EST
A digital makeover for a revolutionary hair tools provider
Reshaping the online experience with Bio Ionic
Bio Ionic has long established itself as a trusted name in salon-grade hair styling tools such as blow dryers, curlers, and brushes. Their proprietary technologies revolutionized hair care at home. The brand approached Half Helix with the goal of revamping their online experience to expand their customer base, with a more modern and content-rich look and feel to enhance user experience and product discovery. On the back end, the brand’s existing Magento-powered website was facing challenges such as high ownership costs, slow feature implementation, and reliance on costly custom solutions. The Half Helix team migrated the Bio Ionic site from Magento to Shopify, with a complete redesign and refreshed digital brand direction. The team elevated the user experience with premium animations, parallax scrolling, and new functionality for product discovery, knowledge, and conversion. In order to make a big visual impact within a short timeline, the Half Helix team replicated the existing site features with out-of-the-box Shopify functionality without compromising on the luxurious look and feel.
Disciplines
- Magento Migration
- UX Design
- Shopify Development
- Firework Integration
Location
Visit Live Site
01
Design improvements through platform migration
Bio Ionic’s initial site was revamped to offer an improved experience that would speak to loyal customers while attracting new ones. The Half Helix design introduced dedicated sections to showcase Bio Ionic’s proprietary technology behind each of their products. Educational content and brand highlights were seamlessly integrated into the homepage and product pages. A press section was also added to display product testimonials from trusted publications. The primary focus was on enhancing conversion, with features like the "Add to Cart" option clickable directly within product cards and enticing upsell opportunities in the mini-cart, encouraging users to reach spending thresholds for perks like free shipping. Even an empty cart redirects users to featured products, and the shopping bag includes quick add-on upsell options, making for an overall more rewarding shopping experience.
02
Simplifying product categorization and discovery for new adopters
In order to enhance product discoverability and create a more user-friendly experience for newcomers, the focus was on refining categorization within each product type. Previously, users could only browse products by the branded name of the technology, which was simple enough for those already familiar with the brand, but proved less accessible for new adopters. While the option to shop by technology still exists in the menu, it is now presented as a secondary choice with added explanatory text to help users understand what they're selecting. Visual imagery in the menu demonstrates how the technology works, making it even more user-friendly. Additionally, empty states in search were eliminated to ensure that there's always something for users to engage with, be it a page or a product, resulting in an exploratory browsing experience.
03
Technical and visual direction to enhance design
The Half Helix team team offered comprehensive visual guidelines for reshooting Bio Ionic’s product imagery to seamlessly integrate it into the new site design. This guidance encompassed technical aspects like lighting and shadow, as well as creative elements such as balancing warm and cool tones. The new site design addressed the issue of the previous PDP being minimal on product information by reorganizing details into distinct blocks. The guidelines explained how these product features should be photographed to create eye-catching graphic content, resulting in enhanced visual appeal and increased user engagement.
