Avid Disc Golf

The Problem


The Avid Disc Golf site is suffering from poor conversion and usability issues. Metrics reveal that 50% of users open on average 7 item pages and then abandon the site without moving any items into the cart. They also show that 70% of users who place an item in the cart do not purchase. Instead users abandon their cart at the registration page.

The goal is to retool the browsing and checkout experience to greatly improve the site’s usability and conversion.

Yellow shopping cart icon on a black background | Cold Mountain Creative | Web Design & SEO | Asheville, NC

Research and Interviews

While conducting research and interviews I was able to discern that:

  • Users were able to recognize aggressive/pushy CTA when shopping and that it frustrated them and made them lose trust in the brand.

  • The people I interviewed reported that they didnt want to be pressured into a purchase and did not like to give out their information unless necessary.

  • They relied on product info and reviews to make their purchasing decisions.

  • Research showed that the leading reasons people abandoned their carts are:

    • extra costs (like shipping and taxes),

    • slow delivery, and

    • forced account creation

User Flows

To kick off the design process, I started by creating user flows to give a sense of what the user would see as they navigate through inventory and complete the checkout process. Research and data showed that people were abandoning their cart rather when they had to create an account so the guest checkout was a priority here. I was deliberate in creating an intuitive IA structure to allow for easy navigation while searching.

Flowchart diagram depicting an online disc store shopping process, including homepage navigation, disc selection, manufacturer search, cart checkout, account creation, order review, and purchase confirmation | Cold Mountain Creative | Web Design

Low Fidelity Mockups

After locking down the user flows, I was ready to create a wireframe version of my vision for Avid. Having done competitor research, I drew inspiration from existing desirable and functional design.

A placeholder webpage layout with a large grey circle, heading titled 'Disc Name' with stars and number of reviews, a grey 'Flight Chart' box, a paragraph of placeholder text, a grey squared video player with play icon, a quote, a reviews section with a bar chart and average rating, and three customer reviews with star ratings.


The goal was to create a site that appealed to both beginners and experienced disc golfers alike.

Screenshot of an online disc golf store webpage titled 'Avid Disc Golf' with navigation and product categories such as Putters, Midrange, Fairway, and Distance Drivers, and various disc golf discs and accessories listed with placeholder images and prices.

Design to increase conversion without seeming pushy led me to create a minimalistic guest checkout and offer a code for free shipping, addressing two of the main causes of cart abandonment.

An online checkout webpage for Avid Disc Golf, displaying billing details form on the left and order summary on the right, showing two discs, subtotal, shipping, discounts, tax, and total.

Testing Mockups

To test the usability of my wireframes I conducted usability tests with five users. They were asked to complete several tasks and think aloud as they went. I tested two experienced disc golfers who have bought discs online before and three people who had very little experience with disc golf. Testing showed me that:

  • There was a strong need for a beginner friendly path to finding disc golf discs to buy.

  • Users needed a quick and easy way to find reviews for the product they were interested in.

  • Experienced users needed more descriptive info on the products they were interested in.

Iteration into High Fidelity

Testing wireframes showed a critical usability issue for beginners vs experienced disc golfers. Beginners were overwhelmed by disc info while experienced need more. To address this I created a banner advertising a beginner landing page on the home screen. This brings the user to a page that explains everything about disc golf and how to choose a disc including a quiz to personalize their search for the right disc for them

The beginner section carries a lot a visual weight to stand out for those who need it while experience users can go straight into searching for a disc they want.

Laptop displaying an online disc golf store website with a woman throwing a disc in a park and disc golf discs listed for sale.

The profile of a disc is informative and helpful, using reviews and a quote from a pro player who throws the disc to instill trust and confidence into making a purchase.

Online product page for a disc golf disc named Aviar, showing a purple disc with the G-Star logo, product specifications, reviews, and a photo of a person holding a red disc.

The beginner section carries a lot a visual weight to stand out for those who need it while experience users can go straight into searching for a disc they want.

Laptop screen displaying an online shopping checkout page for disc golf equipment on Avid Disc Golf website, showing billing details and order summary for two Halo Aviar discs.

Usability Testing

Testing Hi-Fi designs showed that usability had increased from the previous round of testing although there were still a couple points where users had issues. Primarily users all wanted to use the search function. This was an easy fix of building a search flow in Figma to accommodate user search.

Laptop screen displaying a confirmation message from Avid Disc Golf thanking for shopping, with a graphic of a person playing disc golf on a course.

Users also reported several UI issues on the beginners page, finding reviews and a couple other minor issues. These were addressed with deft resizing and changes in spacing and color. Lastly people expressed concern that they did not have a confirmation number on the completion screen after checkout and payment. I added a section to thank the customer and confirm their order as well as indicating a email would follow shortly with the conformation.

After implementing all the changes that testing revealed I completed my final iteration for this project.