Designing with empathy means knowing when to step back

When brands grow, websites tend to get heavier. More products, more filters, more things to click through. But good UX isn’t about fitting everything in, it’s about caring enough to make sure people don’t get lost in the noise.

That belief guided our work with Ferndale Pharma and Cantabria Labs. Their UK store was built around one trusted range, Heliocare. When they expanded to include the full product line, the challenge wasn’t how to show more - it was how to grow without losing what worked.

Empathy gets talked about like a nice-to-have, but it’s really about noticing the small things that trip people up. How loyal customers find comfort in the familiar. How new visitors scan a page for quick answers. How a cluttered layout can make a simple decision feel like hard work. Every choice we made came back to those small human details, because that’s where experience either works or falls apart.

Start with what people actually want

We didn’t begin with a catalogue; we began with real behaviours. Some people just want to reorder their usual Heliocare cream. Some want something for a specific skin concern. Some are simply curious, “I trust this brand, what else have they got?”

Designing for those intentions meant navigation that mirrors how people think, not how stock is arranged. Grouping by need rather than category keeps it natural for users and easier to manage for the business. New ranges can slide in without tearing up the structure every time.

For customers, it means less time searching and more time discovering. For the client, it means less maintenance and smoother growth.

Guide exploration, don’t dump everything at once

When you add more, the instinct is to show it all. But when everything shouts, nothing’s heard. We used hierarchy and filtering to make exploration simple, not stressful:

• Filters use language customers actually use, not lab talk
• Cross-sells are quiet prompts, not flashing billboards
• New ranges roll out gradually, so the experience feels calm and considered

The goal isn’t to impress people with volume, it’s to help them explore without effort.

Product pages that breathe

Even at the product level, empathy matters. Too much detail creates fatigue; too little creates doubt. We structured each page so the essentials, what it is and how to use it, come first. Ingredients, science and reviews sit further down the page or neatly in accordions.

It makes the page easy to scan, without hiding what matters. People who just want to buy can do that quickly. Those who want the detail can find it fast. It keeps confidence high and the experience simple.

Keep regulars comfortable

Change can unsettle loyal customers. Heliocare fans knew exactly where to find what they needed, and we didn’t want to break that habit. Familiar colours and dedicated landing pages gave them clear routes straight back to what they knew.

It wasn’t about keeping things the same. It was about keeping things easy for people who already knew where to go.

Small UX choices, bigger pay-off

None of this was radical design. It was a series of small, considered decisions that made the experience simpler for users and more scalable for the client:

• Returning customers feel at home
• New customers get an easy way in
• The business supports cross-sell and growth without drowning people in options

Sometimes good UX isn’t about bold reinvention. It’s about restraint. Knowing when to show less, so customers can discover more.