E-Commerce Website IA
A research-driven redesign of the site’s navigation using tree testing, card sorting, and usability interviews to uncover pain points in labeling, hierarchy, and structure. Insights informed new Figma prototypes and a simplified, user-centered information architecture aimed at improving product findability and reducing friction.
Challenge:
A jewelry e-commerce website was experiencing low product discoverability, poor smartphone engagement, and unclear navigation. Users struggled to find items efficiently, indicating issues with the site’s information architecture (IA) and labeling system.
Tree Testing
Conducted a tree test to uncover pain points in the site’s navigation, which revealed low task success rates and confusion around the category hierarchy. These findings highlighted the need for clearer labeling and a more intuitive structure to support user wayfinding.
Card Sorting
An open card sort was ran to understand how users naturally group and label product categories. This highlighted mismatches between user expectations and existing labels.
Figma Prototype
Created three interactive Figma prototypes with revised IA and category structures. One being the control, one with a different interaction, and one with different information architecture.
User Interviews
Analyzed 31 interviews in Dovetail to extract recurring themes and patterns of task failure. Findings revealed that unclear labels, redundant navigation paths, and inconsistent structure were major usability barriers.
Reporting
This research-driven process highlighted the critical role of clear information architecture and intuitive navigation in supporting product discoverability, especially on mobile devices. By combining tree testing, card sorting, and usability testing, we uncovered and validated key user pain points. The insights directly informed a more user-centered navigation model with simplified labels and clearer category groupings. These improvements are expected to enhance findability, reduce friction during shopping, and ultimately improve conversion rates. This project reinforced the importance of iterative testing and aligning structure with user mental models.