Levelnine

Creating a Seamless Shopping Experience

Level Nine Sports is a leading U.S. retailer within ski, snowboard, bike, and outdoor equipment. With a broad product catalog and seasonal demand peaks, the e-commerce experience plays a critical role in conversion, retention, and long-term customer value.

Every pixel, interaction, and transition serves a clear purpose.

As UX/UI Designer, I was brought in to modernize and optimize the e-commerce platform to align with current shopping standards. The objective was to create a seamless, conversion-driven experience that guided users from discovery to purchase — and encouraged account creation and repeat business.

1. Problem

The existing store experience no longer met modern e-commerce expectations. Navigation was complex, category structures were difficult to scan, and key conversion points in the purchase funnel created friction.

Users struggled to efficiently browse, filter, and configure products, particularly within technical categories requiring size, fit, or specification selection. The checkout experience lacked clarity and reassurance, contributing to drop-offs.

Key challenges included:

• Outdated visual design and inconsistent UI patterns

• Complex information architecture and difficult product discovery

• Friction in product configuration and variant selection

• High cart abandonment and checkout drop-off

• Limited incentives for account creation and repeat purchases

The goal was to streamline the entire funnel — from browsing and search to basket and checkout — while improving clarity, speed, and trust at every step.

2. Design Process

I conducted a full UX audit of the store, analyzing behavioral data, conversion metrics, and drop-off points across the funnel. Insights from analytics, user interviews and stakeholder workshops helped identify critical friction areas and revenue opportunities.

The redesign focused on optimizing high-impact touchpoints:

• Navigation and category structure refinement

• Landing page hierarchy and promotional clarity

• Product listing page (PLP) filtering and sorting improvements

• Product detail page (PDP) optimization for clarity and decision support

• Checkout simplification and trust-building elements

Wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes were tested iteratively to validate clarity, scannability, and purchase flow efficiency.

The entire experience was designed to support both exploratory browsing and high-intent search behavior, ensuring users could quickly find, configure, and purchase products with minimal friction..

3. Solution & Results

The redesigned store delivers a modern, accessible, and conversion-optimized shopping experience built around a clear and intuitive purchase funnel.

Key improvements included:

• New mega menu improving category discoverability and reducing navigation friction

• Redesigned landing and campaign pages with stronger visual hierarchy and clearer CTAs

• Optimized product listing pages with improved filtering, sorting, and scanability

• Refined product detail pages with clearer pricing, availability, size/variant selection, and trust signals

• Streamlined, step-based checkout flow reducing cognitive load

• Improved account creation flow integrated naturally within checkout

• Enhanced mobile responsiveness and accessibility compliance

Key e-commerce metrics targeted and improved:

• Increased conversion rate (CVR)

• Reduced cart abandonment rate

• Reduced checkout drop-off

• Improved average order value (AOV) through clearer cross-sell and upsell placement

• Increased account sign-ups

• Improved return customer rate and customer lifetime value (CLV)

• Lower bounce rate on landing and product pages

The new funnel structure guides users seamlessly from discovery to purchase while reinforcing trust, clarity, and ease of use.

3. Impact [TL;DR]

The redesign transformed Level Nine Sports’ e-commerce platform into a modern, high-performing retail experience. Customers can now easily browse categories, find the right products, configure details, and complete purchases with minimal friction.

The improved navigation, optimized product pages, and streamlined checkout contributed to stronger conversion performance, reduced abandonment, and increased customer retention — positioning Level Nine Sports for scalable digital growth in a competitive retail market.