From mobile browsing to a connected shopping experience.
BuildMyPlace is a home-improvement commerce business that operated through its website. I designed its first mobile app to connect product discovery, checkout, and order management in one experience.
As the sole product designer, I owned the end-to-end mobile UI/UX and worked with one developer to translate existing functionality into a cohesive mobile journey.
- ROLE
- Senior UI/UX Designer
- TEAM
- 1 designer + 1 developer
- TIMELINE
- Nov 2024 – Jan 2025
- SCREENS
- 40+ screens · 2 iterations
Problem
The business was seeing a decline in website click-through rate, while customers encountered friction across the shopping journey. Getting started, navigating categories, completing shipping details, and locating previous orders were key areas of difficulty.
With a significant share of traffic coming from smaller screens, these issues made the mobile experience a priority.
Business Goals
Encourage existing mobile visitors to adopt the app, reduce checkout drop-off, and increase purchase conversion. The design focused on clearer discovery, a structured checkout, and accessible order information.
Research & Key Insights
We spent one week reviewing Microsoft Clarity analytics and more than 100 user journeys to identify where customers struggled.
- 60% of traffic came from mobile and tablet, compared with 40% from desktop.
- Category navigation caused confusion, making relevant products difficult to find.
- Customers abandoned carts at the shipping form, making this stage a priority.
- Order history was difficult to locate, affecting the experience after purchase.
Information Architecture & User Flows
I organised the app into five areas:
- Onboarding
- Discover
- Product
- Checkout
- Account
The primary purchase flow connected browsing and search to product evaluation, cart, shipping, payment, and confirmation. Secondary flows covered location changes, wishlist, order tracking, and account management, supporting customers at different stages of their journey.
Key Design Decisions
Making discovery easier to navigate
I provided category browsing for exploration and search for customers with a specific product in mind. Filters help narrow options by price, brand, rating, and availability.
Product listings surface pricing, ratings, and stock status, while product details bring together imagery, specifications, and reviews. Recent searches and wishlist actions help customers return to options they are still considering.
Addressing the shipping-stage drop-off
To address friction around shipping, I structured checkout into three visible stages:
- Cart
- Shipping
- Payment
Customers can see their progress and understand the next step.
Saved addresses reduce repeated entry, and the selected address remains available for review before payment. Quantity controls and “Save for later” let shoppers adjust their order without leaving the cart.
Making the post-purchase journey accessible
The confirmation screen brings purchase details and estimated delivery together, with an entry point to tracking. Order history provides status labels and access to individual order details.
This gives customers a defined place to check their purchases after checkout and makes account access a useful part of the ongoing experience.
Outcome & learnings
The project delivered an end-to-end mobile app design covering onboarding, discovery, checkout, and post-purchase account access. Checkout completion, purchase conversion, and app adoption are the key measures for evaluating its business goals.
Two learnings stood out:
- Focus research on decisions. Reviewing customer journeys helped prioritise specific points of friction and connect them to the design scope.
- Design for the return visit. Finding order information matters beyond the transaction; it deserves the same attention as browsing and checkout.
MORE WORK
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Deep case studies for these are in progress — happy to walk through the full process on a call.
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Mobile Recruitment Platform
Mobile-first apply, track and onboard flow across iOS & Android — ~40% faster onboarding.
Client Portal
Self-serve shortlists, approvals and billing for schools — a decision that took days now takes minutes.