GL-INet Website Redesign

Homepage

The project began with a comprehensive onboarding form and kickoff call to understand the brand, goals, and desired website features. This was followed by an extensive website audit and competitor research to identify areas for improvement and new features. 

Target Audience:

• Western men aged 25-34, followed by 35-44

• Prosumers (between consumer and professional) and tech-savvy 

• They are rational and research-driven

• They value hard data (specs and performance) over flashy marketing

• They want transparency, quick access to documentation and forums, and a streamlined, no-nonsense purchasing process.

Key Takeaways

Based on research, audit findings, and audience needs, I identified the following features we wanted to focus on for the site redesign.

Product Page

GL-INet provided us with a list of requests and desired features for the new sites. Many of these features were not available in their current Shopify theme. Therefore, we began by researching and exploring alternative themes that could better accommodate their needs.

However, after some discussion, GL-iNet decided to keep their existing Shopify theme and have their developers custom-code the design instead. This was partially because their brand site—which is not hosted on Shopify—would also require custom development. So I would use Figma to design both the brand site and the e-commerce site before handing off the designs to their developers.

• Sizing and spacing of sections are organized so that the first section is usually above-the-fold so users can see all the information at once without scrolling down

• Specs focused, tables with bold technical highlights (e.g., "5.3 Gbps Aggregate Throughput").

• Expandable "Full Specifications" for power users

• Product Comparison Table/Tool

• Horizontal Tabs Layout

Loyalty Program

Their existing website was outdated, generic, and not optimized for mobile devices. It lacked the consistent e-commerce features necessary to drive sales and the content felt a little disorganized. The visual identity was particularly inconsistent across the site. Our goal was to create a more engaging, seamless shopping experience that addressed these shortcomings.

Brand Site

Visually, the brand site was a little generic, lacking the modern and sleek tech aesthetic. Similar to the e-commerce site, it lacked consistent page templates and visual consistency, making the user experience feel disjointed. It was also missing some key B2B features and content and had weak community and social engagement features, which GL-INet wanted to strengthen. 

Desktop

Website Style Guide

Reflections and Handoff

Design Handoff:

After all designs were confirmed, I handed the complete Figma files over to GL-iNet's development team for implementation according to their internal processes, marking the end of my role in this project.

While I worked closely with the GL-INet team—including developers, product managers, and other stakeholders, the final designs were conceived as the most ideal version, not necessarily the exact final version. They wanted us to create this, so they could try to implement as much as they could on their current site. So without access to their Shopify backend or the ability to fully test third-party apps, I did my best to account for the limitations of both the apps and the existing theme. However, the development team may still encounter implementation challenges or run into things they want to change when scaling up the templates. 

Challenges:

One of the major challenges in this project was balancing stakeholder desires against optimal user experience. For example, stakeholders often wanted designs that differed drastically from their current site, which made it difficult to maintain a balanced approach. My goal was to create the most effective design, not to change elements arbitrarily just for the sake of change. To address this, I created multiple design options for stakeholders to compare, which allowed them to see trade-offs visually and make informed decisions rather than debating abstract preferences.

Another recurring challenge was that stakeholders would sometimes provide a dynamic and visually interesting reference, yet ultimately prefer a plainer, simpler layouts to make content easier to read and minimizing clicks or scrolling. Walking this fine line was difficult, as I aimed to keep the designs modern and distinctive without becoming generic.

Limitations & Future Improvements:

I conducted extensive research, analyzing competitors and gathering reference materials to support my design decisions. However, due to the project's tight timeline and the client's prioritization of speed, it was not possible to conduct user testing. Ideally, I would have liked to gather data to further validate and back up my design decisions, a step that would have strengthened the final outcome and potentially reduced some of the friction around competing preferences.