Fruit of the Loom Case Study

Project Overview

The Full
Picture

It's probably safe to say that most people know who Fruit of the Loom is and the business they’re in, but for those who don’t, here’s the quick context: Fruit of the Loom is a major player in the apparel industry, known for their wide range of clothing essentials. However, their online presence was outdated and not reflective of their brand’s evolution towards sustainability and innovation. The goal of this project was to completely redesign their website and migrate it to a new platform, improving site speed, user experience, and altering their current look at how they run their e-commerce business.

For me, this project was a great opportunity to learn new skills. As part of a two person design team colloborating with a larger group of developers and marketing team, I was responsible for leading the design and front-end development of the new site. This meant everything from design systems, wireframing and prototyping in Figma to coding responsive layouts and interactive components in React.js. It was a challenging but rewarding experience that allowed me to grow as both a designer and developer. Working closely with senior software engineers also gave me valuable insight into the technical considerations and constraints of web development, which informed my design decisions and helped me create a more cohesive final product.

Once we completed the project, seeing the actual real world impact of our work was fully rewarding. The new site not only looked great but also performed significantly better, with faster load times and a smoother user experience. Having built something to also make the jobs of the marketing teams easier by creating a more flexible design system and reusable components was an added bonus.

The Challenge

The Problem
Worth Solving

The old Fruit of the Loom website was not only visually outdated but also suffered from slow load times and a clunky user experience. Users were frustrated at how long it took for pages to load, especially on mobile devices, which led to high bounce rates and lost sales. Additionally, the site’s information architecture was confusing, making it difficult for customers to find products and complete purchases. The challenge was to completely overhaul the website’s design and underlying codebase to create a faster, more intuitive shopping experience that also aligned with the brand’s new focus and e-commerce strategy.

"Checkout should be a breeze, not a barrier. Customers get frustrated easily and if you won't let them checkout, they'll just go somewhere else that will."

As Fruit of the Loom proper was shifting away from selling products direct to consumers, we needed a way to push our customers to our partners where they could buy our products, while still providing a compelling and branded experience on our own site. This meant rethinking the entire user flow and information architecture of the site, as well as implementing a new design that better reflected the brand’s evolution. Additionally, we had to work within the constraints of a tight timeline and rebuilding the entire codebase, adding an extra layer of complexity to the project.