Maison Market
Elevating a boutique marketplace to feel like a curated gallery
Overview
The problem
A curated marketplace for independent makers was losing its premium positioning. Product pages felt like generic templates, discovery was limited to search, and the checkout experience eroded trust with unexpected friction.
The solution
A visual-first redesign that treats each product page as a story: large immersive imagery, maker profiles with narrative copy, and a streamlined one-page checkout with transparent progress. Discovery was enhanced with editorial collections and mood-based browsing.
My role
I joined as a consultant to audit the existing experience, redesign the product detail and checkout flows, and establish a component system that the internal team could extend. I delivered a 60-page design spec and ran two handoff workshops.
Process
Research
I analyzed 40 session recordings and surveyed 120 customers. The biggest drop-off was at checkout step three, where shipping costs appeared unexpectedly. I also ran a competitive audit of 6 luxury e-commerce sites to identify trust-building patterns.
Wireframing
I restructured the product page around a "story arc": hero image, maker introduction, product details, social proof, and clear CTA. For checkout, I collapsed the multi-step flow into a single scrollable page with a sticky summary and trust badges.
Prototyping
I built clickable prototypes for the product page and checkout, testing them with 6 participants. The single-page checkout reduced perceived complexity significantly; one minor finding led to making the shipping calculator always visible above the fold.
Visuals
Outcome
The redesign rolled out to 100% of traffic within eight weeks. Checkout completion improved by 27%, and qualitative feedback highlighted that customers felt more confident in their purchases. The component system is still in active use today.