During discovery, we found that iSTRAP’s strength lies in superior customer service, strong brand awareness, and a better website experience compared to competitors. However, challenges remain with overcrowded navigation, inconsistent brand voice, and perceptions of being similar to lower-quality competitors. Key customer groups include everyday workers, sporty users, fashion-driven buyers, and creatives, all valuing durability, style, and ease. Pain points centre around difficulty finding the right product and a lack of clear, lifestyle-driven content. Opportunities exist to streamline the site experience, showcase quality visually, strengthen brand personality, and nurture customer loyalty.

During discovery, we found that while iSTRAP led competitors in customer service, brand awareness, and site experience, challenges remained around overwhelming navigation, inconsistent brand voice, and weak product differentiation. Customers valued durability, style, and functionality but often struggled to find the right product easily. From this, we focused on improving product exploration, simplifying wayfinding, and elevating the perception of premium quality across the site. A key solution, a product strap finder tool, was concepted to streamline selection but did not proceed to launch due to feasibility constraints. These insights shaped a clear opportunity to refine navigation, visually demonstrate quality, and strengthen brand trust.

The design phase focused on creating a more engaging and intuitive experience by thoughtfully integrating motion across every page. Subtle interactions, like a blinking dot on call-to-actions, were introduced to guide users, appearing only when an action was shoppable or linked to the cart, to create clearer pathways without overwhelming the experience. Drawing inspiration from Apple’s design system, familiar UI patterns were adopted to build a cohesive and intuitive environment for Apple users while still reflecting iSTRAP’s expressive and energetic brand. Product lifestyle imagery played a central role, with products consistently featured to keep users just a click away from adding to cart or viewing details, merging premium inspiration with a distinct iSTRAP identity.