about the project
Homepage Redesign for Taft
Taft is a premium men's footwear brand known for its bold, handcrafted boots and shoes that blend timeless style with modern design. The brand has a strong identity and seriously great photography — but their homepage wasn't keeping up. While working with the Dango Digital team, I got to lead the redesign and help bring the digital experience up to the same standard as the product itself. The goal was a homepage that felt modern and fresh, stayed true to the brand, and actually made you want to stick around and shop.
Challenge
One of the biggest challenges was a lack of direction from the client. While they were aware the homepage needed improvement, they were unsure of what it should look like or what content should be prioritized. It was up to us, as a team, to explore possibilities, identify relevant trends, and guide the creative process. This meant going beyond execution, we had to lead the vision.
Solution
Looking for trends
We began by researching competitor and brand websites from the premium footwear and broader fashion space. This helped us understand how brands used visual hierarchy, storytelling, and imagery to engage visitors from the first click. We used these insights to inform our own creative approach, identifying opportunities to improve clarity, flow, and brand storytelling on the Taft homepage.
Evaluation of the Previous Taft Homepage
The previous Taft homepage lacked key usability and accessibility elements expected from a modern e-commerce experience. Text readability was a major issue—poor color contrast and thin font elements made important content difficult to read.
Product visibility was also limited. There were not enough product images to engage users, and those that did appear were small and didn’t showcase the detail or quality of the shoes—missing a critical opportunity to highlight what sets Taft apart.
Essential elements like customer reviews and social proof were completely absent, which weakened trust and missed a key influence on purchasing decisions. At the same time, some homepage sections felt unnecessary or overly long, adding clutter without adding value.
Taking the client on a journey
With these insights, we held several collaborative meetings with the client, presenting moodboards, design references, and curated examples of what was working well across the industry. These sessions helped build alignment and gave the client a clearer vision of what their homepage could become. Through open discussion and feedback, we were able to refine our understanding of their goals and expectations.
Refining the Product Card Experience
We took a close look at the product card experience. The original design had several usability and accessibility issues that impacted both discoverability and ease of interaction.
Visually, the product card suffered from poor accessibility and the "Quick View" feature, a small plus icon in the corner of each card, was not intuitive or noticeable for many users. Even when discovered, the Quick View modal itself presented several challenges: the layout was overcrowded, with long lists of color swatches and size options pushing the “Add to Cart” button below the fold.
To address this, we explored two main directions: improving the existing Quick View experience or removing it altogether in favor of a more seamless hover interaction. While Quick View modals can be useful—offering a preview without navigating away from the product list—they are often a workaround for a product page that isn't functioning well. In Taft's case, the Quick View experience was adding complexity without providing meaningful value.
After testing both approaches, we decided to remove the modal entirely and instead introduce a richer hover state. This updated hover state displays key product variations (like available sizes and colors) directly on the product card, allowing users to preview options without opening a separate view. This kept the browsing experience fast and intuitive.
High-fidelity design
From there, we translated those shared insights into a homepage concept that balanced bold visual appeal with brand authenticity. The new direction focused on visual clarity, a well-structured flow of content, and space for both storytelling and product discovery—all tailored to reflect a premium, fashion-forward experience.
Visual Identity
Every design decision was made with careful attention to consistency. We retained key UI elements and styling from the rest of the site to ensure a seamless transition between the homepage and internal pages, strengthening the sense of a unified brand ecosystem.
Typography
Colors
Outcome
The new layout and visual system provided a more engaging, more intuitive experience for users, helping communicate the quality of Taft’s products from the very first moment. Visitors now encounter a homepage that is not only visually compelling but also functionally clear and more accessible.
The updated structure also offers the Taft team more control and flexibility, making it easier to update content seasonally or highlight specific stories or campaigns. This project proved to be both a creative and strategic success, demonstrating how thoughtful UX and UI design can align brand storytelling with business objectives—especially when the creative team takes the lead in shaping the vision.