Project Overview
CDKeys, a well-known digital marketplace for gaming keys and online entertainment products, approached me to redesign their eCommerce platform with a focus on elevating the overall buying experience. The goal was to modernize the website’s user experience, refine the information architecture, and create a scalable UI foundation that could support future features and global growth.
The redesign initiative addressed several challenges in the live platform: outdated UI patterns, complex navigation, friction within the checkout flow, and an inconsistent account management experience. Working independently, I led the full design cycle from user research and stakeholder workshops to UX strategy, prototyping, and final UI delivery ensuring the solution aligned with business priorities while offering seamless, user-friendly interactions.
The final scope included the website storefront, category browsing, deals pages, product details, payment flows, and a complete overhaul of account management functions such as purchase history, key retrieval, wallet, and personal settings.
My Role & Contribution
I was engaged as the lead UI/UX Design Consultant, collaborating directly with the founder, marketing lead, and a development partner. My responsibilities spanned across research, design strategy, system architecture, interface design, and cross-platform scalability.
- Conducted an audit of the current platform, identifying friction points across navigation, product discovery, and checkout.
- Facilitated stakeholder workshops to define business goals, customer segments, and success metrics.
- Analyzed competitive benchmarks in eCommerce and gaming marketplaces to identify opportunities for differentiation.
- Translated research insights into a clear strategic direction focusing on speed, clarity, and trust.
- Rebuilt the information architecture to simplify product navigation, reduce cognitive load, and improve category and search visibility.
- Mapped end-to-end user journeys—from landing on product pages to completing payments and managing purchased keys.
- Designed strategic flows for key platform functions:
- Product discovery and comparison
- Streamlined checkout
- Key activation guidance
- Secure account management
- Produced low-, mid-, and high-fidelity wireframes to validate the new IA and layout before moving into visual refinement.
- Built interactive prototypes for user testing, focusing on:
- Checkout speed and clarity
- Payment method selection
- Error states and validation
- Account dashboard interaction patterns
- Optimized micro-interactions across the platform, improving perceived speed and user confidence.
- Established an updated UI direction that modernized the brand while maintaining familiarity for frequent customers.
- Developed a scalable component system to ensure visual and functional consistency across product listing pages, PDPs, checkout, and user dashboard.
- Enhanced hierarchy, typography, and color structure to support accessibility and improve conversion-driven workflows.
- Provided a phased product roadmap outlining quick wins, high-impact improvements, and long-term enhancements.
- Documented all design decisions with annotations, behavioral rules, and responsive states for development.
- Worked closely with the client’s engineering team to support implementation and ensure execution quality.
Impact & Outcome
- Introduced a clearer, more intuitive navigation system that reduced bounce rates and improved product discovery.
- Delivered a streamlined checkout experience designed to increase conversions, reduce abandonment, and improve trust signals.
- Redesigned the account management dashboard to help users access purchased keys, payment history, and support faster and more intuitively.
- Improved the platform’s visual coherency with a modern, scalable UI system adaptable to new regions, currencies, and features.
- Stakeholders praised the design for its balance of aesthetic refinement and practical usability improvements, particularly in high-conversion areas like payment and product pages.
Reflection
This project showcased the impact of unified UX and UI thinking in a high-volume eCommerce environment. Working independently pushed me to take full ownership strategy, research, structure, flows, and design execution while maintaining alignment with business objectives.
The redesigned CDKeys platform is now positioned for better scalability, higher user satisfaction, and increased conversion potential. This experience strengthened my ability to manage end-to-end product design while delivering solutions that blend user needs with measurable business value.