Details
Table of Contents
Overview
Destin Commons, an award-winning open-air center on Florida’s Emerald Coast, is recognized by U.S. News & World Report for top family beach vacations. Featuring over 80 stores and restaurants, it was also named “Best Shopping/Lifestyle Center” by VIP Destin Magazine readers.
Objective
The objective was to design a fully custom, user-centered website that simplifies navigation, drives traffic, boosts engagement, and improves user retention, while visually reflecting Destin Commons’ coastal vibe and highlighting its unique shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences.
Timeline
Project Duration: 5 Months
Role's Responsabilities
User & Market Research, UX/UI, Visual Design, Usability and Testing, Art/Design Direction, Video & Photography Direction.
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Adobe Creative Suite, UserTesting, Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity.
Deliverables
Sitemap, Surveys, Styles, Components, Wireframes, High-Fidelity Mock-ups, User Journey Mapping, Prototypes, Usability Tests and Findings, Video & Photography, Marketing Assets.
Brand Identity
The brand identity for Destin Commons embodies the spirit of coastal living, showcasing its charm as a vibrant yet laid-back, family-friendly destination. The color palette is inspired by coastal landscapes symbolizing its welcoming atmosphere.
UX Research
I conducted interviews and distributed a survey to gather shoppers' insights about how they decide where to shop, dine, and find entertainment. The research focused on understanding their preferences, habits, pain points and goals when planning their outings as well as the importance of easily finding this information online to make informed choices.
*Organizing data from my research through color-coded affinity mapping. Sources: SurveyMonkey.
Identifying Problems
Shopping center websites often prioritize merchandise over personality and visual appeal, resulting in a lackluster user experience.
Most Shopping Center websites are commonly viewed as generic, boring and/or overwhelming, leading to low user engagement.
Most websites don’t understand their audience’s needs, resulting in low user retention.
Most websites don't capture the shopping center's true vibe, energy, or atmosphere.
Identifying Solutions
Conduct in-depth research to understand user needs, behaviors, and pain points, providing insights that guide strategic and user-focused design decisions.
Develop a clear and thoughtful structure to optimize user flows, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience across the site
Design based on thorough audience research to address their needs and preferences.
Use high-quality visuals and interactive features to reflect the shopping center’s unique character and vibe.
Competitive Market
Conducting a competitive market assessment for the Destin Commons website involved analyzing local and national competitors in the retail and lifestyle sectors. By examining their design, user experience, and engagement strategies, I identified opportunities to create a website that stands out while meeting consumer expectations for a high-quality, coastal destination.
Creating Structure
After thorough UX audits, competitor analysis, and team workshops, I created detailed sitemaps that guided the website development. This overview helped set up the site’s structure and decide how many page templates were needed. It provided flexibility and modularity throughout the design and build process.
Wireframes
Styles & Visual Components
Designing visual components involves creating and arranging elements like buttons, icons, color, and typography to ensure a cohesive and engaging user experience. It’s about blending aesthetics with functionality, making sure that each component not only looks appealing but also serves a clear purpose.
Expressive and Reusable
UI components such as buttons and CTA's with movement enhance user experience by guiding attention and adding personality. When expressive and reusable, they communicate purpose, reinforce brand identity, and ensure consistency—making interfaces more intuitive, engaging, and scalable.
UI Design
A clean and balanced design is essential for a website as it boosts usability, ensures clarity, and creates a visually appealing experience that effectively communicates the brand's message.
The Homepage
I designed the Destin Commons homepage to clearly showcase its dining, shopping, and entertainment offerings in a clean, streamlined layout that’s easy to navigate and visually engaging.
Enhanced Search
To improve the user experience and make content easier to find, the Destin Commons website was designed with a smarter, more intuitive search that helps users quickly find what they’re looking for or discover something new.
Mobile Responsiveness
While research shows that desktop remains the primary platform for Destin Commons users, mobile usage continues to grow steadily. With this in mind, I ensured the website is fully responsive, delivering a seamless experience across all devices—including mobile.
Virtual Art Experience
Destin Commons features a variety of engaging experiences designed to enrich every visit. Among them is a vibrant collection of murals by both local and national artists, curated as part of the center’s art and cultural program. To extend this experience beyond the physical space, I created a virtual art tour—bringing the mural collection to life online and allowing website visitors to explore the artwork from anywhere.
Marketing Efforts
I led the design of various marketing initiatives such as landing pages, email templates, display ad banners, and strategies to drive traffic, applying UX best practices and design principles. By incorporating testing and continuous improvements, I optimized these assets to increase click-through rates, boost website traffic, and grow the marketing communications database.
Video Art Direction
I was fully involved in concept development, storyboarding, direction, and production for videos primarily used on the website, as well as for creating assets like video banners, YouTube ads, and social media posts.
Results
Here are some successful outcomes post-launch:
Increased monthly visits from 9,000 to 11,200 (+24%)
Reduced bounce rate from 60% to 51% (–15%)
Improved average session duration from 1:15 to 1:50 (+33%)
Increased conversion rate from 2% to 2.4% (+20%)
*Sources: Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity.
