Urban Sundry, founded in 2017 by Barbie Coleman, blends storytelling with retail in the heart of German Village. This thoughtfully curated boutique offers gifts, home goods, and apparel designed for a relaxed, lived-in lifestyle. Known for its warm atmosphere and Clyde, the owner's friendly corgi, Urban Sundry has become a local favorite, turning every visit into a unique shopping experience.
Team
Solo Project
My Role
UX/UI Designer
Duration
3 week sprint
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Slack, Optimal Sort, Zoom, Toggl
Challenge
How might we transform Urban Sundry’s digital store into an experience that matches the charm and personality of the physical one?
The original website had limited functionality and visual appeal. Navigation was clunky, product discovery was a challenge, and the checkout experience was far from seamless. The online shop didn’t reflect the brand’s values—or the delightful moments that make a visit to Urban Sundry memorable.
Solution
To bridge the gap between Urban Sundry's inviting in-store ambiance and its underwhelming digital presence, I focused on creating a more intuitive and immersive online experience. The solution began with enhancing the site’s information architecture and user interface, improving the product discovery journey, and integrating intuitive, joyful moments that would mirror the boutique’s in-person charm. The new design would not only reflect the store's personality but also remove friction points in the shopping process, especially for gift-givers looking for quick, thoughtful purchases.
Original Website (clickable)
Competitive & Comparative
To uncover where the current website was falling short, I began with a competitive and comparative analysis, I identified key usability gaps in Urban Sundry's eCommerce site. The global navigation lacked clear categories, filtering and sorting options were limited, making product discovery difficult. Product pages were missing detailed descriptions, brand recognition, and multiple images for better user perspective. Additionally, the site lacked product recommendations, reducing opportunities for cross-selling. The checkout process was also inconvenient, requiring manual credit card entry for users without a Shop Pay account. These issues highlight significant areas for improvement in navigation, product presentation, and checkout experience.
User Research
In addition to heuristic evaluations, I conducted four user interviews and contextual inquiries to better understand customers’ motivations and behaviors.
I learned the following:
Shoppers prefer supporting small businesses and seek unique, personalized gifts
An intuitive navigation and filtering system enhances the shopping experience
High-quality images from multiple angles are essential for their purchasing decisions
Detailed product descriptions and customer reviews help build trust
A fast seamless checkout process with digital payment options is crucial
Personalized recommendations and product suggestions help indecisive shoppers
Users appreciate features that make finding and selecting the perfect gift easier
Lengthy checkouts discourage purchases
Shoppers appreciate a streamlined homepage that showcases new arrivals, bestsellers, and easy-to-browse categories.
Affinity Map
With a clearer view of user needs, I organized the interview insights using an affinity mapping method. I grouped similar thoughts together, and several patterns emerged
The User
Emma
Age: 37 Occupation: Director of Global Technology Operations Family: Married, Mother of 2 year old
Background:
Emma is a dedicated wife and mother who juggles a high-pressure corporate job. While she is passionate about her work, she also cherishes spending quality time with her family and friends. Known for being a social butterfly, Emma is often invited to numerous gatherings and parties. She believes in showing up with a thoughtful gift and never settles for something impersonal or generic.
Frustrations
Overwhelming choices with no clear guidance
Unorganized product arrangements
Lack of images and product information
Needs
A frictionless purchasing experience
To shop efficiently
Curated gift suggestion
Goals
Make informed purchase decision
Features to streamline options( search, filter, sort, save)
Seamless checkout experience
Problem Statement
“Emma needs a better way to find the perfect personal gift because she used to go to her favorite local stores but does not have the free time to do so these days.”
Card Sorting
Because Urbran Sundry has a large inventory of items, it is important to provide a clear path for the users to navigate through it, in order to provide the best experience, making sure the users can find what they are looking for.
Therefore I conducted an online, open card sort remotely with 6 participants using Figjam in order to observe how people naturally organize a variety of items. From this study, I discovered that the most common trend was sorting the items by gifts and product category (Womens, Kitchen & Bar, Home, ect) and then breaking those down into product type ( Tops, Bottoms, Accessories, ect). These insights helped me define a more intuitive information architecture, reflected in a new site map designed for ease of discovery.
The Spark of an Idea
Site Map
With Emma's needs in mind and the information I gathered from card sorting, I put together a site map to outline the organization of all the content on the new website.
Task Flow
From there, I mapped out the journey Emma might take—from landing on the homepage to finding a gift and completing a purchase. This guided the features I prioritized in design: filtering, quick add, smart recommendations, and frictionless checkout.
Sketches
At this point, I started sketching different ideas for the layout of the new website reflecting Emma's needs and common design patterns that I researched during my competitive and comparative analysis.
Wireframe
After identifying the wireframes that best aligned with Emma’s goals and needs, I developed a series of mid-fidelity wireframes in Figma. These included the Home Page, Category Page, Product Listing Page, Product Detail Page, Checkout Pages, and Purchase Confirmation Page, establishing the foundational layout and structure of the website.
Usability Testing
To validate my design, I conducted 3 usability tests to evaluate my frames interaction. I asked each participant to follow my task flow and each user was able to complete their task successfully. I observed each participants screen as they clicked around on the prototypes, and asked them to share any thoughts or feelings that came up.
1.
When reviewing the image on the product page one user started clicking on the product images, and let me know they wish they would enlarge.
This lead me to adding a featuring allowing the user to click on the product images to view a larger image.
2.
One user tried to click out of the cart and go back to the product page instead of to the shopping cart/checkout page.
I addressed this by adding a exit button on the cart pop up so they could go back to the product page and continue their journey from there.
3.
Some users mentioned that they wished the products that were being suggestion had a quick add button.
This lead me to adding the quick add function to those.
HiFi
With those updates implemented, I developed high-fidelity prototypes in Figma. My focus was to bring the warmth of the physical store into the digital space—through color palette, playful yet clean typography, and thoughtful spacing. I refined the font sizes and experimented with new typefaces to better capture Urban Sundry’s personality. I also prioritized consistency and simplicity to ensure users could browse with ease.
Check out the prototype below
Learnings
This project helped me learn the critical role that research and testing plays in building a product that provides a solution to not only what the users think they want, but something that the user truly needs. This was a learning experience that truly taught me a number of important skills that a UX Designer needs. With my newly attained knowledge and skills, I feel more confident in my ability to tackle new projects.
The Outcome
The redesigned experience brings Urban Sundry’s in-store magic online. With a refreshed look, thoughtful organization, and improved usability, the site empowers customers like Emma to shop with confidence—and find gifts that feel personal and memorable.