Sporting Equipment E-Commerce Store

Volta is a multi-brand fitness e-commerce store selling apparel, equipment, and wearables entirely online. No physical shops, no fitting rooms, no staff to ask. Everything a customer needs to feel confident enough to buy has to come from the website itself.

That single constraint shaped every decision in the project. When a user can't try on leggings, hold a suspension trainer, or ask which shoe runs small, the product page has to do all of that work. The design had to be informative enough to replace the physical retail experience – without becoming overwhelming.

Every screen was designed from scratch in Figma – no templates, no UI kits – as a deliberate challenge to own every detail of the experience, from the smallest component to the full purchase flow. 10 user interviews surfaced five consistent needs. Each one became a specific design decision. Usability testing across five tasks returned a 4 out of 5 success rate on the first prototype, with both partial failures directly informing the final iteration.

Before designing anything, competitor sites were studied to understand the conventions and gaps in existing fitness e-commerce. This was followed by 10 user interviews to surface the real anxieties, habits, and expectations users bring to online fitness shopping.

The interviews pointed to a single underlying tension: without a physical store, every doubt a shopper might have had to be resolved on screen. Users weren't just looking for product information – they needed the confidence to commit to a purchase without being able to see, touch, or try anything first. That became the question that shaped the entire project.

The Problem Statement

How might we design an e-commerce site that gives users everything they need to make a confident, informed purchase decision?

Every major feature in Volta can be traced back to something users said in research. The decisions below were made deliberately in response to what the interviews revealed.

Users needed to know their size before they could commit to buying

Sizing anxiety was one of the most consistent themes across interviews. Users described a familiar workaround: visiting a physical store to try something on, then purchasing online. Without a store, Volta had to give users an equivalent level of confidence through the screen alone.

Smart Fit was designed as a direct response to this. Rather than asking users to measure themselves or decode a generic size chart, it draws on information they've already provided – body measurements stored in their profile, and their previous purchase history on Volta. If a user has bought Nike shoes before and the fit was true to size, Smart Fit uses that reference point to make a sizing suggestion for a different pair they're considering. The goal was to make sizing feel personal and reliable – not generic and guesswork-dependent.

Users needed the product page to answer every question a staff member would

Without a physical store, the product page carries an unusually heavy burden. It has to answer every question a user might otherwise ask a staff member, or resolve by simply picking up the item. Users told us they needed depth – but structured so it never felt overwhelming.

Each product page includes detailed descriptions, multiple images, a reviews section for social proof, and care and maintenance information so users understand how to look after what they're buying. For equipment, this went further: product videos show the item in use, and a dedicated Installation tab houses setup guides and videos. Buying a suspension trainer online is a considered decision – the product page needed to give users full confidence in not just whether to buy, but how to use it once it arrived.

Users needed to know they could return something easily before they'd risk buying it

Ease of returns came up repeatedly in interviews as a deciding factor for online purchases. Users weren't just asking for a returns policy – they were asking for a process that wouldn't punish them for buying something that didn't work out. The standard trip to a drop-off point was a friction point many mentioned specifically.

Volta's returns flow was designed to be doorstep-first. Users initiate a return from their order history, select the items, and schedule a pickup time. A Volta courier collects directly from their address – no packing required, no trip anywhere. The number of steps was also reduced from four to two, ensuring the process matched the simplicity users had asked for.

Five tasks tested the core journeys – browsing, sizing, checkout, returns, and understanding equipment. Four passed cleanly. The two that didn't were the most instructive.

Smart Fit partially failed not because it didn't work – but because users couldn't find it

Several users scrolled straight past the Smart Fit recommendation to the size selector. The feature was valuable to those who found it; the problem was visibility at exactly the moment users needed it most.

The fix was placement: a prominent 'Size Guide' link was added directly above the size selector – where users look before choosing – along with a size chart pop-up for those who wanted to compare manually.

The equipment task revealed a depth problem the product page hadn't yet solved

Users could find a product like the TRX suspension trainer, but the page didn't give them enough to understand how to actually use it – echoing the exact research finding that high-consideration equipment needs more than a description.

This led to two additions: a workout guide within the product gallery, and a dedicated Installation tab housing setup videos, so users felt confident not just buying the equipment but living with it afterwards.

Volta was built on a single principle: if the store exists only online, the design has to close every gap that a physical store would otherwise fill. That meant approaching each screen not as a layout problem, but as an information problem – what does this user need to know, right here, to feel confident enough to move forward?

The research made those gaps concrete. Sizing anxiety led to Smart Fit. The demand for easy returns led to a doorstep pickup flow. The need for product depth led to installation guides, workout references, and care information. The need for trust led to a reviews system and transparent pricing throughout. Each feature has a direct line back to something a user said.

The usability results confirmed that approach paid off: four out of five tasks completed successfully on first test, a 2 out of 7 ease-of-use score, and both partial failures informing targeted, specific iterations rather than broad rethinks.