Robinzon case study: 6 universal recommendations for creating a flexible interface from scratch

How to develop an online store interface that satisfies customer expectations, supports company objectives, and facilitates future business growth. Using the Robinzon website redesign case example, Denys Studennikov, COO and Head of UX/UI at Turum-burum, explains how his team leveraged a deep understanding of user psychology and needs to create a customer-centric website with minimal resources.

Getting acquainted with the case: project objectives and features

Samsonite, famous brand specializing in travel goods including suitcases, travel bags, and backpacks, turned to our studio with a clear objective: optimize the current website version to scale business and increase its profit.

And since business owners decided to reorganize their business, they needed a new web product — a multi-category website for selling travel and tourism products under the Robinzon brand.

Therefore, our main goal was to develop a website UX/UI design from scratch that will bring about further business development and scaling.

6 universal recommendations for developing a flexible interface: insights from the Robinzon case

While working on the Robinzon website design, we have identified 6 universal recommendations that will be useful for creating a user-friendly web product in any niche. These insights will help you reduce development time and save your project budget. 

1. Mobile optimization: must-have for business success

Turum-burum team prioritizes a mobile-first approach when developing UX/UI design for the majority of projects. This is also supported by statistics: at the beginning of 2023, 65% of all online orders worldwide were made via mobile devices.

So, for Robinzon website redesign we used a mobile-first approach, meaning designing an interface with a primary focus on mobile devices, which allowed us to:

• Optimize content for a limited display;
• Provide easy navigation, considering all the limitations of the adaptive website version;
• Reach wide target audience;
• Reduce page loading time — 25% of users leave website if they have to wait more than 4 seconds;
• Make the user journey shorter;
• Take care of users by developing an interface that allows them to place an order on the go.

Recommendation: Make sure your website is accessible on different devices to meet the needs of a wide target audience:

• A mobile-first design is a good choice for creating a website from scratch.
• Instead, owners of already functioning web products should better focus on the platform's adaptability and implement changes to improve it if needed.

2. Website structure: the more doesn’t mean the better 

Many people mistakenly think that a good and converting website must contain as many interactive elements, colorful blocks, animations, videos, etc. as possible. 

But what do we have in reality?

The University of Basel has studied how users perceive stylistically complex and ‘simple’ web products based on popular layouts. To do this, they used more than 100 screenshots of real websites and asked people to rate their attractiveness, constantly changing the amount of time available for forming the first impression.

The result was clear — users prefer interfaces that meet their expectations, meaning the ones with clear structure and style.

^{The more familiar the site seems to users, the more they like it.}

On the contrary, websites overloaded with numerous bright elements and unconventional layouts can easily overwhelm visitors. And if users feel lost or doubt how to navigate the page, they are likely to leave the website.

To avoid this, for Robinzon website we developed a minimalistic design and added interesting thematic elements to make the user experience more engaging. These custom elements create a special atmosphere on the site and help place appropriate accents without distracting users from the product.

Recommendation: Avoid overloading your site with temporary trendy UI elements. Instead, focus on making it flexible and easy to use. In today’s fast-evolving business environment, it’s important to build a website that can quickly adapt to new customer needs. Therefore, ensure that elements can be easily updated or scaled without affecting the overall website design.

3. Just like clothes make the man, the main page makes the brand

The main page is the company's visiting card, and about 86% of users expect to find all important information about the company's services and products right here.

Given this, we placed thematic banners with the online store's news and promotions on the website’s main page. The banners visually highlight the brand's niche and create additional entry points.

To show customers why they should buy goods exactly from this website, we added stylistically simple but informative blocks on the homepage highlighting the brand’s advantages. This increases customer loyalty to the brand and helps reduce bounce rate.

Following the benefits section, we added an eye-catching and playful block with vibrant illustrations to encourage users dive deeper into the funnel and explore the brand's products.

Then we analyzed the most common customer requests and combined them into non-standard categories. In this way, we created additional entry points that demonstrate the store's assortment from a different perspective and allow users to quickly find relevant products.

Recommendation: The website's homepage makes the first impression about the brand as a whole. Should I leave the website or continue my interaction with the platform?  –  22% of users take a decision within 6-10 seconds. 

Therefore, it's pivotal to ensure that your homepage presents key information about the company's services, represents the brand's strengths, and offers diverse entry points for smooth navigation.

Organize your store's assortment into different categories, structure it based on various features, and personalize website content. This approach boosts user engagement rate across different target audience segments and helps create a positive first impression about your brand.

4. Navigation and filters: key tools to boost e-commerce conversion 

On average, users spend only 6 seconds examining a website's navigation. It means that without a simple and intuitive menu, you can’t provide a positive user experience.

To help customers find relevant products easily, we worked out a tunnel-based catalog (one screen = one action) that aligns with mobile design patterns. Additionally, we added images to each catalog section: custom icons at the first level to represent the available options of the chosen category, and real product photos at the second level.

In this way, we met the requirements of a wide target audience by helping them navigate the website: we equally satisfy the needs of people who better perceive textual information and those, focused on visual elements.

We also prioritized the filters, placing 'first things first.' This means the more crucial the filter is for making a purchase decision, the higher it appears in the list. For example, the price comes first, followed by the product category, and then the type of material which is especially important for outdoor equipment.

The cost of travel equipment is usually high, which influences users’ behavior while looking for a relevant product. Customers usually need more time to compare the products and get to know all their characteristics. 

For that reason, we have provided ‘Add to favorites’ and ‘Compare’ buttons on each product page. In this way, we help visitors find the best product and encourage them to return to our website even after leaving it.

Recommendation: Test the customer journey to ensure easy navigation, especially for new website visitors. Focus on the menu and product listing page — by providing intuitive navigation and quick product search, you will increase customer loyalty and decrease bounce rate. 

5. Website stylistics: thematic elements to highlight business niche 

The Robinzon case proves — a clean and concise interface can (and should) be creative and engaging. Our team paid attention even to the smallest interface details: all elements, including the fonts, are not accidental and correspond to the niche peculiarities and overall business mood.

We wanted to create an exceptional space that conveys the atmosphere of travel, adventure and outdoor sports. 

To achieve this, we:

• Added decorative elements and thematic images

On the white background, we placed subtle inclusions that resemble dirty stains typical for outdoor activities. This solution allows us to be on the same wavelength with customers and creates a sense of belonging to the same community.

• Set the right visual accents

We have added a bright interactive feed to the website’s pages, which:

• visually separates different blocks;
• attracts the attention of users;
• informs about product categories, promotions, discounts, etc.

Recommendation: Make your website memorable by adding interesting, creative elements that are associated with the specifics of your business niche. This will help you increase user engagement and encourage them to buy from your website again and again.

6. A blog with relevant articles to boost customer loyalty and achieve SEO goals

Blog section is vital for succeeding in SEO strategy and building trustful relations with the website customers. Therefore, it's a good idea to post interesting and useful information that will help users buy the right product for them.

For example, in 2023, the travel products niche saw the highest bounce rate of 82.58%. It is explained by the fact that travel products selection process often requires a deep understanding of items characteristics: material, durability, and purpose. 

A blog section with interesting reviews and travel life hacks is useful not only for beginners, but also for experienced travelers who follow the latest travel industry news.

To draw users' attention to the blog on the home page, we used a bright background with large images that adds to the overall style and mood of the website.

The blog page itself is well-structured and allows users quickly find relevant information. Website visitors can also sort articles by main thematic categories – ‘Reviews’ and ‘Life hacks’. 

Recommendation: Implement a blog section with valuable insights on your website. It is especially important for businesses selling expensive, long-term use products, such as appliances, electronics, and travel gear. A good blog will make your website more competitive by providing useful information to customers, enabling quick product selection, and boosting brand loyalty.

Designing a flexible interface with great scaling potential

When developing a website design for Robinzon store from scratch, we focused on the following tasks:

• Research the market and competitors;
• Study the behavioural patterns of the target audience;
• Analyse the trends and tendencies of a particular industry;
• Think over the website’s style and usability, considering  business niche peculiarities, products variety, and user needs.

Moreover, we kept in mind that the client's main requirement was to build a website that wouldn't limit further business growth and scaling.

Thanks to our experience and insights gained during the research phase, we managed to create a customer-oriented and flexible web product that addresses the needs of both business and users by providing:

• Easy and intuitive navigation;
• A sense of belonging to a community of like-minded people;
• Eloquent presentation of the company's products;
• Potential for future business scaling with minimal time and financial investments needed.

When developing the Robinzon online store design, we focused not solely on modern trends and tendencies that tend to change and fade away rapidly, but made a clean website design with a focus on advanced usability and stylistics. 

By prioritizing UX/UI, we simplified the interaction with the product and created a positive user experience, which plays a crucial role in building consumer loyalty and optimizing conversion.

The recommendations given in this article are universal and will be useful for e-commerce owners in different niches. After all, high-quality UX/UI is not about bright pictures and product descriptions, it is about the mastery of understanding customer needs and knowing how to meet them.