E-Commerce Optimization

How do you build an integrated e-commerce ecosystem for a men’s personal care brand?

Where

Cardon

Role

Project Lead

Duration

~5 months

Skills

Project management
E-commerce strategy
Design strategy
Brand & creative direction

Overview

As Cardon's E-commerce Growth Manager, I spearheaded the brand's first comprehensive website overhaul to beautify and optimize both the user experience and the backend of the entire e-commerce ecosystem.

Disclaimer: High-fidelity wireframe designs displayed in this case study were created by a third-party agency.

As Cardon’s E-commerce Growth Manager, I spearheaded the brand’s first comprehensive website overhaul to beautify and optimize both the user experience and the backend of the entire e-commerce ecosystem.

Disclaimer: High-fidelity wireframe designs displayed in this case study were created by a third-party agency.

Understanding

the problem

Before I joined, Cardon's site had UX friction, and the internal team was doing a lot of manual work managing an overflowing backend of disjointed tools. Working closely with a design and development agency, I scoped a full revamp to revisit brand strategy and messaging, optimize product discovery, and rebuild the backend around a fluid CMS.

Before I joined, Cardon’s site had UX friction, and the internal team was doing a lot of manual work managing an overflowing backend of disjointed tools. Working closely with a design and development agency, I scoped a full revamp to revisit brand strategy and messaging, optimize product discovery, and rebuild the backend around a fluid CMS.

Discovery & Research

The team had a backlog of requests but no clear picture of the "why, how, and where" behind the user pain points so I ran preliminary user research. I designed usability tests for both new and returning customers, a first-impressions test and a subscription-journey test, then affinity-mapped the findings against our business goals. The mapping helped illuminate where to focus the redesign.

The team had a backlog of requests but no clear picture of the “why, how, and where” behind the user pain points so I ran preliminary user research. I designed usability tests for both new and returning customers, a first-impressions test and a subscription-journey test, then affinity-mapped the findings against our business goals. The mapping helped illuminate where to focus the redesign.

What I Designed

I led a brand audit to refresh voice and hierarchy then supervised the design reviews, owning the feedback process and contributing solutions directly. Three had the most impact. First, a restructured navigation and Information Architecture (IA), tested through card-sorting. Second, a homepage product finder that matched users to products by skin concern. Third, a recommendation widget that surfaced a product selector previously buried at the bottom of the subscription portal. I also directed the photo and video shoots for all the new content, and we had a lot of shooting to do!

Implementation & Migration

The biggest challenge was the backend: integrating 20+ new applications and migrating to a new domain. I built an agile strategy that split it into five phases, running iterative user-acceptance testing to keep bugs contained.

Other Work

We were a small startup team, so managing a large-scale project like this entailed working on multiple projects simultaneously, and fast. Below is a list of additional contributions I made:

Managed content production of all new photo/video assets
Oversaw quiz platform development
Spearheaded educational blog redesign and migration
Implemented a new e-commerce review platform
Designed a subscription loyalty program

Managed content production of all new photo/video assets
Oversaw quiz platform development
Spearheaded educational blog redesign and migration
Implemented a new e-commerce review platform
Designed a subscription loyalty program

The Results

We launched in under four months, with a 50%+ lift in onsite AOV, a 5%+ increase in new subscription rates, and a sharp drop in customer complaints. Results this fast are rare for an overhaul this size, especially through a domain migration, but we did it!

Learnings

user research is the key to prioritization
pivot when necessary
listen to the experts (in this case, the agency)

user research is the key to prioritization
pivot when necessary
listen to the experts (in this case, the agency)

LIVE SITE

Check out the live Cardon website

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