UX/UI Design · Case Study
Wave Surf Board - E-Commerce & Custom Builder
Purchasing premium surf equipment online comes with real uncertainty - dimension guesswork, no way to test before buying, and no easy path to trade in old gear. This concept redesigns the buying journey around an interactive custom builder, a built-in expert review, a flexible trial guarantee, and a trade-in tool - to build trust and reduce hesitation at checkout.
Figma prototype View interactive prototype ↗
01 - The Problem
Three barriers to buying blind
Surf equipment is a high-consideration, high-cost purchase. Three recurring pain points shaped the direction of this concept.
01 - The Problem
Guessing at fit
Buyers struggle to understand how length, width, and volume (liters) affect performance for their body weight and skill level.
Financial risk
Buyer's remorse
Boards often exceed €1,500. Buying "blind," with no trial period, creates real resistance to completing a purchase.
Trapped value
Gear stuck in the garage
Users store unused equipment with no easy, low-friction way to upgrade their quiver.
NOTE: This is a concept project. These pain points come from analysis of the category rather than primary interviews - no user testing has been conducted yet (see Next Steps).
02 - Goals
What the design needed to do
Three goals guided every decision below - reduce the mental effort of a technical purchase, replace missing trust signals with digital equivalents, and shorten the distance between discovery and checkout.
Cognitive load
Make specs legible
Interactive volume calculators and visual parameters replace raw technical numbers with something a buyer can actually reason about.
Trust
Add a human layer
A digital storefront can't offer a showroom conversation - "Shaper's Assurance" reintroduces expert reassurance into the workflow.
Conversion
Shorten the path
Fewer points of hesitation between finding a board and completing checkout.
03 - Key Decisions
The Creator's Studio
An interactive board builder designed to replace guesswork with visual, real-time feedback.
01
Precision volume mapping
A real-time volume calculator adjusts as the user tweaks length, width, and thickness - directly addressing the "dimension anxiety" pain point with immediate visual feedback instead of a spec sheet.
02
The 30-Day Ocean Trial
Framed as three plain steps (Get Wet, Find Your Flow, Total Confidence) rather than legal trial terms -directly countering "buyer's remorse" by making the guarantee feel like part of the experience, not fine print.
03
The Clean Slate -trade-in
A 3-step flow (upload three photos → get an AI-valuation estimate → apply credit toward a new build) turns "trapped value" into an immediate, low-effort upgrade path rather than a separate resale hassle.
04 - Final Screens
The purchase flow
From catalog to confirmation - transparent pricing, clear sizing, and a distraction-free checkout.
05 - Design System
Wave Surf Board's visual system
The product's own brand system, sampled directly from the delivered screens.
| Nav | Fixed top bar, pill active state |
|---|---|
| Catalog | 3-column product grid |
| PDP | Image left, details right |
| Checkout | Centered modal, no nav |
| Photography | Full-bleed ocean & lifestyle |
|---|---|
| Voice | Direct, surf-culture casual |
| CTAs | High-contrast gold on navy |
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06 - What I Learned & Next Steps
Reflection
This project was an exercise in translating complex technical specifications - surfboard volume, tail shape, rail profile - into simple, digestible steps through UX writing and visual hierarchy, rather than raw spec sheets.
01
Conduct usability testing with real users to measure task-completion time for custom board creation - this hasn't happened yet, and is the most important gap before treating this as validated.
02
Design mobile-first responsive refinements for the Creator's Studio module specifically, since its interactive controls haven't been adapted for touch yet.
