Didriksons
A UX research and design project that improved Didriksons’ mobile e-commerce navigation. Focused on search functionality, menu structure, and back-navigation to reduce user frustration and increase engagement.
- Role: UX Researcher & Mobile UI Designer
- Timespan: 4 weeks
- Tools: Usability Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping, Expert Evaluations (Heuristics), Figma
Friction in the Mobile Purchase Flow
Didriksons’ e-commerce site created frustration for mobile users. Core issues included a rigid search function requiring exact terms, unclear menu hierarchy, and lack of local navigation (forcing users to rely on the browser’s back button). This friction risked lowering customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Usability Testing and Iterative Design
The project was based on an iterative design cycle. We began with usability testing with the target group to realistically identify specific navigation pain points. Insights were then used to create before-and-after design proposals, benchmarked against UX principles.
– Search: Users quickly gave up when the search function didn’t tolerate misspellings or offer relevant suggestions.
– Menu: The menu was text-heavy and lacked visual cues, forcing users to read instead of quickly scanning.
– Local Navigation: The absence of breadcrumbs and clear page-level back buttons created a feeling of being “stuck” in the wrong part of the site.
Improved Structure and Visual Guidance
We delivered an intuitive mobile navigation aligned with users’ mental models. The redesign focused on clear hierarchy, visual guidance, and flow flexibility
– Search: Dynamic search with tolerance for misspellings and quick access to recent/popular searches.
– Menu: Visually guided menu structure with category images and clearer visual hierarchy.
– Local Navigation: Enhancements including breadcrumbs, page-level back buttons, and modal-based filtering to give users full control of their position
Expert evaluations confirmed that the new solutions would significantly reduce friction and increase user satisfaction, expected to lead to higher conversion rates.
I learned how small, fundamental UX flaws (such as the absence of a clear back button) in mobile e-commerce can have a large cumulative effect on user frustration and directly impact business outcomes.
Due to time constraints, A/B testing needed to be implemented to quantify the actual conversion increase. Further exploration could examine how customer service cases related to navigation decreased.
