Loopi is a second-hand clothes marketplace committed to promoting circularity in the fashion world. ♻️
This is a cause I care deeply about, which is why I was super excited to join them as their Lead UI/UX Designer during their rebrand from Go Thrift to Loopi.
Rebranding Sustainability
Industry
E-commerce/B2C
Role
Lead UI/UX Designer
UX Researcher
Company
Go Thrift/Loopi
Platform
Website
About this project
Loopi (formerly Go Thrift) is a second-hand fashion marketplace committed to sustainability and circularity. I joined as their first-ever designer to lead a complete rebrand in just 3 months.
The platform had afragmented buying/selling experiences, poor navigation, weak brand identity, and zero design infrastructure. To solve this, I built a design system from scratch, unified the platform and streamline the selling flow, introduced dynamic filters and AI-powered Smart Search, and embedded sustainability throughout the journey.
This project was as exciting as stressful, not only due to its complexity but also to the short timeline and very limited resource the team had.
Me at the beginning of this project
Team Structure
I worked closely with our CEO and CTO to ensure business alignment and established cross-team collaboration with the marketing and engineering teams.
A few weeks after I joined, Amie, our Senior Graphic Designer and my design pal, came on board and although we focused on different areas, it was great to have another designer to exchange ideas and collaborate with.
The Challenge
Go Thrift had solid values and great intentions but their website experience was fragmented and had major issues that were holding them back:
Split experiences
Buying and selling lived on separate platforms, creating friction and discouraging users from engaging with both sides.
Chaotic navigation
Poor categorisation, non-dynamic filters, clunky search, and confusing layouts led to high abandonment rates.
Weak Branding
The design struggled to stand out in a very competitive market or communicate sustainability, despite this being a core value for their community.
Limited Scalability
The platform was exclusively focused on clothing with no room to expand into other categories.
Selling and Buying platforms
The search options were confusing and the filtering system broken
Go Thrifts’ brand was flat and pretty forgettable
The constraints were equally challenging:
We had a tiny team with minimal resources
We only had basic Google Analytics data available
We had just 3 months from start to launch
The Goal
This project’s goal was to create a seamless, sustainable, and scalable platform that merged buying and selling whilst reinforcing Loopi's commitment to circular fashion and community. My focus became:
1
Unite the experience
Merge the buying and selling websites into one cohesive platform that encouraged users to engage with both sides
2
Improve the navigation
Streamline the navigation, search, and filtering to help users find what they need more efficiently - which is crucial for second-hand shopping
3
Sustainability + Inclusivity
Embed sustainability and accessibility throughout the journey, not as afterthoughts but as fundamental design principles
4
Make it scalable
Establish a scalable foundation and design system that could expand beyond clothing into new product categories
Beyond the product
Besides the focus on the product product itself, I had to establish the entire design foundation in the company by building workflows between design, product, marketing, and engineering, introducing the team to UI/UX principles, and setting up tools to track metrics and collaborate properly. No biggie ☠️
Getting the team on board
To kickstart the process, I organised meetings with the engineering team to share my previous experiences working cross-team and implementing design systems (like Zaptic's) and asked how they'd like to collaborate.
Since they had no prior experience with design systems or working with an in-house designer, they were happy to follow my suggestions.
We gradually introduced new processes and tools, making sure everyone felt comfortable with the workflows.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive: proper design processes meant better collaboration, clearer communication, and stronger documentation. The engineers particularly loved Figma's Dev Mode (as do I 🤓).
Figma
For me and for the engineering team (who'd only worked with Adobe XD hand-offs before).
Notion
For tracking components, their statuses, relevant links, and assigned engineers.
Supernova
For design system documentation, tokens, and code connection with engineering.
Regular design reviews and usability testing
With stakeholders, internal teams, and external testers for continuous alignment and feedback.
Claude
For helping me analyse data and synthesise user feedback quickly, which freed up time for design decisions and validation.
Content Square
For behaviour analytics, heatmaps, and session recordings to understand how users actually interacted with the platform.
Discovery
Internal Alignment
The two founders had very different ideas about where to take the brand, and without a product team to establish timelines and goals, it was clear we needed alignment before starting any design or research so I ended up becoming the mediator.
My first week was all about immersing myself into the business by having several in-depth conversations with the founders and other stakeholders to understand their goals and find common ground.
Once we had alignment, I started digging into the data and user feedback we had available to validate assumptions and, if necessary, challenge some of the pre-conceived ideas the founders might have had.
We had a lot of these but it was ultimately worth it
Our Google Analytics revealed three distinct user groups with different motivations:
Senior professionals (late 30s–50s): Value-driven, focused on quality and practicality
Millennials (late 20s–late 30s): Trend-aware, tech-savvy, driven by sustainability and ethics
Gen Z (students and young professionals): Price-conscious, deal-hunting via apps and social platforms
My initial assumption was that our users would be mostly Gen Z and Millennials: turns out I was wrong. This was a solid reminder of why data matters and why working from assumptions is risky.
The device data showed a clear preference for mobile with iOS and Android dominating, reinforcing the need to prioritise mobile optimisation.
The Data
The analytics showed me what was happening, but I felt like I also needed user feedback to understand why to design a product that actually worked.
I sent feedback requests to some of our top users via email and the responses confirmed our assumptions:
The selling flow was confusing and complex
Navigation and filters blocked users from finding relevant products
The product detail page lacked clear information hierarchy
User Feedback
As an avid second-hand lurker (and shopper 🤭) I was already familiar with several platforms such as Vinted, ThredUp, and Vestiaire Collective, but I decided to dig deeper into their user journeys and features to understand what made them stand out in the market. Here’s what I found:
The second-hand marketplace
Photo-taking + Image recognition
ThredUp, Vinted and others auto-filled item details instead of requiring manual entry like Go Thrift.
Dynamic filtering
Most platforms adapted to show relevant results instead of Go Thrift's static filters that created dead ends.
AI-powered search + Recommendations
Most platforms offered personalised suggestions, saved searches, size preferences, and related suggestions.
Seamless cross-selling
Platforms with buying and selling integrated both seamlessly, with most offering smart notifications for price drops and new matches.
Clear visual hierarchy
ell-organised product pages with prominent CTAs, unlike Go Thrift's cluttered layouts
User journey mapping of Go Thrift and some of their top competitors
The Design System
The initial brand guidelines, which were designed by an external studio before I joined, covered logo and colours but lacked UI/UX considerations.
I decided to build a comprehensive design system from scratch, prioritising accessibility and usability across the board, ensuring WCAG AA compliance throughout and focusing on multiple accessibility principles.
Interaction and content accessibility
I prioritised foundational components like buttons, inputs, dropdowns, cards, and navigation and drew inspiration from Carbon Design System and Atlassian.
I made sure all components had focus states for keyboard navigation, logical tab order, proper touch target sizing on mobile, heading structure for screen readers, alt text for all images, and clear visual hierarchy - this was crucial so users weren't overwhelmed
As you can see, the brand guidelines were heavily focused on the brand visuals
This was the final colour palette I chose after a lot of research and accessibility testing
Visual accessibility
I started by expanding the colour palette for web accessibility, testing shades for visual impairments such as colour blindness using Coolors and Tint & Shades, ensuring sufficient contrast ratios, and using orange (our primary brand colour) sparingly to avoid confusion with warnings
An example of how I organised the components
Each component included standardised states with documentation in Supernova and tracking in Notion:
The Notion and Supernova pages... that one day will hopefully all be labeled “Done”!
The Solution ✨
So… how could I fix the buying and selling issue, specially on mobile where the screen space is very limited? I explored three navigation approaches:
A dynamic button that changed based on which section you were in,
Hiding "Sell" under a menu (which risked burying an important feature)
Adding buy/sell tabs at the top
1 - Unified Navigation
After testing internally and with some of our top users, the buy/sell tabs options won: the feedback was that they made switching between sections intuitive whilst creating a cohesive, unified platform feel.
I gave users the option to navigate via tabs, the bottom nav home icon, or the menu list. Both buy and sell pages also feature bottom banners for cross-navigation.
The three options I explored for the buy/sell sides
2 - Streamlined Selling Flow
The original selling flow was long, cumbersome, and had a high drop-off rate.
Photo-taking would've undermined Go Thrift's fast and accessible listing principle (no photography required) and their pricing system, which relied on manual brand/gender/item selections to generate offers. Rebuilding that logic in the time frame we had wasn't feasible, so I focused on optimising every other step:
Redesigned gender selection with inclusive imagery (added unisex option for future).
Replaced clunky category modals with clean, navigable lists and added popular brand suggestions with disclaimers about accepted brands.
Simplified the offer screen to prioritise price, split payout and donation steps for clarity, and fixed the price summary to the bottom for better visibility
Added environmental impact messaging throughout, showing users the CO2 saved and water conserved by selling their items, making sustainability tangible and rewarding
The initial selections users have to make to get an offer on their items
The final screens of the selling flow where users see the final price, sustainability impact, and a summary of next steps (all of which were previously missing).
Accessibility win: Category icons were reintroduced after testing showed they improved clarity and reduced hesitation.
3 - Dynamic Filters & Search
One of the biggest issues was poor search and product discovery. The current static filters created frustration by showing irrelevant results which was leading to massive abandonment rates.
To tackle this, I introduced dynamic filters that adapted based on available products, preventing dead-end searches. I also added:
"Saved sizes" so users only saw relevant sizes from their first visit
Suggested items at the bottom of pages they were browsing
Enhanced site-wide search with recent searches, trending items, saved searches, and personalised suggestions based on behaviour
The goal was to completely transform product discovery from a frustrating experience into an intuitive, personalised journey.
4 - Improved Information Hierarchy
The product pages overwhelmed users with disorganised information, causing high abandonment rates. In the second-hand market, details like measurements and condition are crucial and users need this information upfront to make confident purchasing decisions.
With this in mind, I restructured the PDP to prioritise what mattered most:
Clearer sizing and condition details at the forefront
Suggested items more prominently placed
Sustainability and Trustpilot banners to build trust and reinforce Loopi's environmental values
Fixed CTA that stayed visible until users scrolled past the description
This would hopefully help users make informed decisions whilst staying connected to Loopi's mission and building trust in the platform's legitimacy and quality.
Testing & Validation
I ran two rounds of usability testing, a low-fidelity round early on to catch issues before they became expensive problems, and a high-fidelity round to validate we were delivering the right experience.
Testing with a diverse group was non-negotiable because this was the only way to truly catch accessibility and usability issues across different needs and abilities so I made sure to speak to users from different backgrounds and profiles.
Low Fidelity Testing
One of my testing sessions
For the purpose of making testing as fast and efficient as possible, I conducted it internally with colleagues unfamiliar with the designs. The testing revealed some confusion around some changes made to the selling journey:
The "Before You Start" page users saw before starting the selling process was too content-heavy
Removing the category icons during the selling flow wasn’t well received by everyone
Popular brands were misinterpreted as the only options available
The offer summary screen confused users about next steps
The price visibility didn’t stand out enough on the checkout
Before you Start, Product type and Brand pages
High-Fidelity Testing
Offer Screen, Payout Method and Summary pages
This time I also tested the designs with some of our top users who'd volunteered to be part of the process, which was great. The feedback was very encouraging:
The "Before You Start" improvements made this page clearer
Both desktop and mobile navigation tested well with users easily finding the filters and sell button
The sell flow changes were effective and well received by both internal testers and our users
I prioritised fixing the issues flagged in low-fidelity testing but, given our tight deadline, I made the call to move straight to high-fidelity designs without retesting the low-fidelity first.
I was fully conscious that this was a bit risky, but given our thigh deadline and my confidence we'd addressed the main pain points, I thought this was the right move. Having a solid component library also meant that any changes would be much quicker to implement.
Three of the sessions I recorded during the high fidelity testing, both on mobile and desktop
Although the testing was very positive, one critical issue emerged
I noticed that users kept missing the "similar items" section on product pages, especially on mobile. Even though they navigated everything else with ease, they simply weren't scrolling far enough to discover related products.
This insight led to one of the most impactful features we built and was a good reminder of why testing with real users is so important.
AI Powered Smart Search
This feature was a success and reduced dead-end searches and improved product discovery across the platform.
We integrated it into both the product landing pages and on the main product view, which also included the suggested items lower on the page, ensuring users always had quick access to alternatives without needing to scroll.
Desktop smart search on the product landing page and mobile smart search on the main product view
The proposed PDP showed all the item details at the top, with similar items and sustainability info further down but most users just weren't scrolling that far.
To solve the issue of testers missing the "similar items" section on product pages, especially on mobile I worked alongside the engineering team to find a solution.
Together we built Smart Search, an AI-powered feature that surfaced relevant alternatives right beside products, with filters to refine results in a visible but unobtrusive design.
Given how tight our timeline was, I decided to A/B test the feature: some pages with no Smart Search, and two variants with it in different placements to see what actually worked best.
Making everything work together
Finally, after all the intensive research, design, testing, and iteration, all the pieces came together and we delivered a product we were very proud of.
For Buyers
The experience for buyers was now cleaner and more intuitive with a homepage that showed clear buy/sell tabs at the top on mobile, and a clear “sell your items: button on the desktop nav, this made navigation seamless from the start.
Mobile homepage and search
Desktop homepage
The enhanced site-wide search offers personalised suggestions, recent searches, and trending items and dynamic filters adapt to available inventory, preventing dead-end searches, whilst saved sizes mean users only see relevant results from their first visit onwards.
This type of personalised experience is arguably one of the most important things a second-hand platform can offer its users and something Go Thrift was previously lacking.
The selling homepage clearly outlines the process with collapsible sections, FAQs, and environmental impact messaging. The streamlined flow features inclusive gender selection, clean category navigation, and helpful brand suggestions.
The offer screen prioritises price transparency, whilst sustainability messaging throughout shows sellers how much CO2 and water savings their sale contributes to.
The payout options (cash or loopi credit) and optional donation steps create clarity, and the final confirmation screen celebrates their impact whilst encouraging users to explore the buying side.
For Sellers
Product pages now prioritise what matters most in second-hand shopping: clear sizing, condition details, and sustainability impact, with Smart Search surfacing relevant alternatives right beside products.
Trustpilot banners build trust, whilst fixed CTAs keep purchasing intuitive, specially on mobile.
Mobile sell flow, from the homepage to the completion of a sale
Connecting both sides
Bottom banners on both buy and sell pages encourage cross-navigation, reinforcing that Loopi is one unified platform.
The consistent design system, accessible components, and cohesive brand identity tie everything together, making circular fashion feel approachable, rewarding, and effortless.
The main product page with the new AI Powered Smart Search feature, fixed CTAs and important product information.
I also created a dedicated Sustainability Page to promote environmental awareness and share practical eco-friendly tips, reinforcing Loopi's mission beyond just transactions.
A full sustainability report was also planned for future release.
Impact
Despite a rocky start with critical bugs and analytics delays, the redesign delivered measurable impact across engagement, conversion, and business metrics.
A few days post-launch, a critical bug prevented users from adding items to carts, and delays in onboarding analytics platforms limited early data access, but once issues were resolved in mid-February, the platform's performance improved significantly:
+200% increase in page views and on-site activity
Users were engaging more deeply with the platform
+60% growth in organic search traffic
SEO efforts and improved discoverability were working
+35% increase in orders
With higher average order value — users were finding what they needed and buying more
+28% boost in conversion rates
The streamlined experience reduced friction and abandonment
You can see a huge spike after February, with momentum continuing strong in the months that followed.
Beyond the Metrics
The feedback from business and engineering teams was equally important. Having a full-time designer led to:
Better collaboration processes between design, product, marketing, and engineering
Clearer communication through proper documentation and handoff tools
Stronger feature planning with design thinking embedded from the start
Next Steps
As I’ve said before, this project was intense ✨ - tight timelines, no processes, rocky launch issues, you name it, but despite it all, we still delivered a platform that improved the user experience and had a very positive business impact.
But, as with any MVP, compromises were made. The plan for the next phase was to refine and expand the platform:
Add more inclusive categories (e.g. unisex) to be more inclusive, something I care deeply about
Introduce saved filters and "save your size" for personalised browsing
Implement photo search for finding similar items or outfit inspiration
Launch blog & community section to highlight volunteering and sustainability efforts
Continue refining the design system, including dark mode support
And much more!
Bonus: Our launch video, directed by my design pal Amie
What did I make of this project?
This was my first time leading a brand redesign of this scale and I’m really proud of the work the team put out.
The numbers are obviously extremely positive and show that the rebrand worked but what I’m the most proud of is what I managed to achieve under so much pressure and such a thigh timeline:
I made tough calls under pressure
I advocated for users whilst meeting the business’ needs
I turned a chaotic situation into something scalable
I championed accessibility and brought awareness to the business
I built a design system and processes from scratch
We built a platform that's not only more engaging and accessible than the previous one, but also better aligned with Loopi's mission of placing circularity and sustainability at the heart of the brand. 💚