Reimagining the digital pen shopping experience
Uniball’s e-commerce platform was underperforming due to poor product discoverability and limited comparison capabilities. Shoppers struggled to evaluate pens based on critical attributes like ink type, point size, and price, leading to friction, decision fatigue, and abandoned sessions. I was responsible for designing a scalable product browsing and comparison experience that reduced friction, improved decision confidence, and enabled faster, more informed purchases across the catalog.
Role
Senior Product Designer
Client
uniball
Timeline
6 months
Project Scope
- Owned end-to-end UX and interaction design - Led research synthesis, information architecture, and interaction patterns - Designed filtering, comparison, and product detail experiences - Partnered with engineering and stakeholders to balance UX goals with technical constraints
The Challenge
Users struggled to confidently evaluate products on Uniball’s site, leading to hesitation, frustration, and abandoned sessions. Three core issues emerged: - Difficulty accessing meaningful product specifications - Ineffective filtering that lacked decision-critical criteria (ink type, pen type, price) - No way to compare products side-by-side during evaluation
Project Goals
- Implement comprehensive product specifications on all product pages - Develop an advanced filtering system with improved visibility and efficiency - Create an intuitive product comparison tool for informed decision making
Research & Discovery
To understand where users struggled and why, I synthesized insights from: - Customer surveys and interviews - Behavioral analytics across product and category pages - Persona and journey mapping focused on evaluation and selection
Key Decision
Expose only decision-critical attributes up front
While users wanted more product information, testing showed that surfacing too many attributes at once increased hesitation. This insight directly informed a progressive disclosure approach used across filtering, comparison, and product detail views.
The Solution
Key Decision
Use persistent, real-time filtering over dropdown-based controls
I explored both multi-select dropdown filters and persistent sidebar filters, and chose a persistent, real-time model to reduce cognitive load on large product catalogs and allow users to immediately see the impact of selections without page reloads.
Advanced Filtering System
- Real-time filter updates - Multiple filtering criteria (Ink Color, Body Material, Point Size) - Clear visibility of active filters
Key Decision
Limit comparisons to three products
Engineering constraints limited the number of products that could be compared simultaneously. I intentionally capped comparisons to three items to preserve clarity and performance under real-time filtering constraints, prioritizing decision quality over breadth.
Product Comparison Tool
- Side-by-side comparison capability - Key specification highlighting - Easy add/remove functionality
Key Decision
Prioritize primary specs with progressive disclosure
Research showed ink type and point size were the primary decision drivers. I prioritized these attributes while progressively disclosing secondary specs to avoid overwhelming users during evaluation.
Enhanced Product Pages
- Detailed specification sections - Clear attribute presentation - Improved product imagery and information hierarchy
Outcomes
14.75 sec
decrease in time to locate product specifications
164%
increase in product comparison efficiency
383%
increase in product search speed
8.63
NPS increased from 7.13 to 8.63