Project Summary: Enhancing the search experience to improve product discovery and user satisfaction on CDW's e-commerce platform.

The Challenge

CDW's existing search functionality was underperforming, leading to user frustration and missed opportunities for product discovery. The goal was to redesign the typeahead feature to provide more relevant suggestions and streamline the search process.

Roles

• Conducted heuristic evaluations and user research
• Led UX design and prototyping efforts
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams including developers and product managers
• Prototyping
• Facilitated usability testing sessions

The Solution

Met with multiple stakeholders to align on updates being made, and what capabilities we were looking to include

Conducted competitive analysis, reviewed personas, consulted Baymard.com research

Refined concepts with a product designer

Initial concepts

Refined concepts

Iterated designs until we had 2 clearly defined experiences Final concepts

Built interactive prototype.

Conducted numerous unmoderated usertesting.com tests including, feature validation and discovery, information architecture, naming.

Directed remote moderated user interviews to determine which design would clearly help refine the typical path.
Prototype1

Prototype2

Released iteration

Strategy Development

Based on research insights, I developed updated user personas and detailed journey maps that better reflected the expectations and behaviors of our current user base. These artifacts served as a foundation for aligning the team on priorities and identifying high-impact opportunities. I created a strategic roadmap that balanced short-term wins with longer-term improvements. Early focus areas included redesigning the mobile checkout experience, simplifying the filtering system, surfacing upfront shipping information, and integrating real-time inventory visibility. The roadmap emphasized continuous iteration, with clear KPIs established to measure success and inform future optimizations.

The Results

Generally positive feedback during user interviews, focus on new features, and refinement of introduced functionality.

• Positive reception over the current type ahead experience
• 6% increase in engagement
• 2.33% Add to Cart conversion increase
• $18 Million increase in revenue