UGallery Website Redesign

Product Type: E-commerce Web Platform
Industry: Online Art & Collectables
Timeline: 6 Months
Engagement Type: Confidential Enterprise Redesign

Executive Summary

Business Problem
UGallery’s legacy e-commerce platform was limiting growth due to poor performance, outdated interaction patterns, and the absence of a mobile experience. The system architecture created latency during browsing and checkout, directly impacting conversion and user trust—critical for high-value art purchases.

Strategic UX Opportunity
The redesign presented an opportunity to reposition UGallery as a premium, enterprise-grade art commerce platform by aligning performance, usability, and trust-building design with modern e-commerce expectations.

My Leadership Role
I led the UX strategy and experience transformation end-to-end—shaping the product vision, guiding architectural UX decisions, influencing technical prioritisation, and steering design execution across web and mobile. I partnered closely with engineering, business stakeholders, and internal UX teams to ensure decisions balanced user needs, system constraints, and commercial outcomes.

High-Level Impact
The initiative delivered a faster, mobile-responsive, conversion-optimised experience with simplified checkout, improved discoverability, and a modern interaction model—directly supporting revenue growth, operational scalability, and user confidence.

Business Problem & Market Context

Core Challenges

• Legacy infrastructure caused slow load times, especially during high-traffic browsing and checkout.
• UI patterns did not reflect contemporary e-commerce standards, reducing user confidence for high-value transactions.
• A five-step checkout flow created friction and abandonment.
• No mobile experience existed, excluding a growing segment of art buyers.

Enterprise & Operational Constraints

• Existing database and application services were hosted on a single server, limiting scalability.
• The platform needed to support multi-language users and varied devices.
• Performance and security were critical due to payment processing and user account management.

Why This Mattered
In the premium art market, trust, clarity, and performance are inseparable from conversion. Every usability or latency issue directly translates into lost sales and reputational risk.

UX Strategy & Design Vision

Product Vision
Design a premium, fast, and trustworthy art-buying experience that feels effortless across devices while reinforcing UGallery’s curated, high-quality positioning.

Experience Principles

• Confidence First: Reduce cognitive load at every decision point.
• Speed as Trust: Performance treated as a UX feature.
• Frictionless Commerce: Minimise steps between intent and purchase.
• Device Agnostic: Consistent experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Key Hypotheses

• Reducing checkout steps will increase completion rates.
• Inline interactions (sliders, notifications) will improve perceived speed.
• Mobile access will expand reach and engagement.

Success Metrics

• Checkout completion rate
• Page load performance
• Mobile engagement and conversion
• Drop-off reduction during login and payment

User Research & Insights

Methods Used

• Task-based evaluations of the existing website
• Heuristic analysis against e-commerce usability standards
• Stakeholder interviews with business and engineering teams

Primary User Segments

• Art collectors and repeat buyers
• First-time visitors exploring curated artwork
• Mobile-first browsers researching before purchase

Critical Insights

• Users expected e-commerce patterns they already trusted from retail platforms.
• Multi-page checkout created uncertainty and hesitation during payment.
• Slow feedback during login and cart updates reduced confidence.
• Mobile users were completely unsupported despite strong demand.

Experience Architecture & Journey Design

Journey Highlights

• Discovery → Artwork Detail → Add to Cart → Checkout → Confirmation

Key Friction Points

• Page reloads during login and cart actions
• Redundant steps in checkout
• Inconsistent hierarchy and visual prioritisation

Strategic IA Decisions

• Consolidated checkout into a single, structured page
• Introduced instant login sliders and system feedback
• Simplified navigation to prioritise artwork discovery

Trade-offs
Certain advanced features were deferred to prioritise performance, clarity, and conversion-critical flows.

Design Execution

Interaction & Visual Approach

• Clean, gallery-first layouts to let artwork lead
• Familiar e-commerce patterns to reduce the learning curve
• Subtle motion and inline feedback for responsiveness

Component Strategy

• Reusable UI components for scalability
• Consistent interaction patterns across devices

Accessibility & Scalability

• Readable typography and contrast for artwork details
• Responsive layouts built with MS.NET MVC
• Designed to support future feature expansion

Collaboration
Worked in close partnership with engineering during the server upgrade and responsive implementation to ensure UX intent translated into performance outcomes.

Validation & Iteration

Validation Approach

• Internal usability walkthroughs
• Stakeholder reviews aligned to business KPIs
• Iterative refinement based on task completion feedback

Risk Mitigation

• Simplified flows reduced error probability
• Inline feedback reduced uncertainty during transactions
• Performance improvements validated early through staged rollouts

Business Impact & Measurable Outcomes

Quantitative Outcomes

• Reduced checkout flow from five steps to one
• Improved page load performance through architectural separation
• Increased mobile accessibility and engagement

Qualitative Outcomes

• Stronger user trust during payment
• Clearer purchase confidence for high-value artwork
• Perception shift toward a premium, professional platform

UX Influence
UX strategy directly shaped technical decisions around server architecture, prioritising performance as a business enabler.

Leadership & Influence

• Acted as UX owner across strategy, execution, and validation
• Influenced engineering prioritisation through experience-led rationale
• Aligned stakeholders around shared success metrics
• Scaled UX practices through reusable patterns and standards

Challenges & Trade-offs

Constraints

• Legacy infrastructure limitations
• Tight coordination between UX and backend upgrades

Hard Decisions

• Prioritised core commerce flows over secondary enhancements
• Balanced visual richness with performance requirements

Complexity Management
Used phased delivery and clear UX principles to maintain focus and alignment.

Key Learnings & Reflection

What Worked

• Treating performance as a UX concern
• Simplifying flows to build trust
• Early alignment between UX and engineering

What Could Improve

• Earlier user testing with real customers
• Deeper analytics integration post-launch

Leadership Growth
Reinforced the importance of UX leadership beyond screens—driving architectural, operational, and strategic decisions.

Summary

• Led end-to-end UX strategy for a premium e-commerce platform
• Transformed legacy workflows into conversion-optimised experiences
• Influenced backend architecture through UX-led performance strategy
• Delivered mobile-first, enterprise-grade responsiveness
• Balanced business goals, technical constraints, and user trust
• Demonstrated UX leadership beyond UI execution