UX / UI Case Study | March 2025

MDS UX Audit:
Optimizing the Fashion
E-Commerce Experience

Overview:
This solo project uncovers key friction points across the user journey and outlines actionable UX and SEO improvements to boost trust, discovery, and conversion on a high-traffic fashion e-commerce site.

E-commerce UX Audit & Strategy Sprint

Client:
MDS.STORE

Role:
UX Strategist & UI/UX Designer

The Goal

  • Enhance product visibility across all devices.

  • Clarify shipping & subscription expectations to improve trust

  • Streamline navigation for faster product discovery

  • Optimize performance & SEO to drive discoverability

Process Framework:

1. UX Heuristic Review

2. SEO & Performance Audit (Lighthouse)

3. Navigation & IA Evaluation

4. Visual Consistency & Content Hierarchy Check

5. Strategic Recommendations & Prioritization

Problem Discovery

This UX audit was driven by a structured, methodical process grounded in usability heuristics, content strategy principles, and performance analytics.
I focused on identifying pain points from both the customer experience and business performance perspectives.

Mapping out action items by impact and effort to prioritize quick wins, mid-term improvements, and long-term optimizations. Here are the key findings:

Emotional Journey Mapping

The Problems

Site Performance Issues

  • Slow load times
    (Lighthouse performance score: 69)

  • Image optimization problems
    (non-websafe formats, heavy file sizes)

Navigation and Discovery Challenges

  • Suggestions for filtering
:
    - Category (eg. skirts, skorts, shorts, pants)
    - Length (mini, midi, maxi)
    - Colours

  • Suggestions for sort by:

    Availability can be misleading in this case,
If this can be changed to “Fastest shipping” to help with delivery concerns
to set accurate customer expectations

Visual Consistency Issues

  • Inconsistent product images (variation in lighting, cropping, and presentation quality)

Trust and Transparency Gaps

  • Lack of trust indicators during checkout
    (e.g. stock availability, shipping timelines)

Strategic Recommendations

Following the UX audit and emotional journey mapping, I mocked targeted design and content improvements for the homepage to enhance navigation, reinforce brand trust, promote mobile engagement, and reposition the subscription model as MDS’s key differentiator.

Navigation Optimization

  • Improve category and page segmentation on the homepage, using updated banners such as “Shop Mini Dresses” and “Shop Maxi Dresses.”

  • Consolidated branding into one clear logo for a cleaner, more cohesive brand presence.

  • Purpose: Streamlines product discovery and reduces user frustration during browsing.

App Download Promotion

  • Integrate App Store and Google Play badges across multiple touchpoints, including the website footer and post-purchase communications.

  • Purpose: Enhances brand trust, encourages mobile shopping behavior, and provides better post-purchase tracking experiences for customers.

Stronger Calls to Action

  • Redesign the homepage hero banners to emphasize direct, action-driven CTAs like "Shop New In," with a clear and visually dominant hierarchy.

  • Purpose: Drives users towards browsing immediately and minimizes decision fatigue by simplifying the homepage experience.

Elevating Subscription as the Core Offering

  • Reframe the subscription model as a primary feature rather than a hidden checkout option.

  • Introduced a dedicated subscription content block that clearly communicates the benefits (discounts, exclusive access, flexibility).

  • Purpose:

    • Build trust early in the user journey.

    • Make the subscription a positive emotional choice rather than a source of confusion or skepticism.

Expected Outcomes & Summary

  • Higher conversion rates from subscription sign-ups.

  • Reduced customer frustrations regarding pre-orders.

  • Increased web & mobile engagement and lower bounce rates.

  • Strengthened credibility through transparency and enhanced UI/UX.




This audit reinforced the importance of aligning UX clarity with business priorities. Identifying emotional friction early allowed for targeted improvements that streamlined discovery, built trust around the subscription model, and improved performance. Balancing immediate UX fixes with long-term SEO and engagement strategies was a key challenge.

If given more time, further user testing and A/B experiments would help validate subscription messaging and measure emotional journey improvements over time.

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