GrillGrate
This project focused on redesigning the GrillGrate DTC website to increase sales, support buyer confidence, lower returns and call center reliance. GrillGrate sells reversible replacement grates that significantly improve grilling performance, but product selection is highly dependent on grill model and configuration, making clarity and guidance critical to the purchase experience.
- Product and UX strategy
- UX and UI design
- Shopping flow and information architecture
- Interactive Product Discovery Tool
- Motion design and micro-interactions
- Landing page and site re-design
- Art direction and photoshoot planning
- Home grillers, in need of replacement grates
- Experienced grillers, comparing configurations and performance benefits
- Call center team, supporting customers
The product catalog required users to select highly specific configurations based on grill model and size, yet the existing site provided little guidance or confidence-building support. Key product features such as reversibility and performance benefits were not clearly communicated. As a result, users relied heavily on customer support, experiencing decision paralysis, and frequently ordered incorrect products, leading to high return rates.
I began by interviewing the head of the call center to identify recurring customer issues and friction points. The primary insight was clear: users didn’t know how to shop and lacked confidence they were choosing the right product.
To address this, I redesigned the shopping experience around clarity and guided decision-making. I simplified the mega menu to reduce cognitive load, narrowing entry points to grilling location. I then designed a product selection and comparison tool that walked users through choosing the correct configuration based on their specific grill setup.
Through user testing, we found that individual steps in the quiz could still cause confusion - particularly around measuring grills and identifying models. In response, I added contextual tabs with Lottie animations that demonstrated how to measure and recognize grill types in real time, significantly reducing friction without slowing down the shopping experience.
I art-directed and conducted product and lifestyle shoots to demonstrate Baymard Institute best practices in our PLPs as well as lifestyle shoots to show benefits and help tell the brand story. These visuals clarified product configurations and benefits while helping expand the brand’s appeal to a broader audience, including more female grillers.
The redesigned experience led to a measurable increase in average order value, a reduction in returns, and decreased reliance on the call center. Customers were better equipped to choose the correct product independently, resulting in a cleaner shopping experience, clearer product understanding, and improved business performance.
