commercial project
Roles:
UX Designer
UI Designer
UX Researcher
Low-code Developer
Scope:
Market Research
UX Audit
UX Design
UI Design
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Team:
Me (design + no-code)
Blue-Mint Agency (development)
Duration:
6 months
Problem:
The company's previous website was outdated and ill-suited to the business's dynamic growth. It did not reflect the company’s aspirations to build global brand recognition and expand into international markets. An additional issue was the ordering system, which relied solely on phone and email communication. This approach created numerous difficulties for both customers and the sales team — causing friction in the purchasing process and significantly limiting the effectiveness of the sales funnel.
Solution:
A modern website should serve a dual purpose: acting as an intuitive platform for product inquiries and a credible source of industry knowledge. With a rich library of technical materials targeted at lighting engineers, the website will not only enhance user engagement but also emphasize the company’s expertise and experience in the sector.
Results:
The new website has been launched and equipped with advanced features such as a product configurator, inquiry form, and designer zone. Thanks to these solutions, users now have easier access to the information they need, and the ordering process has become smoother and more efficient.
The company was founded in 2011, starting its operations from scratch. In its early years, it focused its resources on building know-how and strengthening its market position. The company specializes in the production of industrial lighting, with its key product line consisting of explosion-proof luminaires—designed for use in high-risk environments such as refineries, drilling platforms, and distillation plants. Due to the high level of specialization and a limited group of end users, the sale of such products requires a well-targeted approach.
Untapped potential
▪️ The company's products are perceived as reliable and high-quality, but at the same time more expensive than competing alternatives. For example, those from China, which makes it difficult to compete in price-sensitive markets.
▪️ The brand is not globally recognized – the company has not yet established a strong presence in the minds of international customers, which results in lower trust compared to well-known global manufacturers.
▪️ There is a lack of a clear value proposition – key strengths such as build quality, durability, and compliance with stringent safety standards are not being effectively communicated or emphasized.
▪️ The process of making contact and submitting inquiries is complicated and unintuitive.
The website performs poorly
▪️ There is a lack of CTA (call-to-action) buttons on product pages, which is a critical performance indicator at the final stage of the sales funnel,
▪️ Contact is available only on the "Contact" page, which forces users to leave the product page,
▪️ A relatively high number of users (75,000 in 2023), primarily from organic traffic,
▪️ Only 5.3% returning visitors, indicating weak user retention on the website,
▪️ The website does not sufficiently support the conversion process,
▪️ Low average session duration—just 38 seconds,
▪️ The website has an outdated layout.
Oops! That's the wrong way
I started by creating a research plan, a screener, and conducting the first in-depth interviews. I based my initial outreach on a list of clients provided by the sales team and analyzed companies that had purchased our products in the past two years. I focused specifically on orders related to explosion-proof lighting, since that’s one of our company’s key strengths in the market.
And that’s when I realized I’d made a mistake.
It turned out that in many industrial electrical projects, lighting requirements are strictly defined, and the people placing the orders often have little to no say in which lighting products get used. They’re just following the specifications.
That insight made me pivot.
I decided to shift focus to Lighting Designers - they’re the ones who actually influence the choice of lighting fixtures. I conducted six additional interviews with them, which gave me much deeper insight into their needs and helped shape the next steps of the project.
Most important insights from IDIs:
1
They are data focused
Lighting Designers need access to detailed technical data. For them, the availability of clear and complete product specifications is crucial. The product name itself is usually just a reference code they use when communicating with the manufacturer.
2
They are overworked and busy
These professionals value their time. When they visit a website and can't quickly find the product they need, they don’t come back and try again. We need to support them in their day-to-day work to improve retention on our site.
3
They use new technologies
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a 3D representation of a building, enriched with various types of data. More importantly, it facilitates communication and collaboration between all stakeholders involved in the design and construction process.
Lighting Designers
Let them stay
During usability testing, many users expressed frustration with the difficulty of finding the right contact person. They preferred to continue searching online, looking for alternatives with clear pricing or at least a simple contact form. I identified this issue as critical because it hinders the site’s conversion rate and leads to significant loss of potential customers. Additionally, the lack of a clear CTA button prevents tracking user interest in products, depriving the company of valuable sales and product insights.
To address this, I designed a user flow that aligns with every stage of the sales funnel, providing users with support and guidance throughout the entire process.
Let's make a tool for them
Products configurator that leads you
The layout is simple and easy to use, with a clear product image that helps users quickly understand the offering. However, the process involves too many steps, hidden options dependent on previous selections, and lacks standardization, which leads to confusion. To improve this, the choices should be simplified, dependencies clearly revealed, and a consistent design applied across the entire site.
Another issue was that users had to make selections twice: first during product search and filtering, and then again on the configurator page. To solve this, I merged these two user flows into one smooth process. It starts on the homepage and ends with submitting an inquiry and placing an order. I propose adding individual configurators to each product page, allowing users to make product-specific selections directly on that page.
Testing time!
My goal was to evaluate the entire system—the website and the configurator—as a cohesive whole. Once the configurator MVP was ready for testing, I added two different products and conducted extensive usability tests with 10 real users, aged 18 to 56, with varying skill levels.
Confusing step order – CRITICAL
No system response - CRITICAL
Configurator location - SERIOUS
After six months of intensive but rewarding work, we have achieved the following results:
