Overview
Magnolia & Poppy is a website template I designed for boutique floral and specialty retail businesses. The goal was to create a reusable, adaptable design system that solves some of the most common UX problems in the niche online retail space, particularly around navigation complexity and product overwhelm.
The Problem I Set Out to Solve
Online flower and boutique retail sites tend to suffer from the same issues: too many product options, unclear navigation, and a transactional feel that conflicts with the premium, personal nature of the purchase. I designed this template to address four core challenges:
- Navigation complexity that creates friction before users even reach products
- Excessive product listings that cause decision fatigue
- Lack of customization options that would justify the premium price point
- A checkout experience that feels mismatched with the brand aesthetic
Design Approach
I approached this as a UX-first template, starting with user flows and site mapping before any visual design. The process moved through wireframing, usability testing with the low-fidelity prototype, then brand implementation and refinement.
Key design decisions:
- Simplified navigation with a flat, scannable structure rather than nested dropdowns
- Theme-based product organization to reduce options and guide decision making
- Budget and style selectors on the product page to personalize without overwhelming
- Streamlined checkout that maintains the brand's visual language throughout
- Intentional use of whitespace to give the product imagery room to breathe
The Template
The finished template is clean and editorial, designed to feel personal and curated rather than transactional. It's built to be adaptable — the brand language, typography, and color system can be swapped to suit different boutique retail contexts while the underlying UX structure stays intact.
