self initiated
Bloom — Botanical Commerce
Bringing Editorial Curation and Warmth to Digital Botanical E-Commerce
- Role
- Design Lead — Brand Translation, E-Commerce UX, Editorial Layout System, Photography Art Direction, and Responsive Design.
- Scope
- Homepage with editorial hero, collection pages with asymmetric product grids, detailed product pages with lifestyle imagery, a streamlined three-step cart and checkout, account pages, and full responsive design from 320px to widescreen.
- Timeline
- 6 weeks
- Category
- Web Application
Overview
A boutique plant shop with a devoted local following wanted their online store to feel as curated and personal as their physical space. They had great products and photography — but the website made everything look interchangeable.
Challenge
The existing site used a standard grid layout with no editorial hierarchy. Every product looked the same, the brand's personality was invisible, and cart abandonment was high because the checkout flow felt disconnected from the browsing experience.
Objective
Create an online shopping experience that carries the same sense of curation and care as the physical shop — where browsing feels like discovery, not scrolling through a catalog. Increase average session duration by 45% Improve cart completion rates by 25% Translate physical store aesthetic into digital editorial experience
Approach
Started from what a good plant shop does in person: arrangement, light, handwritten labels. Translated each into a digital equivalent — editorial pacing instead of a grid, photography with room around it, copy in the shop's own voice — then designed the browsing and checkout flow around browsing rather than searching.
Selected decisions
Used asymmetric grids and generous whitespace to make product browsing feel like flipping through a magazine, not scrolling a spreadsheet. Featured lifestyle imagery above product shots to lead with emotion. Simplified checkout to three visible steps with persistent cart preview — removing the 'how many steps are left?' anxiety that kills conversions.
Responsibilities
In-Store Brand Audit & Photography Art Direction Asymmetric Editorial Layout System Streamlined 3-Step Checkout Flow Responsive Breakpoints & Developer Handoff
Deliverables
Full e-commerce UI across all key pages, an editorial layout system with reusable section patterns, product photography direction with shot list, responsive prototypes for the main shopping flow, and implementation guidelines with animation timing specs.
Outcome
The exercise produced a discovery-to-cart flow shaped around browsing rather than searching, an editorial art direction for a botanical catalogue, and a reusable commerce component set. It is self-initiated: no store ran it and no customer saw it.
Reflection
E-commerce doesn't have to feel transactional. When browsing carries the same care as the brand, customers slow down and explore — which is exactly what a curated shop needs. Speed isn't always the goal; confidence is.