Breaking the ice with a

315% increase in revenue

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 2

The Story

Icebreaker a leading outdoor merino wool brand sold online only in the US and several other countries. It grew from a solo entrepreneur to an international brand, sold across 30 countries. The e-commerce sites needed to catch up and roll out to at least half of those countries with online, not just store sales. This is why Icebreaker looked to Experience Dynamics. Also, their GM had worked with us on several projects at other companies over the past decade and trusted our work. 

The Challenge

The challenge for Icebreaker was to effectively use good user experience in ecommerce to convert shoppers online.

See our e-commerce conversion training where we reveal proven best practices.

Experience Dynamics was tasked to apply Human Centered Design techniques to understand shopper motivations, brand affiliations, and familiarity with the product. We would look online and offline, in-store, and to mobile and desktop shoppers. 

The Strategy

Experience Dynamics knew that in order to create a high converting e-commerce experience that effectively met the conversion manager's goals, we had to have a deep understanding of the decision process for people who buy Icebreaker’s products.

To create this experience, we began researching competitors, visiting stores, and talking to consumers. 

The field study Ethnography spanned the US, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France and the UK.

We learned that Icebreaker was a differentiated clothing item, and shopping for it (think luxury sportswear) required validation of eg cloth fabric strength, an understanding of usage scenarios of the product, and more. 

The Turning Point

To this point, the only product feedback that was available came from the product sales team.

The Field Studies and an online survey, and competitor review helped us understand content and layout differentiation – which outperformed the competition. Users were very clear about what they needed to buy Icebreaker online. Even the brand story was clarified from the user research.

Armed with that knowledge, we created wireframe concepts of new easy-to-use e-commerce layouts. 

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The Execution

Working closely with Icebreaker’s team we rapidly wireframed new Interaction Designs that would be tested with users.

Testing design directions with users is a key conversion rate optimization step because it exposes weak conversion areas before development – saving time and money so the entire team can stay on schedule. The user testing showed us what worked (eg confusing category pages) and details that made a difference (eg What kind of person is writing the product reviews?).

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The Results

With close collaboration, an a deep understanding of user needs, Experience Dynamics provided fast answers and UX direction to all stakeholders involved: the branding agency, the e-commerce development partner and the internal team. Providing rapid usability feedback also gave the  Visual Design team immediate “no go” guidance. 

Several years after its launch, Icebreaker.com has enjoyed a 315% increase in revenue, largely due to online sales. The site user experience now seamlessly touches customers in 17 countries—a major success for a global roll-out.

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