Colfax Guitar Shop
ecommerce responsive webAbout the Project :
Two single week sprints
Individual on-spec project
Focus: high fidelity responsive web (mobile and desktop)
Tasked with building an ecommerce site for a local business, I chose Colfax Guitar Shop. A staple in Denver’s Bluebird neighborhood for over twenty years, the existing website did not provide an online shopping experience. I based my designs around a focus on their unique and constantly changing inventory, with an emphasis on community over high volume transactions.
Final Design
My intent with this project was to blend browsable content that showcases the shop’s one of a kind items with functional product detail pages for those interested in purchase - combining enjoyable experiences for digital window-shoppers as well as serious collectors.
Mobile Mockups
Desktop Mockups
Wireframes
I carried over some styles from the existing website but had more freedom with the product detail pages and checkout experience since these features were not available on the existing site. Applying patterns from existing shopping experiences in the music equipment space helped to inform my initial design strategy. Navigation features evolved across iterations based on user testing and shifting from desktop focused wireframes to responsive web designs for both desktop and mobile for higher fidelity mockups.
Audience Appreciation
The research I conducted took a few predictable routes. I wrote an interview script that would be relevant for serious musicians as well as casual fans, aiming to gather details that would paint a picture that included more color than simple buying habits. Observing participants navigating the existing site helped me better understand needs as well as highlighting some unpredictable aspects of the existing navigation to avoid in my redesign.
This project continues to evolve as I test new approaches to visual design. Below is a link to my most current sketch file, leveraging nested symbols to increase efficiency as I create new iterations of the existing layouts.