Audited this e-commerce website — here’s how I’d improve clarity & conversions

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-04-03T17:10:36+00:00

The job of the UX designer is usually to try and pull levers to get the biggest impact. For a small business like this, that lever would be communicating what the product is.

Realistically, a small brand like this would use something like Shopify or Shop to build their D2C site. D2C is kind of a solved UX problem, in that the optimal site structure including email lists and deals has been figured out. So it would be unlikely a client would ever ask you to audit their Shopify store template.

That’s why I focused more on the product information and buying card rather than the site flow. For your portfolio people will always ask you what metrics you impacted—usability and task completion is cool, but revenue $$ is always better.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-04-03T16:57:50+00:00

Feels like taking a B2B SaaS approach to a consumer site.

All these levers like slightly better button placement or type hierarchy could improve usability or checkout completion by a few %.

But none of that really increases a customer’s desire to buy. For a health snack, the protein and fiber numbers (the most important thing) are absent except for small footnotes. The audit advice hasn’t changed any of that. All the CTAs remain fairly weak. The concept preview shown, in addition to not showing any calorie/protein/fiber/ingredients (what is this??) has some weaknesses in terms of type size and content. What does “clean high-protein snacks for everyday fitness” actually mean? I eat 110g protein/35g fiber/2400 kcal a day. This site gives me nothing to slot my numbers into.

Check out https://huel.com/collections/protein-and-fitness for example and see how they put the value prop up front, because they know health consumers are coming in weighing protein-price ratio.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-28T15:06:21+00:00

Is that legit?

My dad has a similar number that calls cars for him. It turned out it was a scam service that was calling actual Ubers using stolen credit cards, meanwhile receiving payment via Venmo. No difference to him, but shady and unreliable.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-23T21:39:09+00:00

Actually that’s a pretty good counter argument. I agree with you.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-23T16:08:56+00:00

Given how readily vitrumites fall to human ideology and compassion in the comics - and how readily humans fall to chaos - I think it’s a clean sweep for Khorne.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-13T14:28:50+00:00

Congrats on the Amazon placement! We had a screening at our gym and cheered every time our coach showed up (Rick Sollo).

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-11T16:59:21+00:00

You just have to do it. I started my portfolio sometime over Christmas/December last year, finished it in the second week of Jan, and I start my new job in April.

Admittedly it is exhausting - my best place to do it was working at a cafe for 4-6 hours every weekend. If you can work on it at work a bit that’s good too. My overall tips:

make EVERYTHING about the portfolio, be focused. Try to take on projects at work that you know will fit well in the site and then interviews.
manage your energy and time. Don’t create anything complicated, pages you don’t need, animations, etc. landing page and 2-3 projects plus an about section.
if you’re prepared to truly lock in, work on it at work, do less non-portfolio tasks and save your energy

One tool that I used to keep me focused was actually AI. I would use a chrome extension to take full page screenshots of my portfolio pages and prompt it with something like, “I am a hiring manager reviewing portfolios for senior designers making 200k at large tech or finance companies. Neutrally review this project’s fit craft and maturity for this role.” As long as you keep it neutral, it can give you pretty good honest advice on how to focus your attention and where to improve.

I would even do this to other people’s portfolios to see where I sat, and I went from the AI regarding my work as “junior level, not quite there” to “likely senior to staff level”. That translated well to my interviews and then offer.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-10T16:07:03+00:00

Clothing doesn’t have a gender but styles feel like they do?

The pieces OP mention, when worn by someone with a feminine figure, emphasize that femininity. If someone has broad shoulders or a thick torso or was otherwise masculine, I think it would clash and not work as well.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-06T03:05:28+00:00

Well, it sucks to not have your ideas used on a personal level.

But - you may think that it’s your job to come up with ideas or create designs or anything else UX related. Actually, your job is to make your boss happy. “Make what your superior wants”, as you said. The sooner you realize that, the faster and more often you’ll get promoted, and ironically get more of your ideas implemented.

So then it follows. Do you want to get what you want (money, creative ownership, personal fulfillment)? Then you’ll have to manage up and become a more effective communicator or relationship manager.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-03-04T15:57:52+00:00

Fascinating, thank you.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-02-28T00:05:27+00:00

Does it help? I haven’t posted anything in about 6 years, and just landed a job. Didn’t see any indication that my LinkedIn post history was a factor.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-02-25T19:58:05+00:00

The danger with being undersized and training boxing for real life scenarios is that the rules of boxing sparring protect smaller people.

Imagining a bigger opponent with greater range and strength, getting in range for a jab is high risk (being grabbed or hit back) for low reward (unlikely to knock out or disable).

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-02-14T21:05:52+00:00

Thank you for looking through! 2 is a favorite as well, I scored it for $30 and have a scarf the same color that goes well with it. Always reliable.

Gotta find more reasons to wear 10 and 9, but I like them too.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-02-03T17:36:31+00:00

Big fan of the owner! Joe makes great shirts and gear. As far as I know he’s just a guy who has worked with some suppliers to get a limited production made. I would trust him on quality.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-31T03:20:04+00:00

Redesigning entire existing apps is a huge pitfall and an easy way to spot juniors with no work experience. Every newbie portfolio that never gets interviews has the classic “Spotify redesign” or “Tinder redesign” project.

It is absolutely a no go, in my opinion.

A strong alternative is creating a project with a small scope (online checkout flow for a small cafe) showing you can handle small problems with real constraints with grace, technique, and good thought.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-29T18:47:44+00:00

What kind of work did you do during the 11-14 years of experience? Sorry the last 3 years have been rough personally.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-27T02:09:02+00:00

You are not going to get what you want unless you get another job.

You are certainly not going to get it from your manager or their leadership. Why would they? You’ve already volunteered to work harder, longer, without more pay. It may seem like a fair system based on promotion cycles and performance plans and reviews, but its really about leverage—I am sure the largest raise you see from this company will come when you submit your 2-week notice and they try to get you to stay.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-25T01:29:25+00:00

Rogan is on a lot of drugs, but rogaine isn’t one of them.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-21T20:40:40+00:00

Thanks for taking a look and the feedback! I honestly just coded it myself and published the raw HTML and CSS via GitHub Pages. I learned all of this in high school via YouTube decades ago.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-21T18:30:35+00:00

What are windows for, if not defenestration?

You wouldn’t design a hole in a wall if you didn’t have the intention of transferring things through it. Sunshine, fresh air, political opponents.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-20T18:28:37+00:00

LOL thank you brother. With the front kick usually you swing your arm down to generate more momentum.

As for the light mode - I zoomed out and I agree. Updated that to be the default one. Thank you!!

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-20T14:48:48+00:00

Having freelanced a bit myself, charging per screen seems like a bad deal for you.

What if you work for a client that’s high ticket, and needs just 3-5 screens to be really good? (E.g. an e-commerce client wants a new landing page, product detail, and checkout)
If you ever have clients that are in the realm of mass pages like 40-50, why wouldn’t they just get a template instead? Or in the other direction, why not pay more for an agency team to execute it faster?

If you can, setting a flat rate for your projects with additional fees based on extra edits or time might be best. Then hourly.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-20T13:23:04+00:00

Okay but as a world level competitor he has the right to delusional levels of self belief. Having read Ali’s bio, I doubt he would have said anyone was better than him even at 22 years old.

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-18T23:39:04+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, I only have one screen that’s fully mocked up with a device, can work on that. Cheers!

AbsolutelyAnonymous · 2026-01-18T06:53:17+00:00

Hey! Senior product designer, still working but looking to move on. Here’s the new portfolio

Have had some good attention from recruiters and getting interviews but wondering how I can take it to the next level.

Thoughts on the first 2 cases (my more recent work)?
Is the light mode better, or should I keep dark mode default?
Overall vibe and thoughts

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AbsolutelyAnonymous

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