End-to-end authentication redesign.
Laced is a high-growth marketplace for rare, limited-release sneakers. Every pair is manually authenticated in its warehouse before reaching the buyer, with up to 3,000 sneakers processed each day while the business raised its £10m Series A
A £660k a day operation that wasn’t built for the volume moving through it
Laced had moved into a 6,000 sq ft warehouse, but the operation and software had not scaled with it. Authentication would always require expert, hands-on checks, but the surrounding process was creating daily backlogs, unnecessary handling and staff overtime.
With around £660k of stock moving through the warehouse each day and no overnight storage for security, every intake had to clear by close. The operation needed to be redesigned end-to-end to handle the volume reliably.
Aligning the operation around one scalable model
Authentication relied on expert judgement, but the surrounding operation had grown inconsistently across teams and desks. I worked day to day with the founder, Head of Authentication and operational teams to align competing views and define a model that could handle more volume with less variance, fewer errors and less pressure on operators.
Founder Head of Authentication
Warehouse operations Customer support Product Engineering
Cutting Authentication Packing Labelling Delivery Minor fixes Returns Customer support Delivery integrations Photography
London 6,000 sq ft
Amsterdam 20,000 sq ft
Blueprinting the operation end-to-end
I translated the agreed model into end-to-end service blueprints covering authentication, returns, customer support, delivery integrations and product photography.
Each handover, decision point and failure state was mapped so the operation worked as one system, with manual steps automated where it made sense.
Touch-first interfaces that reduced operator error
I designed touch-first interfaces that guided operators through each step of the process, reducing hesitation and making the next action clear.
Guidance was built directly into the flow so less experienced staff could work with greater consistency and confidence.
Testing the new operation under real warehouse conditions
I tested the revised process with live authenticators on the warehouse floor, iterating the flow around speed, error rate and usability before rollout.
I then worked with product, engineering and operations through build and launch to make sure the final system balanced expert process, commercial needs and future scale.
Replaced the finished-state CTA with a timed auto-advance, removing a tap from every completed pair.
Testing showed fast touch input was imprecise, so CTA targets were made significantly larger.
Added a supervisor escalation path for issues the standard flow couldn’t resolve.
“Tom led the redesign of our internal authentication experience, turning a complex operational flow across multiple teams into clear blueprints that cut authentication times and reduced mistakes. Commercially focused and pragmatic, he balanced great user experience with what the business needed to move quickly. He was also instrumental in scaling our design and engineering capabilities, hiring and mentoring the team and consistently raising the bar, and I trusted him to own major initiatives from concept to delivery.”
“Tom was our inaugural hire within the product team and pivotal in scaling it to over 20 members. Leveraging his expertise we created the first service design blueprints for our warehouse operations, authenticating over 3,000 sneakers daily. What I valued most was his ability to navigate stakeholder relationships and provide clear, valuable insights. Strategically sound, he can go beyond the usual remit and take on the role of an advisor who really impacts an organisation’s efficacy.”
A scalable authentication model that increased throughput, reduced errors, lowered costs and made expert processes easier to follow.