[ Brand Case Study ] Brand Equity · E-commerce

Finishline

Balancing Brand Equity Across Product Lines While Driving Conversion

Finishline's 2021 redesign carried a specific tension: four product lines, each needing clear differentiation, but none allowed to feel inferior to the others, all while supporting a direct path to purchase. My task was to lead the team through a redesign that served brand nuance and e-commerce performance simultaneously.

Lead Web Designer / UX Team Lead, Digital Department Responsive · Desktop / Tablet / Mobile

[ finishline — system_collage ]

[ 01 — The Challenge ]

Finishline's offering spanned four distinct product lines, each governed by its own design principles and branding guidelines. A core business goal was to clearly differentiate these lines while maintaining equal perceived value across all of them, avoiding any impression that one line was inferior to another. This needed to be achieved through visual and content strategy alone, communicating each line's unique benefits and enabling unbiased, informed user choice, while simultaneously supporting a strong e-commerce conversion path from product exploration to purchase.

SCH.01 // line_balance rev_1.0 · ▣

fig.01 — Four product lines, one system: distinct identities held at equal perceived value.

[ 02 — My Approach ]

Information Architecture & Page Layouts

Leading a UX team of three designers from the earliest stages, I worked closely with brand and content teams to rework the site's information architecture, foregrounding key product benefits while simplifying navigation and content flow. The breadth of the product offering required designing approximately 50 unique, fully responsive page layouts (desktop, tablet, and mobile) sufficient to address each product line's distinct presentation needs without breaking consistency across the site. WCAG 2.1 AA compliance was treated as foundational throughout, alongside continuous attention to usability and technical feasibility along the site's core discovery-inform-buy journey.

SCH.02 // discovery_inform_buy rev_1.0 · ▣

fig.02 — Core user journey mapped across the layout system: discovery → inform → buy.

[ Feature Spotlight ]

Product Advisor Quiz

To directly support unbiased product line differentiation, we introduced a new product advisor quiz, offering tailored recommendations based on individual user needs, building on a similar concept developed for D-brand, here adapted to guide users toward the most suitable product line rather than a specific product.

fig.03 — Product advisor quiz: step one of the needs-based flow, desktop and mobile.

SCH.03 // advisor_flow rev_1.0 · ▣

fig.04 — Advisor flow: needs-based steps fanning out to a tailored product line recommendation.

E-commerce Enhancements

In parallel, the team enhanced e-commerce functionality: optimized product pages, clearer calls to action, and integration with retail partners to support conversion across regional markets.

[ Responsive_Delivery ]

All ~50 unique page layouts, across all four product lines, were designed responsively for desktop, tablet, and mobile.

Desktop · 1440

Tablet · 834

Mobile · 390

[ 03 — Outcome ]

Delivered approximately 50 unique, responsive page layouts, accommodating four distinct product line identities within a single coherent system

Established a master template used to revamp 35–40 local market websites

Achieved full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across all layouts and user journeys

Introduced a tailored product advisor quiz supporting unbiased, needs-based product line discovery

Strengthened e-commerce functionality and retail partner integration to support conversion across regional markets

Led a team of three designers through a complex, multi-line redesign requiring close brand and content coordination

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