The challenge

Sefinas website is far more than a conventional corporate website.

The platform combines an e-commerce store containing tens of thousands of unique products with pawn-loan services, online valuations, calculators, editorial content, a press room and a customer portal. It also relies on several external systems and database integrations.

Even the e-commerce structure presented a substantial UX challenge: every product was unique, and the catalogue ranged from jewelery, watches and designer bags to art, furniture, clothing and musical instruments.

When I analysed the existing website, I identified several critical issues:

• A high bounce rate, with many users leaving almost immediately

• Four competing navigation menus that made the structure difficult to understand

• Long, dense and primarily SEO-driven text that was hard to read

• A desktop-first experience despite the vast majority of visitors using mobile devices

• Complicated user journeys that made key services difficult to find and complete

• A visual expression that no longer reflected Sefina’s updated brand identity

Starting again from the user’s perspective

Rather than making cosmetic adjustments to the existing website, I rebuilt the experience from the ground up.

I reviewed and prioritised the complete content offering, created a new sitemap and information architecture, and simplified the navigation around the actions customers actually came to the website to perform.

I then developed the wireframes, user journeys and UI design for both mobile and desktop, creating a coherent digital design system based on the visual identity I had previously developed for Sefina Pantbank.

The result was a platform that felt recognisable Sefina while being significantly clearer, faster and easier to use.

Content and conversion

I rewrote the website’s core content and reorganised the information into shorter, more accessible and purpose-driven sections.

The copy needed to explain financial services in a reassuring and straightforward way while guiding users towards clear actions. I also introduced an editorial content structure designed to strengthen organic search visibility without allowing SEO requirements to dominate the user experience.

Every part of the site was considered from both a communication and conversion perspective: what users needed to understand, what they needed to feel and what they needed to do next.

Advanced e-commerce

The e-commerce platform needed to handle more than 10,000 unique products at any given time.

I designed an advanced but intuitive filtering experience that allowed customers to navigate highly varied categories using relevant criteria such as brand, size, material, product type and price.

The challenge was not simply to add more filters, but to create a system flexible enough to accommodate everything from gold jewellery and watches to handbags, art and musical instruments, without overwhelming the user.

I also simplified the purchase journey and made the relationship between Sefina’s retail and pawnbroking services easier to understand.

New digital services

As part of the redesigned experience, I developed interfaces and user journeys for several important services, including:

Online valuations
Customers could submit images and information about their items and receive an initial valuation without visiting a branch.

The Vintage Box
A service that allowed customers to send valued items to Sefina for assessment and pawnbroking.

Loan calculators and service tools
Clearer tools helped users understand potential loan values, costs and available options.

Improved customer support
I designed a more visible and efficient chat experience to make expert assistance easier to access.

Editor-friendly product management
The structure made it easier for e-commerce editors to work consistently with categories, product information and SEO metadata.

The result

The redesigned website brought Sefina’s extensive range of services together in one cohesive and user-friendly platform.

It replaced a fragmented, desktop-focused experience with a mobile-first structure that made complex information and advanced functionality feel significantly easier to navigate.

The new platform was very positively received by both existing and new customers. It strengthened Sefina’s digital brand presence, improved the customer journey and created a clearer path from initial interest to valuation, pawnbroking or purchase.

The result was not simply a new website, but a complete digital transformation of how Sefina presented its brand, services and commercial offering online.