Reducing Decision Fatigue in Product Browsing
Improving the image gallery on category pages to support earlier comparison and product confidence
Overview
Users were missing critical visual details needed to make confident decisions while browsing the lululemon website. Discovery research showed a 3% year-over-year increase in the bouncing between category and product pages; driven in part by limited product imagery on category pages.
The Outcome
As the lead designer, I set out to reduce decision fatigue on category pages by giving users quicker access to more product imagery. The final solution increased qualified traffic to product pages (X% uplift, to be added), helping shoppers feel more confident before clicking in and reducing friction in their ability to compare and assess products.
My Role
I led this project from early discovery and problem framing through to design execution. My responsibilities included:
Discovery planning and stakeholder alignment
Defining the problem and strategy
Competitive analysis
Visual and motion design
Prototyping
Discovery & Strategy Groundwork
When I joined the team, my product partner and I quickly identified a gap: there was no clear discovery or long-term strategy guiding the space.
We took initiative to build that foundation by aligning on a vision and defining the core problems users face while browsing.
Drawing from analytics, user research, previous A/B tests, and competitive analysis, we developed two key hypotheses:
Users experience decision fatigue and lack the confidence to make informed choices while browsing category pages.Users are clicking into product pages prematurely because important information is missing from category pages.Definition & Prioritization
There were several ways we could have addressed the problem; I proposed focusing on improving the image gallery, as this direction was most strongly supported by our research and offered the greatest potential impact on user experience.
After aligning with my product partner on this direction, I defined the following user needs related to imagery on the category pages:
Access to more detailed product imagery that highlights differentiating features
The ability to view a broader range of product images at a glance
These needs supported a larger user goal: to confidently compare products without needing to click into product pages prematurely.
We also identified the following business goal:
Reduce user fatigue caused by excessive back-and-forth between category and product pages, in order to drive more qualified traffic to product pages and increase add-to-cart rates.
Design Approach
As I moved into the design phase, I grounded my decisions in a set of key principles to ensure a focused and thoughtful iteration process. These included:
Platform consistency: Ensuring alignment between the web and app experiences
Design consistency: Reflecting established patterns from other image galleries across the site
Accessibility: Supporting keyboard navigation and providing clear orientation cues for all users
Key Moments in the Design Process
The design journey was shaped by moments of insight, constraint, and iteration. What follows is a visual walkthrough of the decisions and challenges that defined the final solution.
Beyond the Solution
This project’s impact went beyond A/B test KPIs. It helped shift how our team prioritizes roadmap decisions; anchoring them more strongly in foundational user problems and long-term strategy.
For me, a major area of growth was learning how to navigate disconnects between design intent and technical feasibility. Instead of accepting a “this won’t work,” I leaned into curiosity; sharing the rationale behind the design and inviting collaboration. This led to a better solution and stronger alignment across design and engineering.
It’s the kind of challenge that deepened my belief that good design isn’t just about solutions. It’s about the conversations that shape them.