Redesigning a premium jewelry e-commerce experience.
A US-focused jewelry brand selling engagement rings. The storefront didn't match the quality of the product. I owned the UX audit, competitor benchmarking, visual design, responsive adaptation and handoff as the sole designer.
Project Overview
Designing a more premium, intuitive, and trustworthy shopping experience for a US-focused jewelry brand
DiamondRensu is an online jewelry store specializing in engagement rings and other fine jewelry. The client wanted to elevate the website’s visual identity while making it easier for customers to discover products, understand ring specifications, explore customization options, and shop with confidence.
As the sole UI/UX designer and consultant, I led the redesign from initial UX evaluation through high-fidelity design and implementation review. I worked directly with the client remotely, using Figma comments to review feedback and refine the experience.
Project details
- Role: UI/UX Designer & Consultant
- Timeline: November 2023
- Platform: Shopify
- Collaboration: Solo designer working remotely with the client
- Scope: Homepage, collection pages, product detail pages, navigation, product cards, ring customization, cart and checkout journey, mobile layouts, and CMS pages
- Tools and methods: Figma, Shopify, competitor benchmarking, and UX audit
The Challenge
A premium product needed a premium digital experience
Jewelry is a considered purchase. Customers need more than attractive product photography: they need to understand what they are buying, compare designs, evaluate product details, and feel confident before making a purchase.
The existing DiamondRensu website had an outdated visual direction, inconsistent page experiences, and opportunities to improve product discovery and purchase reassurance.
The client wanted to strengthen the brand’s appeal in the US market while improving usability across the shopping journey.
Key challenges
1. An underdeveloped premium identity
The existing visual presentation did not communicate the premium positioning the client wanted to establish.
2. Friction in product discovery
Navigation, categories, and collection layouts needed clearer organization to help customers find jewelry that matched their preferences.
3. Gaps in purchase confidence
Customers needed clearer product specifications, sizing information, customization options, reviews, and purchase reassurance.
4. Inconsistent page experiences
The redesign needed a cohesive visual language across the homepage, collection pages, product details, and supporting CMS pages.
The design objective
I focused on three priorities:
- Elevate perceived quality through refined typography, spacing, visual hierarchy, and a more modern aesthetic.
- Simplify product discovery by improving navigation, collection grids, and product card design.
- Build purchase confidence through clearer product information, visible reviews, and a more structured product detail experience.
The goal was not simply to make the store look more attractive. It was to make the entire shopping experience feel as considered as the jewelry itself.
The Solution
I redesigned the Shopify storefront around a more cohesive premium identity, clearer product discovery, and better-structured product information.
Rather than treating each page as a separate design task, I focused on creating a consistent experience across the customer’s journey—from browsing collections to evaluating a ring and making a purchase decision.
1. Homepage and visual identity
I refined the visual direction using premium typography, cleaner layouts, and more deliberate spacing. The objective was to create a modern storefront that better reflected the brand’s positioning and established a consistent first impression.
Focus: Visual hierarchy · Brand perception · Content presentation
2. Product discovery and collection pages
I reworked product cards, collection grids, and navigation to create a more structured browsing experience. I also developed a custom icon library for different diamond shapes, helping represent jewelry options more consistently throughout the interface.
Focus: Information architecture · Product cards · Diamond-shape icons
3. Product detail pages
I restructured product pages to improve information hierarchy and make important purchase details easier to understand. The redesign addressed product photography, sizing and specifications, customization options, customer reviews, and shipping or return information.
Focus: Product information · Purchase reassurance · Clearer content hierarchy
4. Customize Ring and supporting pages
I worked on the Customize Ring page’s information architecture and layout, with the goal of presenting customization options more clearly. I also addressed supporting CMS pages and consistency across the broader storefront.
Focus: Page structure · Customization clarity · Cross-page consistency
5. Responsive shopping experience
I adapted the desktop-first designs for mobile, accounting for narrower screens, readable product information, visual hierarchy, and accessible shopping actions.
Focus: Responsive layouts · Mobile readability · Consistency
Research and Insights
I used client discussions, a website UX audit, competitor benchmarking, and my professional UX judgment to establish the design direction.
Competitor references
I reviewed three jewelry retailers to understand how established brands presented their products and shopping experiences:
- Brilliant Earth — reference for premium jewelry presentation and engagement ring shopping.
- Kay Jewelers — reference for product browsing, jewelry categories, and purchase information.
- Cullen Jewellery — reference for contemporary jewelry branding and ring presentation.
These were benchmarking references, not formal usability-test subjects.
Three insights that informed my design decisions
Insight 1: Premium perception depends on the complete presentation
The existing website needed a more cohesive visual language. I prioritized typography, spacing, hierarchy, and consistent component styling to bring the experience closer to the client’s desired brand positioning.
Design response: Refined visual system and consistent page layouts.
Insight 2: Product discovery needs clear organization
Customers shopping for rings need to navigate a range of designs and diamond shapes without unnecessary friction. This made collection structure, navigation, and product cards important areas of focus.
Design response: Improved information architecture, collection grids, and custom diamond-shape icons.
Insight 3: Purchase confidence depends on accessible product information
Ring sizing, specifications, customization details, reviews, and shipping or return information all contribute to a customer’s evaluation of a product.
Design response: Restructured product detail pages and improved the hierarchy of key information.
Research note: These are synthesized design insights based on the confirmed audit findings and project decisions. They are not presented as statistically validated user research findings.
The Design Journey
From high-fidelity concepts to a consistent storefront
I worked directly with the client and developed high-fidelity design concepts rather than beginning with a separate low-fidelity wireframing phase. This approach allowed me to explore the visual direction and page structures while keeping the client’s premium-brand objective central to the work.
Decision 1 — Balance premium aesthetics with usability
The client wanted a premium store that could appeal to US customers. I refined typography, spacing, page hierarchy, and product presentation while keeping shopping actions and essential product details clear.
Why it mattered: A visually refined storefront still needs to help customers compare products and make informed decisions.
Decision 2 — Improve consistency across product experiences
I refined product cards, collection grids, product information architecture, and diamond-shape icons. These elements helped establish a more coherent approach across different templates.
Why it mattered: Customers should encounter a consistent visual and informational structure as they move between browsing, comparing, and evaluating products.
Collaboration — Iterative remote feedback
I shared designs with the client through Figma and resolved comments through successive refinements. I evaluated feedback against the project’s premium positioning and usability objectives rather than treating each request as an isolated visual change.
Why it mattered: This kept the design aligned with the client’s expectations while maintaining a consistent direction across the website.
Working within practical constraints
I balanced several competing priorities throughout the redesign:
- Premium visuals versus clear actions: Maintain an elevated appearance without obscuring product details or shopping controls.
- Information versus clutter: Present sizing, specifications, reviews, and shipping information without overwhelming the product page.
- Consistency versus page-specific needs: Maintain a cohesive system while supporting different collection, product, and CMS layouts.
- Desktop versus mobile: Translate the intended visual hierarchy into smaller screens without losing essential information.
I completed the design handoff and reviewed the implementation. Formal usability testing and controlled A/B testing were not part of this project, so I do not attribute the design decisions to user-testing results.
Final Impact and Outcomes
A redesigned experience, delivered and launched
The redesigned website launched publicly. The client was satisfied with the final design, and the delivered work addressed the principal areas identified during the project: premium visual presentation, product discovery, product information hierarchy, and consistency across the storefront.
Project outcomes
- Improved product discovery: Redesigned navigation, collection grids, product cards, and diamond-shape icons supported a clearer browsing experience.
- Clearer product presentation: Restructured product pages to improve the hierarchy of specifications, sizing, customization, reviews, and other purchase information.
- Client-approved design direction: Delivered a more refined visual experience that aligned with the client’s premium-brand objectives.
- End-to-end design ownership: Independently managed the UX audit, competitor benchmarking, visual design, responsive adaptation, remote feedback, and design handoff.
Conversion improvement: client-reported result
The client reported a 35% relative increase in conversion rate following the redesign. However, the exact baseline, measurement period, and supporting analytics are unavailable, and no controlled A/B test was conducted.
For that reason, I treat this as a client-reported outcome rather than an independently verified or experimentally attributed result. I would not present it as proof that the redesign alone caused the improvement.
Client-reported metric: +35% relative conversion-rate improvement
Reported by the client; exact figures and measurement period unavailable. Not validated through controlled A/B testing.
Key takeaway
This project reinforced an important lesson for me: premium e-commerce design is not just about updating the website. The product imagery itself must live up to the brand’s intended quality.
A refined interface can establish the right visual direction, but product photography and supporting content need to reinforce that perception at every step. The strongest result comes when the brand, product presentation, information architecture, and shopping experience work together.