DB Orthodontics - Platform Redesign
Overview
DB Orthodontics is a Yorkshire-based B2B e-commerce business supplying orthodontic products and professional education to dental practitioners across the UK and internationally. The company operates multiple Shopify stores with a catalogue of 4,500+ products and a CPD-accredited education arm used by practitioners at every career stage.
Promoted into the company's first standalone Digital Product Specialist role, I took full ownership of the digital platforms with a brief to redesign the primary e-commerce site from the ground up. The problems were significant: years of accumulated UX debt across navigation, mobile experience, checkout flows, and an education section that didn't reflect the commercial importance of the courses arm.
The full rollout was paused following the company's acquisition by Lifco in November 2025. The courses section, the highest commercial priority, launched before the acquisition concluded and delivered measurable results.
My Role
Digital Product Specialist
Solo Designer & Developer - end-to-end ownership
Timeline
June 2025 - March 2026
Disciplines
UX Research
IA
UI Design
Shopify
CRO
A/B Testing
DB Orthodontics - Platform Redesign
Overview
DB Orthodontics is a Yorkshire-based B2B e-commerce business supplying orthodontic products and professional education to dental practitioners across the UK and internationally. The company operates multiple Shopify stores with a catalogue of 4,500+ products and a CPD-accredited education arm used by practitioners at every career stage.
Promoted into the company's first standalone Digital Product Specialist role, I took full ownership of the digital platforms with a brief to redesign the primary e-commerce site from the ground up. The problems were significant: years of accumulated UX debt across navigation, mobile experience, checkout flows, and an education section that didn't reflect the commercial importance of the courses arm.
The full rollout was paused following the company's acquisition by Lifco in November 2025. The courses section, the highest commercial priority, launched before the acquisition concluded and delivered measurable results.
My Role
Digital Product Specialist
Solo Designer & Developer - end-to-end ownership
Timeline
June 2025 - March 2026
Disciplines
UX Research
IA
UI Design
Shopify
CRO
A/B Testing
DB Orthodontics -
Platform Redesign
Overview
DB Orthodontics is a Yorkshire-based B2B e-commerce business supplying orthodontic products and professional education to dental practitioners across the UK and internationally. The company operates multiple Shopify stores with a catalogue of 4,500+ products and a CPD-accredited education arm used by practitioners at every career stage.
Promoted into the company's first standalone Digital Product Specialist role, I took full ownership of the digital platforms with a brief to redesign the primary e-commerce site from the ground up. The problems were significant: years of accumulated UX debt across navigation, mobile experience, checkout flows, and an education section that didn't reflect the commercial importance of the courses arm.
The full rollout was paused following the company's acquisition by Lifco in November 2025. The courses section, the highest commercial priority, launched before the acquisition concluded and delivered measurable results.
My Role
Digital Product Specialist
Solo Designer & Developer - end-to-end ownership
Timeline
June 2025 - March 2026
Disciplines
UX Research
IA
UI Design
Shopify
CRO
A/B Testing
15%+
15%+
15%+
Customer engagement after courses launch
Customer engagement after courses launch
Customer engagement after courses launch
+20%
+20%
+20%
Course bookings growth post-launch
Course bookings growth post-launch
Course bookings growth post-launch
+22%
+22%
+22%
Conversion improvement across journeys
Conversion improvement across journeys
Conversion improvement across journeys
+20%
+20%
+20%
Organic traffic growth on key pages
Organic traffic growth on key pages
Organic traffic growth on key pages
15%+
15%+
15%+
Customer engagement after courses launch
Customer engagement after courses launch
Customer engagement after courses launch
+20%
+20%
+20%
Course bookings growth post-launch
Course bookings growth post-launch
Course bookings growth post-launch
+22%
+22%
+22%
Conversion improvement across journeys
Conversion improvement
across journeys
Conversion improvement across journeys
+20%
+20%
Organic traffic growth on key pages
Organic traffic growth on key pages
+20%
Organic traffic growth
on key pages
The Problem
The Problem
A platform with years of accumulated UX debt
A platform with years of accumulated UX debt
The existing dbortho.com site had been built up incrementally over many years with no dedicated design resource. By the time I joined, the problems were significant and compounding. Navigation was overloaded with a flat structure completely unsuitable for 4,500+ products. The mobile experience was broken in key areas. The courses section didn't reflect the commercial importance of the education arm. And the overall design hadn't kept pace with where the company wanted to be positioned.
Customers were heavily relying on search to find products because the navigation was too confusing to browse. That's a signal that the information architecture had fundamentally failed. The checkout flows for both products and courses were misaligned with what the sales and CS teams actually needed. Promotional content was inconsistently displayed. And the platform looked nothing like an industry leader.
The existing dbortho.com site had been built up incrementally over many years with no dedicated design resource. By the time I joined, the problems were significant and compounding. Navigation was overloaded with a flat structure completely unsuitable for 4,500+ products. The mobile experience was broken in key areas. The courses section didn't reflect the commercial importance of the education arm. And the overall design hadn't kept pace with where the company wanted to be positioned.
Customers were heavily relying on search to find products because the navigation was too confusing to browse. That's a signal that the information architecture had fundamentally failed. The checkout flows for both products and courses were misaligned with what the sales and CS teams actually needed. Promotional content was inconsistently displayed. And the platform looked nothing like an industry leader.
Before
Before
After
After
Process
Process
From discovery to director sign-off
From discovery to director sign-off
I ran the full process independently, from initial discovery and research through to Shopify implementation. The project followed a structured path but remained iterative throughout, with each stage informing the next.
I ran the full process independently, from initial discovery and research through to Shopify implementation. The project followed a structured path but remained iterative throughout, with each stage informing the next.
01
Discovery
01
Discovery
01
Discovery
Heatmaps, GA4, session recordings, customer feedback
Heatmaps, GA4, session recordings, customer feedback
Heatmaps, GA4, session recordings, customer feedback
02
IA & Navigation
02
IA & Navigation
02
IA & Navigation
Full product audit, mega menu structure, category redesign
Full product audit, mega menu structure, category redesign
Full product audit, mega menu structure, category redesign
03
Design
03
Design
03
Design
Wireframes, UI variants, component library in Figma
Wireframes, UI variants, component library in Figma
Wireframes, UI variants, component library in Figma
04
Review
04
Review
04
Review
Pre-read document, director session, feature prioritisation
Pre-read document, director session, feature prioritisation
Pre-read document, director session, feature prioritisation
05
Implementation
05
Implementation
05
Implementation
GemPages, Shopify theme edits, live launch and testing
GemPages, Shopify theme edits, live launch and testing
GemPages, Shopify theme edits, live launch and testing
Before
Key Design Decisions
Key Design Decisions
Every decision had a reason
Every decision had a reason
Search-first hero
Analytics showed search was the dominant navigation behaviour. Users couldn't find what they needed through browsing. Rather than a passive full-width banner, I led the hero with a prominent search bar and category shortcut chips. This let users with intent act immediately while still communicating the brand and featuring promotions below.
Search-first hero
Analytics showed search was the dominant navigation behaviour. Users couldn't find what they needed through browsing. Rather than a passive full-width banner, I led the hero with a prominent search bar and category shortcut chips. This let users with intent act immediately while still communicating the brand and featuring promotions below.
Mega menu over flat navigation
4,500+ products across dozens of categories made the existing flat nav completely unscalable. I proposed a mega menu structure with logical clinical groupings, reducing cognitive load, improving product discoverability, and removing a confusing secondary navigation row that duplicated top-level items.
Mega menu over flat navigation
4,500+ products across dozens of categories made the existing flat nav completely unscalable. I proposed a mega menu structure with logical clinical groupings, reducing cognitive load, improving product discoverability, and removing a confusing secondary navigation row that duplicated top-level items.
Courses as standalone landing pages
The education arm was one of the company's highest-margin revenue streams but the existing course pages were basic product listings. I rebuilt each course page as a full landing page with hero imagery, structured content, instructor profiles, delegate testimonials, and a clear booking form. The page did the selling rather than relying on users to already know they wanted to attend.
Courses as standalone landing pages
The education arm was one of the company's highest-margin revenue streams but the existing course pages were basic product listings. I rebuilt each course page as a full landing page with hero imagery, structured content, instructor profiles, delegate testimonials, and a clear booking form. The page did the selling rather than relying on users to already know they wanted to attend.
Structured promotions over a rolling banner
A single rotating banner was being used for everything: seasonal offers, new products, catalogues. Analytics showed users largely ignored it. I introduced a structured three-tile promotions zone below the hero, allowing different content types to coexist without competing and giving each piece of content a clear, persistent home.
Structured promotions over a rolling banner
A single rotating banner was being used for everything: seasonal offers, new products, catalogues. Analytics showed users largely ignored it. I introduced a structured three-tile promotions zone below the hero, allowing different content types to coexist without competing and giving each piece of content a clear, persistent home.
Reflection
Reflection
What this project taught me
What this project taught me
"This project was the most complete example of end-to-end product ownership I've had. I ran the discovery, shaped the strategy, produced the designs, built the implementation, and presented it all to directors, largely independently. The acquisition was disappointing timing, but the courses section launched, performed, and is still live. Operating as a solo designer at director level teaches you to communicate design decisions in business terms, move decisively without a team to validate every choice, and bring non-design stakeholders along clearly enough that they can make confident decisions. Those are skills I'd carry into any product team."
"This project was the most complete example of end-to-end product ownership I've had. I ran the discovery, shaped the strategy, produced the designs, built the implementation, and presented it all to directors, largely independently. The acquisition was disappointing timing, but the courses section launched, performed, and is still live. Operating as a solo designer at director level teaches you to communicate design decisions in business terms, move decisively without a team to validate every choice, and bring non-design stakeholders along clearly enough that they can make confident decisions. Those are skills I'd carry into any product team."
"This project was the most complete example of end-to-end product ownership I've had. I ran the discovery, shaped the strategy, produced the designs, built the implementation, and presented it all to directors, largely independently. The acquisition was disappointing timing, but the courses section launched, performed, and is still live. Operating as a solo designer at director level teaches you to communicate design decisions in business terms, move decisively without a team to validate every choice, and bring non-design stakeholders along clearly enough that they can make confident decisions. Those are skills I'd carry into any product team."
Selected Screens
Selected Screens
Homepage · Courses · Product pages
Homepage · Courses · Product pages
A selection of key screens from the redesign — homepage, the courses section that launched, individual course pages, and supporting pages including Contact, Sustainability, and Careers.
A selection of key screens from the redesign — homepage, the courses section that launched, individual course pages, and supporting pages including Contact, Sustainability, and Careers.
A selection of key screens from the redesign — homepage, the courses section that launched, individual course pages, and supporting pages including Contact, Sustainability, and Careers.
More works
More works
Like what you see?
Let's talk!
© 2026 Danish Chaudhary
Like what you see?
Let's talk!
© 2026 Danish Chaudhary
Like what you see?
Let's talk!
© 2026 Danish Chaudhary