Category Page System
Exploring Category Navigation Needs
Category pages are key for product discovery and comparison, but inconsistent navigation and structure were creating friction for users and internal teams.
The goal: bring coherence to the catalog through a framework flexible enough to scale, yet standardized enough to actually work.
My role: I collaborated with the Principal Product Designer on the Navigation & Taxonomy team across the discovery and research phase — work that deepened my approach to research, collaboration, and user-centred problem framing.
ROLE:
UX/UI Designer
CLIENT:
Vistaprint
TEAM:
Product Designer, Product Management, Copy, Product Lead, Engineers
TIMELINE:
2024-2025
Challenge
Inconsistent navigation and a manually maintained structure made category pages unpredictable for users and difficult for teams to manage. A move to a three-tier hierarchy improved structure in theory but introduced new inconsistencies across levels, adding further friction.
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
Research & Discovery
Through cross-functional workshops and 8 customer interviews across the US, UK, and Canada, we gathered internal and external insights on browsing challenges. These findings helped define key user outcome statements and inform the next exploration phase.
What We Heard
“Better transparency in production timelines to reduce surprises during ordering”
“I would go quality,
turnaround, price …”
“I prefer local suppliers for hands-on, personalized interactions, especially for wearable items”
“Online suppliers are used for convenience and 24/7 availability but lack the tactile feedback and flexibility of local providers”
“I’m Fostering a sense of belonging and exclusivity through branded items that clients take home”
“How things look when the customer receives it is important to me. So I mean it's always been a priority to me of how it gets delivered to the customer.“
Insights
The discovery phase surfaced three core needs: value, speed, and trusted support. Users seek affordable, fast, and guided experiences to help them decide with confidence. Meeting these needs offers an opportunity to increase appeal, build loyalty, and encourage repeat purchases. The insights below highlight key findings and corresponding opportunities.
Local vendors are often preferred when guidance is needed.
Position CARE as specialized help, and offer guidance on choosing the right products for their needs, especially for complex items like packaging.
Online providers are associated with longer turnaround times.
Present transparent production timelines, shipping time and costs, and unit price estimates upfront to minimize surprises.
Material Transparency
and Validation
Promote and create sample kits to reduce uncertainty and trial-and-error costs. Improve clarity of material options with comparisons of features like size, thickness, or durability.
Balancing Cost, Quality, and Flexibility
Provide tools for delivery and bulk order pricing estimations directly in the product selection phase.
Blueprint for Future Navigation
We explored new ways to structure and navigate category pages to improve consistency, scalability, and user experience. While the project was paused before implementation, it helped align teams, establish direction, and inform future work.
