Overview
Elte is the source for luxury home furnishings with original designed pieces partnering with craftspeople to make a curated home experience.
Role
Lead Product Designer
Goals
Inspire shoppers to come in person to visit the Elte showrooms
Act as a product catalogue to facilitate product exploration
Tell inspiring brand stories, spotlight designers, etc.
Context
Elte was at a crucial turning point, dedicating time and resources to reposition its brand. They collaborated with the creative agency Decade to establish a fresh artistic direction. From there, we partnered with Elte to apply our expertise in translating their new brand vision into a compelling digital UX experience.
Approach
To ensure we delivered our best work, we employed a methodology to define our strategic approach, as outlined below. I collaborated closely with a skilled cross-functional team, including a UX researcher, project manager, senior product designer, and technical lead, to develop a scalable solution and establish a build strategy.
Define
At the outset of this engagement, we posed a fundamental question: 'Why do customers choose Elte over its competitors?' Through user research, we developed a deeper understanding of their customers and identified strategic opportunities that could benefit both the business and its clientele. A key insight revealed that many customers wanted to grasp the origin, process, and craftsmanship behind each piece, highlighting the need to better convey the story of our products.
Next, we examined the Elte customer journey to gain insight into customers' mental models, asking questions like, 'How do they discover products?' and 'What motivates them to make a purchase?' This exploration helped us uncover areas of inspiration as well as points of friction.
Ideate
We asked ourselves, 'How can we inspire Elte's target customers?' and explored ways to enhance storytelling throughout the experience while embracing the new visual direction. Our goal was to create a seamless experience by translating the luxurious atmosphere of the showroom into the digital realm. To achieve this, we dedicated time to conducting in-depth design workshops with Elte, ensuring alignment on outcomes and paving a new path forward.
Prototype
Our goal in prototyping was to establish a consistent user experience by utilizing design patterns that would ensure seamless navigation. Given the extensive range of Elte’s product catalog—including baths, furniture, lighting, and rugs—our solution needed to effectively balance scalability with flexibility for future iterations.
Redefine
We faced a challenging crossroads when we realized that some pages needed to accommodate over 4,000 products. In response, we shifted our approach to develop a more scalable solution. Our focus was on enhancing the communication of each product's value, which led to the creation of key features like a designer spotlight section to keep customers engaged. We modernized the experience by incorporating a side-scroll format for imagery, ensuring our design system allowed Elte to add more images without compromising content quality. Additionally, we prioritized mobile optimization by collaborating with developers to incorporate gestures and create a smooth, modern transition.
Live site
Integrate
As we translated our designs into code, we began to approach the project in phases, creating multiple components to expand the site's possibilities for future iteration and growth. Our primary focus was to showcase the Elte story and provide deeper insights into their products, methods, and the artisans behind them, ultimately aiming for a harmonious solution.
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Summary
By emphasizing the craftsmanship involved in making each product, we added value to the transition from the digital experience to the luxurious showroom. This approach extended Elte’s reach and allowed them to showcase the quality of their offerings to customers.
