Timberline logo with a stylized tree, snowgoose graphic above the word 'Timberline' in blue text.

a Heuristic audit & mobile-responsive redesign for the timberline lodge online store

Project Context
Over 4 months, I was the lead ux researcher and ui designer for this project and worked directly with their head of online retail and head of retail.

during that time, I conducted a UI heuristic audit of Timberline Lodge's online store, redesigning it for current e-commerce usERS.

Timberline Lodge has been one of the most historic pacific northwest landmarks, for over 90 years.

As they expand their online presence, the challenge was to create a cohesive shopping experience that honored the lodge’s venerability, while meeting modern expectations of digital customers.

01

overview

The clients identified several critical pain points affecting customer satisfaction and conversion rates on their existing online store.


Management believed

  • navigational limitations were primarily
    a result of their Shopify theme

  • product information was intuitive to find

  • Email sign-up prompts were ineffective
    and frustrating to users

  • Site traffic to the online store was also
    a growing concern

These assumptions became the foundation for research and a direct comparison to any user counter-evidence.

A snow-covered mountain at night with a ski trail illuminated by a bright light. At the base, there's a large, lit-up hotel or lodge surrounded by trees and parked cars.

(Above) Timberline Lodge official website photo

Inside Timberline Lodge gift shop displaying various souvenirs, apparel, and decorative items with a lit sign that says Timberline Lodge behind the counter.

(Above) Timberline Lodge portland international airport photo

(below)
former timberline online store

  • A cozy lit-up house at night with large windows showing people sitting inside, advertising Timberline Lodge merchandise, including T-shirts, hoodies, hats, and graphic designs related to national parks and mountain themes.

    Home Page, Former Timberline Lodge Online Store (Start of project, Nov. 2025)

  • Collection of nine coffee mugs with various designs and prices, including 16 oz. Iconic Lodge Mug, Overlook Hotel 16 oz. Mug, Snowgoose Coffee Mug, 14 oz. Tucker Coffee Mug, 10 oz. Tucker Dinner Style Mug, The Shining Mug, 15 oz. Daydream Mug, 17 oz. Alpenwolf Mug, 12 oz. Explores and Adventurers Coffee Mug, 16 oz. Pacific Crest Trail Mug, 10 oz. Silcox Irish Coffee Mug, and Arrowhead Fire 12 oz. Mug (sold out).

    High-Level Browsing page, Former Timberline Lodge Online Store (Start of project, Nov. 2025)

  • A 16 oz blue ceramic coffee mug with a Timberline logo and design, displayed on a website for purchase, with additional mug options shown below.

    Product Page, Former Timberline Lodge Online Store (Start of Project, Nov. 2025)

02

research & discovery

Research set out to analyze whether assumptions were directly contributing to dissatisfied customers and understand how the store was acquiring its online customer base.


Methods

  • Heuristics Audit

  • Competitive Analysis

  • user interviews

  • user survey

participants

  • users familiar with timberline lodge

  • recently (<2yrs) shopped on their online store/in-person store

  • recently (<2yrs) shopped on ski resort or
    snow gear websites

SUpporting surVEY RESULTs

  • Email sign-ups are effective when content is relevant and personalized to cart.
    (Survey found mt. hood/outdoor themed and gifts to be leading shopping intentions)

  • There's no direct path provided from the main site to the online store.

Detailed insights

  • Site is easy to navigate but has no visual system. Users expect organized content to guide exploration.

  • Details are hard to find. Users expect familiar visual-led browsing patterns.

Screenshots of Timberline Lodge survey analysis reports, showing bar graphs of shopping purpose, image preferences, feature requests, navigation, and pricing descriptions, with insights.

(Above) user survey results, website traffic, photo, and feature preferences

38% traffic from main website

  • 24% from mailing list

84% photos of multiple angles

  • 37% bundled suggestions

  • 74% close-ups

Comparing competitors

I compared several key frames to local competitors and large industry retailers to better evaluate timberline’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities and what advantages and potential threats were present locally.

Local ski retailers

  • hillcrest sports

  • meadows

  • skibowl

  • next adventure (out of business)

Large online retails

  • the house

  • evo

“Everyone visiting should have a token of the lodge, regardless of their price point.

…a keepsake for visitors.”

- kris w.

A collage of website pages and product displays showcasing various merchandise like coffee mugs and knitted hats, with annotations and comments about website features, product images, and marketing strategies.

(Above) competitive analysis, timberline audit

easy wins

  • systemize ui signifiers

  • remove social media sharing

  • standardize visual media

  • direct ctas on hero

  • enable email sign-up cta

key findings

Platform limitations were not the primary driver of user confusion. missing signifiers, misplaced information, and uninformative visual content lost and confused users.

the site created dead ends before users arrived on the homepage, but the lift is not out of reach.

03

user personas
& prioritization

The two primary personas were developed from user interviews, customer survey, and empathy maps:

  • The authenticity advocate

    • keepsake

    • legacy

    • token

    • instutitional

    • heritage

  • The deliberate online shopper

    • Right now

    • Compare

    • Good sale

    • Time respected

    • Tried and true

solution 1

How might we help online shoppers efficiently discover Timberline products through intuitive UI that builds the same trust and keepsake experience they expect from Timberline Lodge?

solution 2

How might we re-engage online shoppers through targeted email ctas that highlight meaningful sales, respecting their need for relevance over frequency?

A digital user persona profile features a snowy outdoor scene with a smiling man dressed in winter gear, including a helmet and goggles. The profile details his stats, goals, pain points, and core needs for online shopping, emphasizing research, efficiency, and authentic experience.

features

must haves

  • direct navigation link from main site
    to online store

  • email sign-up ctas

  • clear hierarchal homepage sections

  • standardized visual media & product descriptions

nice to haves

  • systemized ui signifiers

  • cross-merchandised categories

  • customer reviews

could haves

  • historical significance descriptors

  • lifestyle/varied photos

A woman smiling outdoors in winter, wearing a black jacket and gray scarf, surrounded by snow-covered trees.

(Above) USER PERSONAS

Timberline project goals and key feature upgrades presentation slide with sections on goal correlations, survey insights, and analysis graphs.

(Above) full goal alignment, survey results, and feature list

04

Designs
& testing

A lo-fidelity browsing and checkout flow was created to strategically test users for navigational ease, product comprehension, CTA engagement, purchase confidence, and site exploration.

Using Timberline's existing Shopify template, Parallax, I was able to show changes within
their current setup, including mobile frames.

usability testing

  • 6 participants

  • 30-65 years

  • 4 desktop

  • 2 mobile

  • familiar with timberline lodge brand

  • ski/snowboard shopping experience

  • task-oriented or browsing-oriented
    shopping behavior

Success metrics

  • UI & Navigation described as “easy/simple.”

  • > 4/5 score in purchase confidence

  • used alternative methods to explore the site apart from the top navigation

  • users engaged positively with email pop-up

A storyboard with wireframes and a flowchart for Timberline Lodge's online shopping process. The wireframes show various web page layouts, while the flowchart illustrates decision points and actions in the online purchase journey.

(Above) browsing & checkout user flow, lo-fi wireframes

A webpage of Timberline online store showing various Timberline Lodge merchandise including a Pendleton wool blanket, clothing, and souvenirs, with images of products and a promotional banner at the top.

(Above) hi-fidelity wireframes in shopify

refinements

A video conference call showing three participants with a screen sharing webpage. The webpage promotes Timbertline products, including mugs, blankets, and apparel, and features a stack of books. The participants are Linda Jeffries, Erin Farrington, and another person with short dark hair and glasses, seated in a room with windows and a big window in the background.
A person holding a smartphone displaying a shopping app, with two small video call windows of women in the bottom left and lower right corners.

usability test images
(top) linda j., referencing the collections and homepage organization, (bottom) jasmin v. commenting on mobile menu

navigation updates:

  • ‘Local Favorites’ browsing page moved up on homepage for quicker entry into shopping mental model.

  • mobile menu contrast increased for bolder category visibility.

  • main website could not get a direct link to online store, operated externally from timberline lodge

email sign ups

  • cta pop-ups initiated on homepage and at cart

  • given dedicated newsletter sign up page

Purchase confidence:

  • All users easily found updated pricing, sizing, and care instructions.

  • customer reviews enabled, Both user types said would push purchase confidence from 4 to 5 out of 5.

hi-fidelity redesign

05

final impacts

a comparative a/b survey tested 11 participants on usability test metrics.

overall

81.8%

preferred the redesigned shopping experience

site navigation

purchase confidence

product exploration

ui signifiers

4.09/5 avg

navigational improvement score from the former store to the redesign.

100%

found product images clearer and more helpful

81.8%

more likely to explore beyond their initial search

100%

had better guidance to featured products on the redesign compared to the former website.

"Erin has been a tremendous help in researching and pinpointing areas of weakness in our website design. Through her research we were able to identify several areas for improvement in our product media, call to action guidelines, and highlighting a weakness in the transition from our main website to our online store.

She has provided us with a clear path for improvement that will definitely improve our customers' experience on our web store."

A smiling man with glasses, with brown hair and a beard, wearing a light gray button-up shirt, standing against a gray background.

christopher j.

timberline lodge,
online retail manager

takeaways

Working with Timberline Lodge meant designing within real constraints, wrangling with shopify, comparing actual business goals, and verifying real assumptions.

Parallax provided genuine work challenges that helped me empathize with what clients actually face with builders like shopify.

If I were to do this again, I'd focus testing on either mobile or desktop rather than both. The broad approach diluted findings I could have explored with honed objectives.

the director of retail operations for timberline (george sanidas) requested documentation of the research and told me they'd been wanting to make these changes for years and now had data to support them.