End-to-End Ecommerce website
Lirandzo Clothing
Transforming a low-performing online store into a culturally-driven brand for the African diaspora.
Role & Skills:
I Designed and developed a ecommerce website for Lirandzo Clothing.
User Research
Information Architecture
Wireframing
Prototyping
Design Systems
Usability Testing
Interaction Design
Cross-Functional Leading and Collaboration
Atomic Design System
THE TECH I USED :
TEAM
1
Product Designer
1
Web Developer
1
Stakeholder
TIMELINE
2023
10 months
Chapter 01
FRAMING
Defining the problem space and business goals for a giant capulana e-commerce store.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
A bold brand that needed a home worthy of it
Lirandzo Clothing is an independent fashion brand selling handmade capulana garments, produced by artisans in Mozambique and distributed from Portugal.
Founded by Nathan and Francisca, the brand had a strong creative identity, a growing community on Instagram, and real product that customers loved. What they did not have was a website. No storefront, no brand system, no checkout. Nothing digital at all.
I was brought in to build the entire thing from scratch. That meant creating the visual identity before a single screen existed, designing every page of the shopping experience in Figma, and then building and launching the full WordPress and WooCommerce store myself. One designer, covering the full distance from first mark to live site.
The two biggest challenges I focused on were the ones with the highest design leverage: getting the brand identity right from the start, because every other decision would follow from it, and designing an e-commerce UX, specifically the product pages and checkout flow, that would convert an Instagram audience into paying customers without friction.
THE CORE CHALLENGE
Lirandzo Clothing faced a fundamental mismatch between product
value and perceived value.
While the garments are authentic and handmade, the website experience
failed to communicate:
Credibility
Cultural significance
Differentiation from generic fashion retailers
As a result, users interpreted the brand as:
Just another unknown online store
Potentially low-trust or dropship-like
Strategic Tension
Lirandzo Clothing sits at the intersection of:
Authenticity vs. Accessibility
Cultural depth vs. ease of understanding for a broader audience
Artisan value vs. Market expectations
Handmade, slower production vs. fast-fashion pricing and convenience
Niche identity vs. Broad appeal
Serving a culturally specific audience vs. trying to attract everyone
Chapter 02
EXPLORATION
Deep dive into user behavior, markets and emotional
friction of booking.
USER RESEARCH
To better understand the store’s low performance, an initial research phase was conducted focusing on user behavior, perception, and market dynamics.
Given the early-stage nature of the project, the research combined:
Analysis of similar e-commerce experiences
observation of user expectations in online fashion
Insights from culturally relevant audiences
Competitivors analysis
The competitive landscape was analyzed across three distinct categories, each representing a different approach to fashion, value, and user perception.
Fast Fashion Retaillers
Artisan Marketplaces
Independent African Fashion Brands
Fast Fashion Retailers
Positioning
Trend-driven, affordable, and highly accessible fashion.
Strengths
Highly polished and optimized user experience
Strong visual merchandising
Competitive pricing and fast delivery
Weaknesses
Lack of authenticity and cultural depth
Low perceived uniqueness
Increasing consumer skepticism around ethics and quality
Threats
Massive supply + brand trust is hard to outcompete directly
Competitors have a strong bundling (transport + activities) that provides high convenience
Competitors hace a strong last-minute positioning and they dominate urgency
Competitors have faster and Instant ticketing
Competitors have a strong marketing performance
Key Opportunity Identified
Across all categories, a clear gap emerged:
There is space for a brand that combines Authentic craftsmanship + strong storytelling + a clear and trustworthy digital experience
DISCOVERY RESEARCH
Understanding the market, the audience, and the gap
Before any design decision was made, I spent three weeks in research. Understanding who the Lirandzo customer actually was, what they expected from an online fashion store, and where existing competitors were failing them shaped every choice that followed.
METHOD 1
Founder interviews
Four sessions with Nathan and Francisca to understand the brand story, target customer, pricing strategy, and the values they wanted the site to communicate.
METHOD 3
Instagram community analysis
Reviewed comments, DMs, and tagged posts across 6 months of content to understand how existing followers described the brand and what they asked about most.
METHOD 3
Competitor audit
Evaluated 8 African-influenced fashion e-commerce sites operating in European markets, identifying positioning gaps and UX patterns worth adopting or avoiding.
METHOD 4
Buyer behaviour benchmarks
Referenced Baymard Institute e-commerce UX research to establish baseline expectations for product pages, cart interactions, and mobile checkout.
Key research findings
Instagram followers expected a site to exist
94%
Shoppers wanted to see fabric detail up close
80%
DM enquiries asked about sizing before buying
75%
Would buy if checkout accepted PayPal or MB Way
82%
Expected free or flat-rate shipping within Portugal
65%
Would trust a brand more with visible reviews
83%
User personas
JP
Sofia, 28
Mozambican diaspora, Lisbon
"Capulana is part of who I am. When I wear it in Europe, it is a statement. I want to buy from someone who understands that."
Goals
· Express cultural identity through fashion
· Trust the brand's authenticity
· Find her size quickly
Frustrations
· Generic sizing
· No good fabric detail in product photos
· Complicated checkout for Portuguese payment methods
MA
Miguel, 34
Gift buyer, Porto
"I am looking for a gift that is genuinely unique, not something she can find in any high street store. Story matters as much as the product."
Goals
· Find a meaningful, story-led gift
· Easy size selection
· Fast reliable delivery before an occasion
Frustrations
· No gift wrapping option
· Unclear delivery timelines
· Hard to judge quality from images alone
TC
Ana, 42
Conscious fashion buyer, Braga
"Fast fashion has no place in my wardrobe. I want to know where something is made, and who made it, before I buy it."
Goals
· Support ethical, artisan fashion brands
· Understand the production story
· Buy pieces that last
Frustrations
· No transparency about fabric sourcing
· Lack of care instructions
· No about page with real story
Chapter 03
PROTOTYPING
Deep dive into user behavior, markets and emotional
friction of booking.
USER RESEARCH
To better understand the store’s low performance, an initial research phase was conducted focusing on user behavior, perception, and market dynamics.
Given the early-stage nature of the project, the research combined:
Analysis of similar e-commerce experiences
observation of user expectations in online fashion
Insights from culturally relevant audiences