Unified Whirlpool’s path from browsing to purchase
I redesigned navigation, search, mobile shopping, and checkout into one faster ecommerce journey.
Role
UX/UI Designer | Ecommerce and responsive design
Duration & company
June 2019 to November 2019 | 6 months
My Squad
Design, Engineering, Project, and Marketing
Context
Whirlpool had strong brand traffic, but the path from product discovery to purchase was broken
Whirlpool India operated a brand website and a separate ecommerce store. Customers could explore products and campaigns, but moving from interest to purchase meant entering a different experience with inconsistent navigation, search, product information, and checkout patterns.
The business wanted one conversion-focused platform that could support brand storytelling and commerce without compromising performance or Whirlpool’s visual identity.
Problem
Customers were losing confidence before they reached checkout
Appliances are high-consideration purchases. Customers compare capacity, features, price, payment options, delivery, and reliability before committing.
The existing experience made those decisions harder. Categories were buried, search was unreliable, product information was inconsistent, and mobile purchase actions disappeared during long pages. Autoplay media also pushed loading beyond a minute in some low-bandwidth conditions.
The real problem was not an outdated interface. The site was organized around Whirlpool’s content instead of the decisions customers needed to make.
Research
Research showed three moments where the shopping journey broke down
I combined existing behavioral data and heatmaps with task-based usability testing. Three participants were asked to find a refrigerator, choose a suitable product, add it to their cart, and attempt checkout.
I also mapped the end-to-end journey with Whirlpool’s PR and Marketing teams and reviewed LG, Samsung, and Apple to understand how other brands balanced product discovery, promotional content, media, and commerce.
The findings clustered around three moments: customers struggled to find a relevant product, compare whether it was right for them, and feel confident enough to buy. I used those moments to prioritize the redesign instead of treating every stakeholder request as a separate feature.
Decisions and tradeoffs
One journey had to serve both brand storytelling and commerce
Decision:
I combined the brand site and ecommerce store into one journey, allowing customers to move from campaign or category content directly into product evaluation and purchase.
Tradeoffs:
Giving commerce more prominence meant reducing the separation Whirlpool had maintained between brand content and transactions.
Constraints:
The new structure still had to support the existing product catalog, SEO requirements, active campaigns, and strict brand guidelines.
Result:
Customers could move from discovery to purchase without switching websites or relearning the interface.
Mobile needed a buying experience, not a smaller desktop site
Decision:
I redesigned the mobile hierarchy around product, price, key specifications, offers, and persistent purchase actions. Navigation was simplified so customers could compare and buy without losing context.
Tradeoffs:
Sticky actions used valuable screen space, but kept the next step visible during long product pages and reduced the need to scroll back.
Constraints:
The experience had to remain usable across screen sizes and slower network conditions without removing information needed for a considered purchase.
Result:
Mobile customers could evaluate products and continue toward purchase with fewer interruptions.
Product categories needed to appear before promotional content
Decision:
I brought appliance categories into the main navigation and designed product-focused mega menus that worked as early filters. Customers could enter the catalog based on their intent instead of browsing through campaign pages first.
Tradeoffs:
Exposing more options in navigation improved access but increased cognitive load, so categories had to be grouped around recognizable customer needs.
Constraints:
Product naming, catalog structure, SEO, and existing marketing campaigns limited how far the information architecture could change.
Result:
Customers could reach relevant product listings with fewer navigation layers.
The homepage looked premium, but autoplay media was slowing everything down
Decision:
I replaced autoplay video with user-controlled media and gave more space to categories, products, and relevant offers. Rich content loaded only when customers chose to view it.
Tradeoffs:
The homepage became less cinematic on first load, but faster and more useful for customers arriving with purchase intent.
Constraints:
Whirlpool wanted premium brand storytelling while many customers were accessing the site through slower connections.
Result:
Reported loading time decreased by 75%, reaching about 10 seconds on low bandwidth.
Search needed to understand intent, not wait for an exact product name
Decision:
I designed an NLP-based search direction with suggestions, category matches, and personalized product recommendations to help customers reach useful results earlier.
Tradeoffs:
Personalization improved relevance but depended on clean catalog data, reliable behavior signals, and ongoing tuning.
Constraints:
The existing search was not real-time and could not support personalized suggestions.
Result:
Customers received faster paths to products that matched what they were trying to find.
Outcome
One path from brand to purchase
Customers no longer needed to move between separate brand and ecommerce experiences.
Faster performance on slower connections
User-controlled media and a stronger content hierarchy reduced unnecessary loading.
Clearer product discovery
Categories, mega menus, and search suggestions shortened the path to relevant products.
Mobile designed around purchase decisions
Visible pricing, simplified navigation, and sticky actions supported customers throughout long product pages.
Behind the scenes
Process: Behavioral review, heatmap analysis, task-based usability testing, competitive analysis, journey mapping, sketches, wireframes, prototypes, and four design iterations.
Team: Design Lead, UX/UI Designer, Project Manager, engineers, and Whirlpool PR and Marketing stakeholders.
Tools: Adobe XD, InVision, Zeplin, Google Slides, and Google Sheets.
What I learned: Ecommerce design is not about making a storefront look premium. For a considered purchase, every part of the journey must reduce uncertainty. Customers buy when they can find the right option, understand the tradeoffs, and trust what will happen next.
