When
2012 – 2025
Why
Building the largest online retailer in garden paving products in Europe
What
Brand design, print design, information architecture, interaction design, content design, UX and UI.
Background
In 2012 I was connected by a developer friend to the owner of slimbestraten.nl. It doesn’t seem that long ago, though at the time, the most fancy laptops were about 5cm ‘thin’ and had a blue-ray burner. Just saying. Press pics of these devices looked like the one below, and the website in question, well… At this time, slimbestraten.nl was a non-responsive website complete with quasi web 2.0 styling, a horrible colour scheme, missing images and incomprehensible UX. I was asked to help redesign the website as ambitions we’re high: becoming number 1 in the market and create the ultimate experience for anyone with garden pavement needs. Sounds like a perfect job for me.
From the top
This project was in need of it all: a rebrand, a new structure, UX, UI, front-end and backend redesign. There were no digital marketing activities yet, but they we’re coming. We needed landing pages, clear product information, streamlined workflows for purchasing funnels, retargeting, segmentation, you name it. Luckily, there was a specialist for the marketing part. Also a front-end developer and a back-end developer were available, so I could completely focus on design.
The rebrand
Because of time and budget constraints, I created this lean rebrand. After a location visit, I got inspired by the products on sale and created a small brand package with a colour scheme and an icon based on actual products and combined that with a solid word-mark.
The 2012 edition
The digital platfrom needed a complete overhaul. I literally started from scratch. After figuring out the quirks in the order process for this market, I created a completely new information architecture. This encompassed an onboarding for new customers, a clear structure for different types of products and a clear ordering and checkout process.
After setting up the structure for the website, I started translating the information architecture to logical UX, striking a fine balance between an inspirational website, strict e-commerce conventions and an SEO optimised platform.
Special products, bespoke ordering process
Most orders contained large amounts of heavy stone products. These are not products that are send out over mail. Slimbestraten.nl has their own delivery trucks which are huge machines. A lot of prerequisites needed to be taken into account of the ordering process to ake the delivery and fulfilment smoothly.
Extra attention was paid to the checkout process. We ensured a smooth checkout process by extensively testing the new checkout process with customers. As our research showed that most orders we’re one-off’s we tailored the process accordingly.
Also, returning products had been a headache. Together we ensured a smooth process by paying attention to the details of the process and invested in the customer service value proposition. This also meant that the supply chain organisation needed to change accordingly. As lines we’re kept short, we did manage to optimise it and made customer satisfaction on Trustpilot rise to a 4.9 out of 5 score.
After launch of the platform in 2013, I helped the team with running the website, optimising some quirks and make design decisions for a short period of time.
The 2022 edition
In 2021, I was once again commissioned to create a subtle redesign for the website. It had been running flawlessly for almost 10 years. Business has grown explosively and the website was ready to be rebuild. Different from the previous attempt, we now had loads of customer behavioural data and insights to steer us into the right direction immediately.
Biggest UX issue to tackle was the product search and selection this time. Obviously, audience had shifted to more mobile use, so more emphasis was put on a mobile first experience.
Although it was quite a challenge to fit a giant selection and filter menu in the product overview on devices with little screen real estate, we took an iterative approach and, in a close collaboration with the front-end developer, we managed to create UX that fit perfectly.
International expansion
In 2025, Slim Bestraten entered a new phase. After becoming the largest online retail outlet for paving products in the Netherlands, it was time to conquer the rest of Europe. With the launch of terrassendeal.de, the first steps were taken.