Revamping CeX: a passion project
CeX is a top UK retailer for pre-owned electronics, offering buy, sell, or trade-in options for devices like phones, games, and consoles at competitive prices.
Design thinking
User research & workshops
User-centred design
Information architecture
Costumer journey mapping
Features & navigation enhacements
Figma design library
Usability testing
Low-fi wireframes
Hi-fi prototypes
Summary
Re-think and modernise the UI while respecting the existing brand; re-build existing features and create new ones based on customer feedback and best design practices, ensuring a clean, contemporary look and enhanced user experience.
What
Web app
Industry
Retail, gaming
Tools
Figma, Mural
Product
CeX website
Overview
The Problem
My lifelong passion for gaming led me to become a regular user of CeX, a hub for gaming and entertainment. However, despite my frequent use, I consistently faced navigation challenges on the website, making it difficult to find deals on my favourite retro titles and new discoveries.
Further observation revealed that these issues were not unique to me—other users struggled with the same navigation frustrations. This highlighted a clear problem: the current design of the CeX website was not optimised for an intuitive and streamlined shopping experience. Recognising this gap presented a valuable opportunity to redesign the website, improving usability and enhancing the overall user experience.
The challenge
How might I redesign the CeX website to streamline navigation and improve the overall user experience, making it easier for users to discover and purchase both retro and new gaming products? My goal was to address the navigation frustrations and inefficiencies that led to user dissatisfaction, while maintaining the brand identity and catering to a diverse user base—from casual shoppers to dedicated gaming enthusiasts.
Project Timeline
Current design analysis
To better understand the user experience, I analysed the current design through user flows and sitemaps. This helped identify potential pain points, allowing for improvements that create a smoother and more intuitive user experience.
Unsolicited redesign
In the second phase, I focused on creating an intuitive interface for a seamless user journey. This involved developing new user flows, revamping existing components, and modernising the shop, product, and presentation pages. Essentially, I gave all pages a UI and UX overhaul.
Research
Preliminary Hypothesis & Assumptions
I anticipate that enhancing the information architecture, simplifying navigation, and unifying the buying and selling experience on the CeX website will increase user satisfaction and engagement, resulting in smoother transactions and a higher rate of returning customers.
A Designer’s Take: Pros and Cons of Setting a Hypothesis Before User Interviews
Advantages:
By defining a preliminary hypothesis based on my own experience and without initial user insight, I established a baseline for my learning objectives, guiding my user interviews with relevant questions and streamlining the analysis of insights.
Pitfalls:
Predefined hypotheses can result in confirmation bias, leading me to focus on validating my assumptions and limiting the scope of my inquiries by prioritising my own questions over exploring user needs.
How to overcome the risks:
Create open-ended questions that encourage broader discussion, enabling me to gather insights while allowing space for unexpected feedback
Allow users to explore their thoughts freely and share any relevant experiences, even if they don’t directly relate to my hypothesis.
Practice active listening, focusing on understanding user struggles rather than concentrating solely on the hypothesis I’m trying to prove.
Get input from other team members when building my hypothesis, as this provides diverse perspectives that challenge my assumptions and reduce personal biases.
Conduct exploratory research first, such as surveys or informal conversations, to gather general insights before formal user interviews. This can provide broader context and help shape a more informed hypothesis.
User feedback
After my initial observations, I conducted usability testing with a group of friends and looked online (e.g. Trustpilot) for user feedback on visual design and functionality. These sessions confirmed that navigation challenges and broader user experience issues impact a wider range of CeX customers, validating the need for a website redesign.
“CeX's navigation needs a refresh. The current menus are confusing and lack intuitiveness, making it difficult for users to find what they're looking for.”
Friend feedback
Deals seeker
no grading on games
poor grading system on tech (no need for multiple items just because the grading is different
Friend feedback
Deals seeker
“CeX's navigation needs a refresh. The current menus are confusing and lack intuitiveness, making it difficult for users to find what they're looking for.”
Friend feedback
Deals seeker
“CeX's navigation needs a refresh. The current menus are confusing and lack intuitiveness, making it difficult for users to find what they're looking for.”
Friend feedback
Deals seeker
“CeX's navigation needs a refresh. The current menus are confusing and lack intuitiveness, making it difficult for users to find what they're looking for.”
Friend feedback
Deals seeker
“CeX's navigation needs a refresh. The current menus are confusing and lack intuitiveness, making it difficult for users to find what they're looking for.”
Friend feedback
Deals seeker
In summary users complain of:
Poor information architecture
The user experience is affected by unclear information architecture and a lack of intuitive structure, leading to frustrating navigation. Key product and service details are hard to find, causing confusion and discouraging users from engaging with the platform effectively.
Clunky browsing & navigation
CeX's navigation needs a refresh. The current menus are confusing and lack intuitiveness, making it difficult for users to find what they're looking for. The design also suffers, appearing plain and unappealing, which fails to engage visitors.
Disjointed buying & selling
The separation of buy and sell functionalities creates unnecessary complexity for users. This forces them to switch between tabs or windows to compare prices, hindering a smooth user experience.
Formulating Assumptions and Goals
Based on the gathered insights, I defined informed assumptions and goals to guide future UX and UI decisions. My primary focus is to enhance user experience by modernising the e-commerce page, restructuring key areas, improving existing functionalities, and developing new features, all aimed at addressing user expectations, pain points, and competitive gaps to ultimately increase user satisfaction.
Assumptions
User expectations: Smoother, intuitive and modern experience.
Pain Points: Currently users struggle with locating items, understanding the browsing structure, and switching between buying and selling functions.
Satisfaction Impact: Better navigation and a smoother transaction process will boost satisfaction and encourage loyalty.
Competitive Gap: CeX’s competitors may offer a more seamless user journey, which influences users’ expectations and perceptions of CeX
Goals
Enhanced Information Architecture
Streamlined browsing and navigation
Unified buying & selling experience
Increased returning rate
