Transforming the Homepage into a personalised, high-engagement entry point.

Woolworths is Australia's largest supermarket chain. The project aimed to transform a static, cluttered page into a personalised, task-oriented entry point that would improve customer satisfaction and drive revenue growth.

Challenges

The homepage suffered from measurable engagement and performance issues. 50% of customers scrolled past the hero carousel entirely, treating it as banner blindness despite it being the first impression for half of all homepage visitors. Lower-page modules distracted from core shopping tasks, with scroll depth metrics showing customers rarely engaged beyond the fold.

"I usually zone out and disregard the carousel unless it's particularly relevant to me" — Desktop user, Research participant, Nov 2022

Advertising placements interrupted the shopping flow without context. Essential features remained buried: 27% of users started their shop on the homepage, yet key tools like lists and "Buy Again" required multiple clicks to access. 45% used the homepage as a fallback when navigation elsewhere failed, but found it unhelpful.

Manual content processes consumed thousands of hours annually. Weekly content updates limited responsiveness to customer needs, while all users saw identical static assets regardless of behaviour or lifecycle stage. 60% of Everyday Rewards members weren't actively engaged, missing value from the loyalty program.

"I only buy groceries at Woolworths. I buy my homeware and anything else I need from specialty stores because they have more range" — Desktop user, Research participant, Nov 2022

The business impact: low customer satisfaction scores, capped revenue potential, and high maintenance costs for content teams coordinating across Brand & Marketing, Cartology, and Trade divisions.

My Role

I led design as sole Senior Product Designer from January 2024 through project completion in May 2024. Initially joined in October 2023 to assist UX Designer Maneeta Um with research and prototyping, then assumed full responsibility when she departed in December 2023, inheriting a high-visibility project mid-flight.

I collaborated with a 10+ person cross-functional team spanning iOS native, Android native, and web (AEM/React) platforms. Product Manager Adnan Masood owned delivery coordination. I partnered closely with Brand & Marketing (Woolworths, Everyday), Cartology, and Trade teams, ultimately leading 3 major playback sessions and 6-8 individual stakeholder walkthroughs to maintain alignment across competing priorities.

Research & Discovery

Conducted comprehensive discovery research from October-November 2022 to validate pain points and shape the future-state vision:

10 remote usability testing sessions (5 desktop, 5 mobile) via UserTesting with diverse participants representing all behavioural archetypes (Conscious, Gourmet, Essential, Saver, Traditional shoppers). Participants had placed ≥1 grocery order in the past month, split between searchers and browsers.

Key insights:

"4 out of 5 customers were surprised and delighted by the ability to see their points balance progress from the homepage" — Research findings, Nov 2022

The dashboard tested exceptionally well. Participants immediately understood the value of personalised quick links, with one suggesting customisable shortcuts.

"I come to Woolies to do my food shopping, not look for activity ideas or things to buy. This is something I would go to Kmart for" — Mobile user on editorial content, Nov 2022

Discovery content (recipes, editorials) rated high for desirability but low for shopping relevance. Customers wanted this content higher in hierarchy or removed entirely to reduce scrolling fatigue.

Research drove feature prioritisation: Above-the-fold personalisation, shoppable product lists, and the Quick Links dashboard became P0 features. Editorial content was deprioritised, and carousel simplification became critical after observing 100% of participants notice it but most tune it out unless personally relevant.

Design Solution

Hero Carousel

The carousel formed first impression for half of all visitors yet 50% scrolled past it due to information overload and inconsistent messaging. Created a templated structure that balances creative flexibility with consistent layouts, enabling content teams to author banners without engineering support.

"Several customers praised the look and feel of the new navigation as being more clean and fresh" — Research findings, Nov 2022

Design rationale: Simplified communication hierarchy using three layout templates (image-focused, split-screen, text-heavy) with accessibility compliance built in from the start (WCAG 2.1 AA). Reduced cognitive effort by standardising information architecture while maintaining campaign flexibility.

Result: Carousel click-through rate increased from 2.9% to 4.1% (+1.2pp), and time to publish new banners reduced by 70%.

Quick Links Dashboard

27% of users start their shop on homepage and 45% use it as a reliable fallback, yet key features remained buried in navigation. Designed a personalised dashboard surfacing entry points to frequent tasks, especially valuable on mobile where navigation is more challenging.

"Upon probing, all customers reacted positively to dashboard personalisation" — Research findings, Nov 2022

Design rationale: Prioritised based on user frequency data, Lists, Buy Again, Specials, and Recipes became default tiles. Added personalisation layer showing Everyday Rewards points balance with visual progress indicator, which tested as "surprise and delight" element in research.

One participant suggested ability to customise dashboard tiles, considered for future iteration but descoped for MVP to manage complexity.

Result: List traffic increased from 130K to 161K visits (+24%), indicating improved discoverability of previously buried features.

Shoppable Product Lists

Customers struggled to find and repurchase frequently bought items. The "Buy Again" feature existed but required navigation through menus. Created shoppable product carousels directly on homepage, allowing customers to add items to cart without leaving the entry point.

"4 out of 5 customers prefer the carousel rail because it provided with more information about the product, savings and can directly add to cart" — Research findings, Nov 2022

Design rationale: Tested three layout variations (carousel rail, tile entry point, stacked grid). Carousel rail won decisively, provided product information, pricing, and immediate add-to-cart action. Added "View all X items" link with item count after research showed confusion about whether displayed products represented full set.

Specials module confusion: Some participants initially misunderstood "My Specials" terminology.

"⅕ were confused by the 'View all specials' link. She mentioned is it going to lead me to show just all of 'My specials' or will it lead me to view every other Specials like half price and more?" — Research findings, Nov 2022

Addressed by adding clarifying microcopy and item counts.

Result: Add-to-cart actions increased from 3.11M to 3.42M (+10%, measured across linear sessions post-rollout). Attributable revenue rose from $6.23M to $7.26M (+17%).

Everyday Rewards Boosters

60% of Everyday Rewards members weren't actively engaged with the program. Surfaced "My Weekly Boosters" module on homepage to increase awareness before customers started shopping.

"All customers stated that they already boost offers through email or the EDR app - however, a reminder was seen as being useful, particularly before they start their shop" — Research findings, Nov 2022

Design rationale: Positioned boosters module after Buy Again/Specials but before editorial content, based on research suggesting customers wanted task-focused features higher in hierarchy. Added "Boost all" CTA prominently after research showed customers preferred bulk activation over individual selection.

One usability issue emerged: customers were unsure whether adding a booster item to a list would also boost the item—documented for future iteration but not blocking for launch.

Content cards

The previous content cards lacked flexibility and accessibility, often embedding key information within images. The redesigned cards now support additional fields, improved functionality, and better communication of offers and brand messages. They also provide enhanced support for Everyday brands and meet higher accessibility standards, ensuring that all customers receive clear, actionable information.

Implementation & Obstacles

Phase 1 (Oct-Dec 2023):

Research and prototyping with Maneeta Um. Conducted 10 user testing sessions, benchmarked 8 competitor homepages, compiled Voice of Customer data from Medallia surveys.

Phase 2 (Jan-May 2024):

Solo design leadership. Developed component specifications for 7 new Core Design System components, created accessibility documentation, led stakeholder alignment.

Key obstacles:

UX designer departure:

Maneeta left in December 2023, mid-project. I underestimated capacity consumed by leading UX on web while simultaneously handling UI specifications.

Learning: Should have requested additional UX support earlier or negotiated timeline extension.

Stakeholder alignment complexity:

Aligning Brand & Marketing (Woolworths, Everyday), Cartology, and Trade teams required structured playback sessions. Timely feedback coordination was primary challenge, multiple teams with competing priorities for homepage real estate.

Learning: Next time, establish decision-making framework up-front with clear escalation path for conflicts.

Component patterns:

Bringing components to developer-ready state required extensive iteration due to lack of existing patterns for behaviour, styling, and accessibility in AEM.

Learning: Early engagement with engineering on component logic reduces rework, should have involved engineers in design sprints from the start.

Stakeholder blocking:

Appeared to face serious stakeholder issue mid-project. Prepared comprehensive documentation and anticipated questions, then asked Tribe Lead Roxanne Hoad to unblock.

Learning: This proved unnecessary, lean on others and reach out for support earlier rather than over-preparing in isolation.

Results

Post-Rollout Performance (100% rollout, March 25, 2024 onwards)

After rolling new homepage to 100% of users, performance remained stronger versus old design.

Traffic & Engagement

• Unique visitors: 2.36M → 2.40M (+1.7%, measured weekly)
• "To Lists" visits: 130K → 161K (+24%, showing improved feature discoverability)
• Time on page: 0:53 → 1:10 (+17 seconds sustained improvement)

Revenue (Linear Sessions)

• Add-to-cart actions: 3.11M → 3.42M (+10%)
• E-commerce revenue: $6.23M → $7.26M (+17%)
• Average order value: $187 → $195 (+$8 per order)
• Items per basket: 42 → 43 (+1 item average)

Recognition

Faye Ilhan (idX Managing Director) — Post-launch, March 2024:

"Dear Team, You should be incredibly proud of delivering such a significant dial in the customer experience journey. I'm looking forward to reading what our customer's say through VOC. Well done team!"

Sam Gorgise (Head of Commercial Trading eCom) — Post-launch, March 2024:

"Well done team, what a great achievement. The homepage looks fantastic. I've had several suppliers already send me a note saying it looks great — see an example from Nestle."