Redesigning Decobay’s Website & User Account
Boosting User Engagement and Repeat Purchases
Client
Decobay
Services
UX/UI Design
Industries
Online Retail
Date
2022
Context
Decobay is the largest online store for fabrics and sewing accessories with a catalog of over 10,000 products and an offline network of 5 stores. Despite its impressive scale and assortment, the previous website faced significant issues: an outdated UI, cluttered and illogical navigation, lack of a unified visual language, and an unfriendly user experience.
The company requested a complete redesign of the website and user account to eliminate interface clutter and create a scalable, visually cohesive ecosystem.
My Role
As a Senior UX/UI Designer, I conducted a UX audit, engaged with stakeholders, analyzed data and user behavior, developed the information architecture and visual identity, and collaborated closely with the development and marketing teams. My task was to propose solutions that would make the website intuitive and the purchasing process simple and engaging. Presenting and defending solutions to stakeholders required persuasiveness and the ability to justify decisions, which became a key part of my work.
Challenge
My goal was a deep, product-focused overhaul of the user experience, emphasizing convenient navigation, intuitive interactions, clear structure, and increased user engagement. I needed to address navigation issues that hindered users from quickly finding products, create a visually cohesive design, and introduce new functionality while accounting for existing technical and time constraints.
Approach
I adhere to an iterative approach. When starting the project, it was critical to understand where and why users were getting lost, frustrated, or abandoning the site. The process began with a deep dive into the problem: I conducted a UX audit of the current website, viewing it through the eyes of someone simply trying to buy fabric.
It quickly became clear where the site was "breaking." Users felt like they were navigating a maze where everything was present but impossible to find. Complex navigation, insufficient visual hierarchy, unclear and convoluted menu structures, the absence of filters in 60% of categories (forcing users to waste time searching), a fragmented purchase process with illogical steps, and more. This wasn’t just visual clutter, it was a chaotic system lacking clear logic, forcing users to expend effort to figure out where to click or search.
Research and Insights
The next step was a competitive analysis. I wanted to understand how others tackled similar challenges. I studied 3 direct competitors and 1 indirect competitor, walking through the buyer’s journey on each site to identify what felt convenient and where unexpected difficulties arose. I paid attention to how filters, product cards, category structures, and checkout processes were designed.
This analysis formed a solid foundation for building a new information architecture and the first prototype. Key insights included:
Prototyping
I developed a low-fidelity wireframe of the homepage, focusing not on visuals but on structure, content logic, and key interaction elements like buttons, product cards, and navigation blocks. We discussed it with the team to determine which solutions to pursue and which to abandon. Based on feedback, I refined some decisions and moved to creating the first prototype, which we tested with clients.
The goal was to validate key scenarios: whether users understood the screen structure, navigation transitions, icon meanings, and entry/exit points for each flow. We focused on confirming or disproving hypotheses early to avoid wasting resources on unviable solutions. This approach allowed us to make informed product decisions before release. All testing was conducted using interactive Figma prototypes, with key questions including:
Does the user understand where they are in the site’s structure?
How easily can the user complete their target action?
Are there difficulties in completing the target action?
Are there moments where the user gets lost or makes errors?
Does the interface inspire trust and predictability?
