality
Grammar and punctuation rules
How to format prices and currencies
Guidelines for capitalization, contractions, and sentence structure
Best practices for writing scannable, accessible content
Do’s and don’ts for UI copy, product names, and calls-to-action
0.8 Key UX moments 🖼️
🛎️ Sign-Up Pop-Up
Why it works
Inviting headline: “Join our pack” creates a sense of community and stays true to the brand’s dog-loving tone.
Clear value prop: The 10% discount gives users an immediate reason to sign up.
Playful voice: “Pawsome” adds personality without overwhelming the message.
Clean form design: Lowercase labels and minimal layout keep it casual and user-friendly.
Strong visual cue: The stylish Iggy in Nino gear instantly reinforces the product and vibe.
🛒 Item Description at Checkout
Why it works
Tone that delights: “New human discount” adds warmth and wit by referring to the shopper as a new human rather than a new customer. It keeps the voice dog-first and charming.
Clear savings: The original price is struck through and the discounted price is bolded—instantly readable and conversion-friendly.
Friendly visual hierarchy: Product name is bold, discount is secondary, and pricing is clear—making it easy to scan during checkout.
Consistent brand language: Using terms like “onesie” instead of “jumpsuit” feels playful and on-brand.
Image reinforces product: The tiny Iggy photo makes the product recognizable at a glance, keeping things visual and lovable.
💗 “Save a Grey” Donation Flow
Why it works
Purpose-driven messaging: “#SaveaGrey” introduces a social cause in a way that feels branded and community-focused.
Positive framing: “Your purchase alone helps…” reassures users that they're already making a difference—donating is an extra, not a pressure.
Friendly, approachable tone: “If you like :)” and “You are the best human in the world” add warmth and charm, keeping the UX non-judgmental and smile-worthy.
Simple decision-making: Pre-set donation amounts (5%, 10%, 15%) make it easy to choose, while the “None” option keeps it low-pressure.
Custom option for flexibility: Allows users to personalize their giving—great for accessibility and user autonomy.
🚫 Error Message (Card Entry)
Why it works
Wrote this clearly and directly—no jokes here. Helpful, accessible, and polite.
“Error messages should never be cute. They should get users back on track quickly.”
0.9 Final screens 🎨
Designed in Figma (with lots of coffee ☕). I introduced the brand mission and value proposition early to build instant credibility and connection with new users.
10. Outcome & Validation 🐾
While Nino’s Closet was a concept project, the response was anything but hypothetical.
💬 100% of users I interviewed or surveyed said they’d shop from it — no questions asked.
That kind of feedback, especially in a niche market, signals strong product-market fit and clear user resonance from day one.
11. What I learned 📚
Managing this project solo—from research to iteration—was a crash course in creative leadership. I:
Balanced strategy and storytelling
Created brand voice from scratch and applied it across screens
Prioritized accessibility, plain language, and clarity
Ran a guerrilla-style A/B test with peers at Hola Cash for validation
Juggled this with my full-time job—learning to prioritize, plan, and pivot
Final reflection 🐕
Nino’s Closet was playful, yes. But for me, it was personal.
I poured my love for Nino into every screen, every word, every decision. What started as a bootcamp project turned into something way more meaningful: a real solution to a real problem for a niche, passionate community. I got to blend storytelling with strategy, build trust through content, and shape a brand that felt joyful, intentional, and totally unique.
To this day, it’s the most fulfilling project I’ve worked on—and the one that reminded me why I love what I do.
