PROJECT OVERVIEW

Seattle Fishing Company is an e-commerce platform specializing in selling fishing tackle, where I am currently freelancing as a designer. My role involves redesigning the user interface to enhance usability, streamline the shopping experience, and increase overall customer satisfaction. As a result of these design improvements, the company has seen a 19% increase in returning customers, add to cart rate by 5.3%, and boost in sales.

My Role

UX DESIGNER

Time Frame

8 Weeks

Tools

Figma

Illustrator

Photoshop

Shopify

GOAL

The goal for the redesign is to increase returning guest and create a clear distinction between freshwater and saltwater fishing. Ensuring that within each category products are tailored to the specific game fish anglers are targeting. This will streamline the shopping experience, making it easier for users to find the right gear for their specific fishing needs.

PROBLEM

Online fishing retailers offer a vast product selections, but lack intuitive ways to filter gears based on specific fishing types. This creates a frustrating experience, especially for beginners. Our goal is to simplify the online shopping experience by providing clear filtering system that help both novice and experienced anglers confidently find the right equipment for their needs.

MARKET RESEARCH

Analysis:

  • Orvis uses a structured, action-based navigation that adapts to the user’s previous selections, narrowing down to saltwater or freshwater fishing.

  • The fly selection filter is robust, allowing filtering by both fish species and fly type.

  • These filters work together to help users easily find the right products.

Takeaways:

  • Uses adaptive navigation to create a more personalized shopping experience.

  • Implement robust filtering for targeted fishing.

  • integrate filters seamlessly for cohesive product selection.

Analysis:

  • Offers a “shop by species” option for certain categories like jigs but not for lures, accessories, or fishing lines.

  • The saltwater fishing category is too broad, combining species like salmon, trout, squid, and halibut under the same product grouping.

  • Users can only filter by brand, size, availability, or offers, making it hard to find species-specific gear.

Takeaways:

  • Expand the “shop by species” feature across all product categories.

  • Refine the categorization for saltwater species to make it more specific and user-friendly.

  • Add a “Filter by Fish” option in the filter bar for better product discovery in all fishing related products.

Analysis:

  • Sportsman’s Warehouse has a dedicated page for saltwater gear (rods, lures, reels, tackle), providing clarity on where the gear is used.

  • The site lacks detailed product grouping and filtering by species.

  • All saltwater lures are grouped together, without specifying which fish they are best suited for, making it hard for users to find specific gear.

Takeaways:

  • Categorize products by specific fish they are intended for.

  • Add a “Filter by Fish” option to improve user experience and product discovery.

ARCHETYPES

USER FLOW

  • This user flow provides three primary navigation paths. The call to action button as the main followed by “Shop by Pursuit” and the nav bar. These options allow guests to explore the website and locate the ideal gear for specific game fish.

DESIGN SYSTEM

My goal is to create a visual identity that reflects the brand core values and set the visual aesthetic tone of the brand before the design process.

I introduced a set of standards and guidelines for creating consistent design elements across platforms to ensure cohesive branding.

WIREFRAMES

My intention for the redesign of Seattle Fishing Co. website is to built it in a way that is logical and user-friendly to enhance the user experience.

  • Clear Hierarchy: divided into sections that is easy to understand. From general information, action-driven sections and storytelling to built credibility & trust.

  • Visual Balance: the layout alternates between product images to rich text to share valuable information to our guest.

  • Conversion Points: a call to action to encourage and direct users to the products they might be interested in.

  • Responsive and scalable design: easy to adapt for different screen sizes.

USABILITY TESTING

  • The users preferred using the navigation bar over the “Shop now” button.

  • While having “Freshwater” and “Saltwater” as a visual subheading. It didn’t have any impact of making there selections.

  • They appreciated the card-based product navigation and found it easy to use.

  • Felt the title and product description provided enough information, even with limited fishing knowledge.

  • Rated the experience 8/10 for ease and speed in finding a species and products.

FINAL DESIGN

Figma prototype of the user flow

This is the live version of the mobile experience for targeted fishing.

REFLECTION

This freelance UX design job has challenged me to strengthen my critical and creative thinking skills by prioritizing user needs and their pain points to create an effective solutions. Working with Seattle Fishing Co. allowed me to observe and understand the complete user journey, from initial navigation to checkout. I am grateful for this opportunity and the valuable experience it has provided as a designer.

My few main takeaways:

  • Balancing both roles as a designer and developer while learning a new platform, Shopify, has tested me to explore the limits of my designs within Shopify's parameters. This experience taught me to balance what’s possible and feasible.

  • Sometimes, the path you prefer isn't the most effective. During usability testing and heatmap analysis, only 25% of users clicked the “Shop Now” button. The users have preferred the navigation bar for specific searches. This could possibly be a mental model that felt familiar.

  • I learned not to become too attached to my designs, as there is always room for improvement and fresh perspectives that get’s me closer to an even better solution.