Redesigning Vegaaniruoka.fi
In 3 months, I redesigned Vegaaniruoka.fi’s mobile-first e-commerce experience, improving product discovery, building trust, and driving measurable growth.
Company
Timeline
Role & Contribution
Team & Collaboration
Project Summary Overview
The Challenge
Analytics revealed a more-than-97% drop-off before purchase. Users struggled to find products and trust the site, resulting in lost revenue and low return visits
Goal
Increase trust and conversion for a Finnish vegan grocery
Current Situation
97% drop-off before purchase, low trust, poor navigation.
Before the redesign, Vegaaniruoka.fi’s purchase funnel was highly inefficient — conversion rates were under 3%, with 97% of visitors never adding anything to their cart.
With such a steep drop-off, the store was losing thousands in potential sales every month, and customers had little reason to return.
Research-Driven Discovery
What Users Told Us — And What the Data Confirmed
I combined quantitative analytics with qualitative insights to uncover the biggest blockers in the shopping experience. This approach helped ensure the redesign was grounded in both hard numbers and real user voices.
Key Insights from Research
Product Performance Metrics: 20% of sessions ended within 5 seconds → first‑impression/above‑the‑fold clarity problem.
Session Replay Analysis: Rage‑clicks on the category control and quick backs → navigation feels confusing; path to products isn’t obvious.
Heatmaps & Scrollmaps: Most sessions stayed above the fold → critical content/CTAs placed lower went unseen.
Interviews(n=5): Users struggle to navigate the products they want to buy, complain about visual inconsistency, and mention the long text.
Pain Points
Where Users Struggled Most
Through analytics, session replays, and interviews, two critical friction points emerged:
1. Trust Erosion from Visual Inconsistency
Mismatched buttons, fonts, and patterns across pages (Fig. 1).
Landing page overloaded with tiny text & text-heavy hero (Fig. 2).
Ads and website visuals didn’t align, breaking continuity.
→ 20% of visitors bounced within 5 seconds.
→ Why it matters: First impressions drive trust. Inconsistent branding = lost credibility.
2. Categorization & Weak Product Cards Hurt Product Discovery
19 top-level categories, no subcategories: Users had to scroll endlessly and click at least 3 times just to find a product list.(Fig. 3).
Category menu placed top-left (least thumb-friendly) → dead ends & rage clicks.
Product cards lacked key info (dietary tags, discounts, quantity controls) → forced extra clicks to compare (Fig. 4).
→ Every extra click slowed users down and increased the drop-off rate, especially when combined with slow loading times and technical errors.
Design Priorities
Design Priorities for a Lean Startup
UX Strategy for Vegaaniruoka.fi
Attract → Discover → Reassure
1. Attract — Win Trust in 5 Seconds
Unified brand & design system across ads and site for instant credibility.
Above-the-fold categories so users can shop without scrolling.
Clear visual hierarchy guiding eyes to the primary shopping paths.
2. Discover — Reduce Clicks, Reduce Friction
Streamlined category access from 3 taps → 1 tap, with subcategories.
Thumb-friendly menu placement for mobile-first ease.
Product cards with dietary tags, discounts, quantity controls — compare & add faster.
3. Reassure — Remove Hesitation
Clear shipping & returns info visible before checkout.
Trust signals surfaced at decision points.
Solution — Attract
1. Attract — Win trust and spark interest within seconds.
Before the redesign, Vegaaniruoka.fi lacked a unified brand and design system. This led to inconsistent visuals, unclear hierarchy, and an untrustworthy first impression. To solve this, I designed a brand guideline and design system to ensure visual consistency across all platforms, especially on key user touchpoints like the landing page.
Brand Guideline & Design System
Landing Page — Make the First 5 Seconds Count
In the first 0.05 seconds, users decide whether to stay or leave. I redesigned vegaaniruoka.fi’s mobile landing page to prioritize their goal - product descovery, not explain what the site is with the text but show them.
Before
Solution — Discover
2. Discover: Make Products Effortless to Find & Compare
Product discovery should be effortless—clear categories, thumb‑friendly access for 83% of mobile users, and comparison‑ready cards that reduce clicks and decision time.
Categorization
Before - Too many categories, hard to reach
19 equally weighted top‑level categories → confusion and decision fatigue.
Menu placed top‑left (least thumb‑reachable on mobile) → misclicks and quick exits in replays.
No clear sub‑structure → extra scrolling and back‑and‑forth before finding products.
After - Thumb‑friendly & clear sub‑categories
Reduced to 9 primary categories with sub‑categories that mirror users’ mental model (start broad → narrow by need).
Moved the category entry to a thumb‑friendly zone for faster access.
Solution — Reassure
3. Reassure
Reassure customers at decision-critical moments by replacing missing reviews with strong brand signals and active content. So I used existing brand strengths and content assets to create trust signals across the purchase journey.
Cart
"Jihae was the sole product designer at our startup, and she handled everything from redesigning the website to building a visual system—always with a high level of ownership and craft. She’s proactive, strategic, and works independently without needing hand-holding. What really sets her apart is how she thinks beyond design—always considering how her work contributes to business goals. That kind of mindset is rare and incredibly valuable."
Luat Duong
Co-founder and CMO | Vegaaniruoka.fi
Impact
Design That Drives Measurable Growth
One month post-launch we saw a +71% lift in session start → add to cart, alongside higher sales revenue and a rise in returning customers.
Post-redesign performance also boosted all key e-commerce metrics:
17%
overall conversion rate lift — turning more visitors into paying customers.
57%
sales revenue growth, with 73% more items sold.
65%
returning customer rate, boosting loyalty and repeat purchases.
*Metrics measured over the first 30 days post-launch on web. We introduced several major changes together, so results reflect the combined impact rather than the effect of a single change.
Reflections
Test Early, Learn Faster
Test Early, Learn Faster: I learned the value of testing early. Testing after high-fidelity revealed issues I hadn’t seen before. If I had tested sooner, I could have caught problems earlier and iterated faster.
Let the Data Speak: When I disagreed with the Founder, I used data to support my decisions. It helped me make a strong, convincing case.
Collaborate with Clarity: Collaborating closely with a developer taught me to give clearer feedback—adding priorities, deadlines, and reasons to avoid confusion.