E-COMMERCE • WEBSITE DESIGN • BRAND DESIGN

Arbonne International Website

Arbonne International is a 27 year old wellness and skincare brand known for its Swiss formulated, U.S. made products. I was brought on to redesign their website and overall look, including the full shopping experience and cart system. The goal was to create something cleaner, more elevated, and actually enjoyable to use.

TIMELINE

1 week design concept to covering all key pages from sitemap and navigation through to final layout variations.

TEAM & ROLE

Lead designer on a small internal team. I owned the overall concept and look and feel, while the art director guided product direction.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Led the full web redesign concept including sitemap, navigation, homepage, and page layouts. Also designed the product overview, category, and detail pages.

KEY RESULTS

Delivered two home screen variations in one week. The light theme moved to development and the green variation was reserved for holiday promotions.

01 BACKGROUND

Arbonne International is a 27 year old wellness and skincare brand selling Swiss formulated, U.S. made products through a network of independent sales agents. The existing site was outdated, hard to shop, and no longer reflected the quality of the brand.

02 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The site had poor typography, no lifestyle imagery, and a confusing layout with calls to action that went nowhere. Products were buried in the wrong categories, the checkout had recurring errors, and nothing about the experience felt like Arbonne.

03 PROJECT GOAL

The goal was to create a cleaner, more premium site that felt like Arbonne from the moment you landed on it. That meant better navigation, a cohesive visual identity, and a shopping experience that was intuitive and easy to move through.

Screenshot_20-5-2026_232835_web.archive.org

05 DESIGN PROCESS

I approached the design process in three phases, researching competitor sites for inspiration, sketching and exploring structure, then making deliberate design decisions around layout, color, and typography.

DISCOVERY & RESEARCH

I looked at Clarins, Neutrogena, NIVEA, etc for navigation and content hierarchy references. I also pulled from fashion websites to understand how premium lifestyle brands use spacing, typography, and visual storytelling.

KEY INSIGHTS

The biggest takeaway was how much ease of use shapes brand perception. When a site is easy to navigate and visually consistent, it builds trust before a user even looks at a product. For Arbonne, that gap was the opportunity.

EXPLORATION

I started with rough whiteboard sketches to map out the sitemap and establish a clear direction before moving into wireframes. From there, I worked closely with the art director to validate the navigation and overall layout. The biggest structural decision was simplifying the category system, stripping back nested navigation so products were easier to discover.

DESIGN DECISIONS

The design was built around simplicity and ease of use. A 12 column grid kept spacing consistent and gave pages a polished, premium feel. The light theme was chosen as the primary color direction, with green reserved for holiday promotions. System fonts kept typography clean and lightweight across all devices, and strong color contrast ensured readability for all users.

05 CHALLENGES

‟ The biggest challenges were staying focused under a tight deadline, navigating unclear feedback, and keeping the design visually consistent across all page types while respecting existing brand guidelines. ”

TIME PRESSURE

With only one week to deliver, I stayed focused by checking in regularly with the creative and art directors. Rather than just executing requests, I brought my own variations to every conversation so decisions could be made faster and with less back and forth.

CONFLICTING FEEDBACK

The direction wasn't always clear, and there was back and forth on the design variations. I worked through it by proposing options based on my own design judgment, which helped the team land on the light theme as the primary direction and green for promotions.

06 FINAL OUTCOME

The redesign delivered a clean, modern and visually elevated site that finally felt like Arbonne. The navigation was simplified, the category structure was restructured, and the overall experience was much easier to move through. Two home screen variations were presented. the light theme was selected as the primary direction and move forward into development. The green variation was repurposed for seasonal and holiday promotions, giving the brand a way to create visual moments without losing consistency.

WHAT I LEARNED

The biggest takeaway was learning how to move fast without losing quality. I had to trust my instincts, stay focused, and communicate clearly to keep things moving. Ambiguity is just part of the process, and this project pushed me to work through it confidently.

WHAT FELT SUCCESSFUL

The visual direction came together in a way that felt genuinely elevated. The site looked and felt completely different from where it started. Simplifying the navigation was also a real win, giving users clearer, more intuitive paths through the experience.

HOW THIS GREW MY SKILLS

This project sharpened my ability to design under pressure and deliver polished work fast. It reinforced that taking initiative and bringing your own ideas to the table matters just as much as executing what's asked of you.

WHAT I'D REFINE NEXT

I would go back and refine the category and skin overview pages, since both had more potential. After that, resolving the checkout errors would have been the most important next step, as they were directly preventing customers from completing purchases.