Lazada is a largest e-commerce platform. They have multiple teams managing different parts of the shopping journey: such as the Home Page, Product Pages, My Account, Cart, and Checkout. Design team were tasked with redesigning the desktop website header. This enhancement would affect all these teams. So, we decided to run a design thinking workshop to ensure everyone’s needs were considered and aligned.
The goal of the workshop was to explore ways to create space for ads while reorganizing key features such as notifications, the cart, and product categories.
We held a 45-minute session with three main activities, designed to bring all stakeholders together and work toward a solution that would function smoothly across the entire site. Key part of the workshop was to gain stakeholder alignment and buy-in on the direction of the redesign.
Focus Areas in Design Thinking Stages
Empathize
Define
Ideate + Prototype
Test + Learn + Adapt
In this step, we focused on identifying header design trends from 2017. We reviewed 36 e-commerce desktop headers and voted on the ones we liked and disliked. Afterward, we discussed the reasons behind our choices, comparing what worked and what didn’t in the designs of our competitors.
WHAT WE LIKED
Minimalist Design: Clean and user-friendly.
White Space: Proper spacing made elements easier to find and improved visual appeal.
Essential Elements: Clear, functional icons like user profile and wishlist (heart) were preferred.
Promo Banners: Hero banners drew attention well; small pop-ups worked for reminders without being intrusive.
Header Size: Full-width headers with 100-140px height were common and balanced.
Typography: Consistent fonts and colors helped with readability and navigation.
WHAT WE DISLIKED
Overuse of Brand Colors: Too much branding made headers feel cluttered.
Poor Element Placement: Key actions were mixed with decorative icons, leading to confusion.
Weak Typography: Inconsistent labels and links made it hard to scan or navigate.
Distracting Banners: Busy backgrounds and mixed font styles reduced clarity.
Oversized Headers: Headers taller than 150px felt heavy and took up too much space.
In this step, we focused on prioritizing the elements that have the biggest impact on the user. We discussed about the key elements that impact the current header, like login states, lists, notifications, and promotions.
ELEMENT RANKING RESULTS
Critical: Brand, Category Navigation, Search, Cart, Login/Signup, My Account, Wishlist
Important: Customer support, My orders, Selling on Lazada, Liveup, Country / Language
Nice to have: Follow brands/stores, Channel selection, Official stores, My reviews, Promo
In this step, we quickly drafted wireframes for the desktop header based on the design trends and key elements identified earlier. The goal was to turn ideas into visual layouts, and we came up with two initial design options for discussion.
Option 1: This design focused on campaigns and promotions, with the header highlighting special offers, sales, and deals for easy access. It was designed to emphasize marketing messages and limited-time offers
Option 2: This design centered around category-based navigation, with the header clearly organizing product categories to help users quickly find what they’re looking for. It was designed to highlight our wide range of products and provide a more straightforward browsing experience.
After sketching out the concept ideas with the team on the whiteboard, I translated them into high-fidelity wireframes using Axure. This helped make the designs more structured and easier to review, allowing the team to clearly see the layout and provide feedback for final confirmation.
