Double Black
Unleash your inner expert.
ROLE
UX/UI Designer
CLIENT
Double Black Ski
SOFTWARE
Figma, Shopify
TIMELINE
4 Weeks
Who is Double Black Ski?
Double Black Ski is a ski brand and clothing company. Double Black embodies those who challenge themselves and want to reach new heights and look good doing so. The current website allows users to purchase stylish winter clothing while getting a glimpse of the brand’s story.
Don’t feel like reading? Check out the live website here!
My Role
The task at hand is to provide Double Black Ski with a website redesign using their current Shopify platform. To successfully redesign the website, I will follow design thinking steps to create a user-friendly website that follows the brand’s strategy. Through communication with the client, the development and delivery phases will be ensured upon milestones.
Tasks include:
Update the functionality of the website
Make an easier-to-use navigation bar
Combine function with visual appeal
Update product photos
Photo and video editing
Create an “About” page
Incorporate social media
Edit the HTML/CSS coding when needed
What’s the Problem?
1
Confusing User Flow
Currently, no map out of a user flow to get the user from starting point to the end point.
2
Inconsistent Imagery
Imagery changes in sizes and quality throughout the website.
3
No Sense of Community
Lack of brand-to-consumer connection while on the website.
Let’s find a Solution!
1
Confusing User Flow
Research competitors, pain points, and create a new user flow.
2
Inconsistent Imagery
Create wireframes and drafts of differing image sizes to see what fits the brand best.
3
No Sense of Community
Create a new “About” page to connect to users and add socials for more connections.
Project Scope
Before researching, I met with my client to discuss the business goals of the website and target consumers to design for. This includes the company’s vision, target group, user needs, product, and website’s business goals.
Product Vision Board
Competitive Audit
The client gave me a list of website examples of different winter apparel websites that have a similar feel to Double Black Ski. I compared the strengths and weaknesses, prices, social media, and user flows.
Define the Problem
Based on the current state of the website, I created a graph of pain points to measure the importance of the user’s needs and the user's satisfaction with current solutions.
I put three categories of issues within the graph.
Important and the user is NOT satisfied
Important and the user IS satisfied
Not as important.
Categorized Pain Points
Problem Statement
Scott is a snowboarder who needs an accessible website to purchase winter apparel because he is not located in a spot where he can access the in-person store.
Planning Phase
I created a sitemap to keep track of and visualize the website’s structure while understanding how users will use the website.
Sitemap
User Flow
I created a user flow to understand the different routes the user will take to complete the end goal.
Explore Solutions
I created medium-fidelity wireframes to view my user flow visually. Next, I turned them into high-fidelity screens and prototyped them in Shopify.
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes
Old UI
New UI
Coming to Life
To create more movement in the page, I added image effects and made the text fade-in and out of the page depending on where the user is on the screen.
Text Animations
About Page
I created a new “About” page about the brand and wrote a new background biography to exemplify its core values.
Video Editing
While designing the homepage, I created a video advertisement to attract users to the brand’s social media and keep them engaged with an example of one of their Instagram reels.
The client and I agreed on the importance of accessibility and with the use of accessiBe, users can adjust the content, colors, orientation, and choose a customized accessibility profile.
Implementing this technology is crucial for those who have permanent, temporary, or situational disabilities.
User Accessibility
Let’s Reflect
As I progress my UI/UX career, I’m thankful for this opportunity to land my first freelance client. Working with Double Black Ski and coordinating with their team has taught me the importance of communication, receiving feedback, and collaboration.
Learning how to take my designs to the next level by making a real live website was incredible to see come to fruition. Implementing the designs into Shopify’s website builder was not the easiest task due to the lack of customization options on the platform. However, figuring out how to edit the code was a long but worthwhile task and gained me skills I can use in the future.
I want to give a special thanks to Joey and Hayden on the Double Black team for teaching me about their brand and guiding me in the right design direction. I am forever grateful and cannot wait to see where Double Black goes!