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Summary

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Result

E-commerce Redesign

Boosting Conversion Rates Through Intuitive User Experience

Summary

In a competitive e-commerce landscape, I transformed Retro Modern Furnishings’ underperforming website into a conversion powerhouse through strategic UX design and research. By reimagining the site’s navigation and information architecture, I delivered measurable business results: a 175% increase in checkout completion and 217% growth in conversion rates year-over-year.

GOAL:

Create an Intuitive E-commerce Experience that guides customers effortlessly from product discovery to purchase.

Improve navigation and product categorization
Clarify product information and terminology
Represent the brand's unique value proposition
Streamline the purchasing process
Enhance overall user experience, and ultimately increase online sales and customer engagement.

Details:

TEAM: Solo project

ROLE: UX Designer, Researcher, and website builder

TOOLS: My primary design tool was Figma, complemented by Adobe Illustrator. Research tools included Mural and Smaply.

PLATFORM: Responsive Shopify website

CLIENT: Retro Modern Furnishings
Lead stakeholder: Kelly Wohlgenant, Founder

PROJECT DURATION: 3 months

The Problem:

The website's complex navigation and unclear product presentation hindered user engagement and conversion.

before redesign:

Key issues identified

Navigation challenges: The site's organization didn't align with users' mental models of furniture shopping
Confusing product categorization: The site used terminology that shoppers did not understand and it was unclear how to locate products
Inconsistent Taxonomy: There were redundant categories for the same type of product with different results shown (i.e. “chair” vs. “chairs”)
Accessibility issues: Inadequate color contrast, lacking alt text
Unclear value proposition: The website did not fit with the branding and failed to effectively communicate the unique selling points of Retro Modern Furnishings, such as local artisanship and curated vintage selections.
Cart Abandonment: Complex purchasing process and missing wishlist feature hindered user conversion

The Solution:

With strategic design interventions, I redesigned a digital experience that turned user frustration into seamless exploration.

after redesign:

UX Improvements

Redesigned Information Architecture: Strategically restructured navigation to align with users' mental models, enhancing product discovery and overall usability.
Optimized Product Discovery: Developed multiple pathways, intelligent filtering, and personalized recommendations for efficient product exploration.
Streamlined Purchasing Experience: Simplified checkout process and added wishlist functionality to reduce friction and cart abandonment.
Improved Accessibility Features: Implemented color contrast improvements, alt text, and assistive technology to support diverse user needs and enhance site inclusivity.
Engineered Design Systems: Developed comprehensive design language with improved UI for a consistent, professional digital experience across platforms.
Elevated Brand Communication: Strategically highlighted the brand's unique selling points, such as local artisanship and curated vintage selections, to differentiate them in the market.
Enhanced User Support: Integrated real-time chat and clear communication channels to improve customer interaction.

Hypothesis:

By addressing navigation issues, improving product presentation, and streamlining the checkout process, we expected a significant increase in user engagement, time spent on the site, and ultimately, conversion rates.

How might we simplify product categorization to align with users’ mental models?

How might we streamline the checkout process to reduce cart abandonment?

How might we effectively communicate brand value through the website design?

Client Background

Retro Modern Furnishings, a boutique furniture store in Raleigh, North Carolina, specializes in custom modern pieces crafted in-house and by local artisans, vintage mid-century modern pieces, and curated modern furniture.

Despite a loyal local following of design enthusiasts, their existing website failed to capture the brand’s essence and struggled with low conversion rates, hindering online sales and expansion beyond the local market.

PROCESS

Summary of Process

🕵️‍♀️

Research
Executed comprehensive user research through stakeholder interviews, journey mapping, card sorting, terminology testing, competitive analysis, and heuristic evaluation to inform design decisions

✏️

Design
Developed high-fidelity wireframes and interactive prototypes informed by research insights, while creating scalable design systems for consistency

🧠

User Testing
Conducted and analyzed unmoderated usability tests to validate design decisions and identify areas for improvement

🔄

Iteration
Implemented multiple design refinement cycles, incorporating user feedback and testing results to optimize the user experience

📊

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS:
Evaluated key performance indicators (KPIs) pre- and post-redesign, including conversion rates, time on task, and checkout completion, to measure impact

▼ Skip to results ▼

+ phase 1: discovery & research

My research combined qualitative and quantitative methods to understand user behavior, preferences, and pain points.

I conducted user interviews, synthesized website analytics, and performed competitive analysis. Initial assumptions about user preferences were challenged, revealing a need for a more intuitive categorization system and product filtering.

Research Goals:

Identify Usability Challenges:

Pinpoint critical usability issues within the current website to enhance user experience.

Understand User Mental Models:

Gain insights into shoppers’ mental frameworks regarding product categorization in the furniture shopping process.

Evaluate Website Performance:

Assess current performance metrics, including bounce rates, time on task, checkout rates, and conversion rates, to establish a baseline for improvement.

Investigate Cart Abandonment:

Uncover underlying factors contributing to cart abandonment to inform targeted design solutions.

UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS NEEDS:

Recognizing the critical role of a strategic digital presence, this research phase aimed to deeply explore Retro Modern Furnishings’ current challenges, brand positioning, and untapped potential in the competitive furniture e-commerce landscape.

Methodologies to understand the business needs included:

✦ 1. Stakeholder Interviews

I interviewed the key stakeholder and staff about the known website issues and their understanding of their customer base.

Key insights included:

Who their target audience is - for example: New homeowners – buying their first house, retirees downsizing
“Customers say it isn’t clear what is made in-house vs. what’s not.”
People get confused about what’s new vs. what’s vintage when they are in the store
They have an in-store “wishlist” for people looking for specific items.

✦ 2. Competitive Analysis

Key insights included:

National brands primarily categorize furniture by room - this led to open card sorting exercise with test users to validate mental model
Direct competitors generally have poor web presence
Indirect competitors have features like instant custom quote, clear size customization, visual product configuration
Most competitors struggle with mobile responsiveness, especially for custom ordering processes
Lack of clear visual rendering for custom pieces is a widespread issue

✦ 3. Heuristic
Evaluation

Key insights included:

Confusing navigation with far too many options
Jargon that did not make sense to shoppers (for example “slat products”) - this led to terminology testing exercise with users
Redundant categories (inconsistent taxonomy) for the same type of product with different results shown (i.e. “chair” vs. “chairs”)
Accessibility issues including low contrast and missing ALT text for images

UNDERSTANDING THE USER NEEDS:

Online shoppers struggled with navigation, product discovery, and understanding the unique value of Retro Modern’s offerings.

Methodologies to understand the business needs included:

✦ 1. Unmoderated Baseline Usability Testing & Analytics Review

Usability testing confirmed critical navigation issues and search inefficiencies, leading to high abandonment rates and forcing very determined users to manually browse entire product catalogs.

Analytics review confirmed high cart abandonment.

I know exactly what I want, but it's frustrating when what I type in doesn't match the furniture I'm looking for. Everything is labeled with technical sounding names.

✦ 2. User Interviews and Customer Reviews:

I conducted user interviews, surveys and explored customer reviews and looked for commonalities to determine what their users value.

Themes included:

Unique
Quality
Value/Price Point
Local
Friendly & Helpful Staff
Custom/Handmade
Vintage

✦ 3. User Journey Maps, Personas & Storyboards

Journey Maps and story boards helped to visualize the user journey and pain points, and brainstorm ideas for improvement.

I also created personas to help me keep the target customer front of mind while designing.

Improvement ideas included:

Highlight customizable options prominently on homepage
Add a "Design Your Table" feature that guides users through customization choices
Customer testimonials showcasing successful custom projects
Include intuitive filters for size, style, and material preferences
Implement Augmented Reality so shoppers can see how the custom item would look in their space
Offer live chat support for immediate assistance with customization questions

✦ 4. Open Card Sorting & Terminology Testing

These methods helped me understand users’ mental models and find patterns in how users expect to find content

Themes included:

Most users preferred to shop by room
Filtering results by new vs. vintage or custom, local, in-stock would be appreciated by many users
When presented with photos of wooden storage furniture, there was no consistent terminology used
Users expect to find storage pieces like buffet in multiple rooms - some people use them as entertainment consoles or in offices
Users don't understand terms like "slat products", "casegoods", or "occasional tables"

UNCOVERING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES:

Market
Expansion

Extend brand reach beyond Raleigh by highlighting unique artisan craftsmanship and curated vintage collections through an intuitive digital platform.

Optimized Navigation Strategy

Align website navigation with users’ room-based mental models to reduce friction and potentially increase conversion rates.centric.

Craftsmanship
Storytelling

Showcase local artisan quality and vintage collection uniqueness to create opportunities for increased average order value.

User Engagement Enhancement

Streamline product communication by eliminating industry jargon and creating clear, accessible product descriptions to reduce bounce rates.

+ Phase 2: design

REDESIGNING A USER-FRIENDLY EXPERIENCE

Armed with insights from research, I embarked on the design phase.

During the design phase, I focused on translating research insights into effective solutions that addressed user needs and business goals.

Throughout the process, I iterated based on stakeholder feedback and conducted usability testing to refine the design. Special attention was given to creating a responsive design that would work seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices.

My design process

✦ 1. Information Architecture Redesign

Based on the card sorting exercises and other user research to uncover user’s mental models, I restructured the site’s navigation to align with users’ room-based mental models. The new information architecture features:

The resulting site map creates a clear, user-friendly navigation system that helps customers find furniture more easily. By organizing content in a way that matches how people naturally think about shopping for home furnishings, I made the website more intuitive and enjoyable to use.

Strategic homepage links now highlight unique offerings like vintage collections, custom furniture, and local artisan pieces, immediately communicating the brand’s distinctive value proposition.

Wireframing & Prototyping

I developed low-fidelity wireframes for key pages using Figma, focusing on:

I then transformed the wireframes into interactive prototypes to evaluate navigation and overall user experience which allowed me to:

Agile Design Platform Transition

Bypassing high-fidelity prototyping, I transitioned directly to Shopify development to maximize efficiency and explore the platform's native capabilities.

This strategic decision was driven by several factors:

Solo Development: As the sole designer and developer on this project, I could streamline the process without needing to communicate designs to a separate development team.
Platform Exploration: Direct work in Shopify allowed for immediate testing of native features and limitations, ensuring a realistic and achievable design outcomes with minimal custom coding.
Practical Constraints: This approach acknowledged Shopify’s constraints in creating pixel-perfect designs and responsive layouts, leading to a more pragmatic final product.

Adopting this pragmatic, agile methodology ensured that the final design would be both user-centric and feasible within the client’s chosen e-commerce platform.

Design System Development

To ensure consistency and efficiency across the platform, I created a comprehensive design system including:

By creating this systematic approach to design, I established a scalable framework that enhanced brand consistency, simplified future design iterations, and provided a unified visual experience for users.

+ Phase 3: user testing

Unmoderated Usability Study

When I had created an MVP in Shopify, I tested the site with users to gather valuable feedback and validate my design decisions.

Method:

🕵️

unmoderated usability study

Participants: 10 participants matching Retro Modern’s target demographic (ages 22-78 with modern aesthetic)

Testing Method: Participants completed predefined tasks while recording their screen and verbal thoughts

Tasks Included:

Find and customize a sofa
Add items to cart
Locate product dimensions
Explore brand information
Locate store address and phone number

Study Goals

📐

information architecture evaluation

Evaluate the effectiveness of the new navigation structure

🏷️

taxonomy analysis

Assess the clarity of product information and categorization

🤔

uncover confusion

Identify potential friction points in the user journey

🎯

task completion analysis

Measure the ease of completing key tasks

🚀

prioritize changes

Identify high-priority adjustments to improve the shopping experience

I love how easy it is to find exactly what I'm looking for. The website design feels modern and thoughtful.

It's a bit confusing to tell which products are made by Retro Modern and which are just part of their collection.

The vintage collection is a game-changer. The special collections are great... I like being able to narrow down all the options without getting overwhelmed.

Key Findings

Usability Study Insights

Navigation Effectiveness (83% Success Rate)

Users successfully navigated to room categories 83% of the time, with living room and bedroom sections performing strongest. The “Custom Made” subcategory presented minor wayfinding challenges, suggesting a need for more intuitive labeling.

Key Pain Points

– 40% of participants struggled to locate furniture that is custom made by Retro Modern

– 20% of users had trouble finding detailed product dimensions and specifications

Positive Discoveries

– Product imagery received high praise, with 100% of users finding visual representations clear and appealing

– Room-based categorization aligned well with users’ mental models of furniture shopping

Quantitative Highlights

– Average task completion time: 4.2 minutes

– User satisfaction score: 9.5/10

– Successful product discovery rate: 82%

+ phase 4: design iterations

Refining the Design

Based on the usability study insights, I synthesized participant feedback and prioritized key changes for the site launch.

These refinements aimed to enhance user experience, improve clarity, and address identified pain points.

Key Improvements:

Following these user-driven improvements, I took additional steps to enhance the site's overall quality and reach:

Accessibility and Responsiveness:

These targeted enhancements aim to create a more intuitive, accessible, and user-friendly e-commerce platform for Retro Modern Furnishings, addressing both usability concerns and technical requirements.

Result

Site Performance Metrics

The redesigned Retro Modern Furnishings website demonstrated significant performance improvements across key performance indicators.

65%

Increase in
Ave. Order Value

217%

Increase in
Conversion Rate

175%

Increase in
Checkout Completion

Conversion rate optimization strategies, including improved navigation, clearer product categorization, and enhanced user interface, directly contributed to these measurable outcomes.

The data validates the user-centered design approach and confirms the effectiveness of the comprehensive usability research and implementation.

Reflection

Stakeholders have already received multiple unprovoked client testimonials praising the website's intuitive design and seamless shopping experience.

The positive feedback aligns with key user research insights, demonstrating how strategic design can transform an e-commerce platform. By prioritizing user needs and implementing a thoughtful, user-centered approach, Retro Modern Furnishings has become a digital experience that resonates with its customers.

The website’s success stems from carefully balancing retro aesthetic elements with modern usability principles, ensuring an engaging and functional online shopping environment. This approach not only improves visual appeal but also enhances user interaction and product discoverability.

Future Recommendations

Custom Code Nav Bar

Customize menu bar to position core pages (Home, About, Contact) above the room-based mega menu, improving site navigation hierarchy and quick access to essential pages.

Showcase Local Makers

Enhance community focus by creating dedicated bio pages for local makers, featuring their stories, craftsmanship, and unique contributions to Retro Modern’s collection.

Highlight Custom

Produce and feature engaging video content demonstrating the in-house furniture-making process, highlighting the skill and artistry behind Retro Modern’s custom pieces.

View in AR:

Implement an augmented reality feature allowing customers to visualize furniture pieces in their own spaces using their mobile devices, enhancing the shopping experience and reducing uncertainty in purchase decisions

Appointment Booking

Implement a user-friendly online scheduling system allowing customers to book consultations with design staff directly through the website, enhancing personalized service.

Design Tips

Leverage staff expertise by creating a curated section of design tips, focusing on how to seamlessly blend vintage and modern pieces in home decor, reinforcing Retro Modern’s unique value proposition.

The website Design

Explore the design of Retro Modern’s website at retromodern.shop

Let's Connect

I’d love to hear from you!

Feel free to reach out to discuss your project needs or explore how I can help create impactful, user-centered designs.

Lori Langdon Product Designer

E-commerce Redesign

Boosting Conversion Rates Through Intuitive User Experience

Summary

GOAL:

Create an Intuitive E-commerce Experience that guides customers effortlessly from product discovery to purchase.

Details:

The Problem:

The website's complex navigation and unclear product presentation hindered user engagement and conversion.

Key issues identified

The Solution:

With strategic design interventions, I redesigned a digital experience that turned user frustration into seamless exploration.

UX Improvements

Hypothesis:

By addressing navigation issues, improving product presentation, and streamlining the checkout process, we expected a significant increase in user engagement, time spent on the site, and ultimately, conversion rates.

Retro Modern Furnishings, a boutique furniture store in Raleigh, North Carolina, specializes in custom modern pieces crafted in-house and by local artisans, vintage mid-century modern pieces, and curated modern furniture.

PROCESS

Summary of Process

🕵️‍♀️

✏️

🧠

🔄

📊

+ phase 1: discovery & research

My research combined qualitative and quantitative methods to understand user behavior, preferences, and pain points.

Research Goals:

UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS NEEDS:

UNDERSTANDING THE USER NEEDS:​

UNCOVERING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES:

+ Phase 2: design

REDESIGNING A USER-FRIENDLY EXPERIENCE

Armed with insights from research, I embarked on the design phase.

My design process

✦ 1. Information Architecture Redesign

Wireframing & Prototyping

I developed low-fidelity wireframes for key pages using Figma, focusing on:

I then transformed the wireframes into interactive prototypes to evaluate navigation and overall user experience which allowed me to:

Agile Design Platform Transition

Bypassing high-fidelity prototyping, I transitioned directly to Shopify development to maximize efficiency and explore the platform's native capabilities.

Design System Development

To ensure consistency and efficiency across the platform, I created a comprehensive design system including:

+ Phase 3: user testing

Unmoderated Usability Study

When I had created an MVP in Shopify, I tested the site with users to gather valuable feedback and validate my design decisions.

Method:

🕵️

unmoderated usability study

Study Goals

📐

information architecture evaluation

🏷️

taxonomy analysis

🤔

uncover confusion

🎯

task completion analysis

🚀

prioritize changes

Key Findings

Usability Study Insights

+ phase 4: design iterations​

Refining the Design

Based on the usability study insights, I synthesized participant feedback and prioritized key changes for the site launch.

Following these user-driven improvements, I took additional steps to enhance the site's overall quality and reach:

Result

Site Performance Metrics

The redesigned Retro Modern Furnishings website demonstrated significant performance improvements across key performance indicators.

Reflection

Stakeholders have already received multiple unprovoked client testimonials praising the website's intuitive design and seamless shopping experience.

Future Recommendations

The website Design

Let's Connect

I’d love to hear from you!

UNDERSTANDING THE USER NEEDS:

+ phase 4: design iterations