Contact Chris for access — iamchrispoynton@gmail.com
Overview
Ryerson is one of the largest metal distributors in the US. The core problem wasn't traffic or brand recognition — it was the products. Metals have precise attributes varying by fractions of a millimeter across 50+ cuts per page. The existing site made comparison nearly impossible.
Phase 1 — Key Improvements
The basis of our idea came from organizing the clutter we were witnessing. There were clear shortcomings in some areas, while others we learned from user and staff feedback. As we started, we focused on cleaning up the product listings, product details, and checkout process to make everything easier to read and more intuitive to use for both returning and new customers.
Changed the layout to use rows of data rather than stacked product listings. Since all products on a page share the same metal, type, and cut, rows let users find a base attribute and quickly scan for minor dimensional differences — the actual differentiators.
Moved from sidebar to top of page. Made multi-select easier, added active filter chips with individual clear (×), and surfaced Cut to Size and Frequently Bought prominently. Users no longer had to navigate back through the filters to clear an option.
The old site had poor visual hierarchy and long-form numbers. We fixed hierarchy, replaced number strings with easy-to-read tables of key attributes, and reduced clutter in cart pages. Also increased font size and spacing, removed unnecessary elements like manual stock-check fields.
As we completely redid over 20 page templates, we kept similar patterns in the same location, with the same color and icon indicators. Elements like "Cut to Size," cart interactions, and checkout items behaved identically everywhere.
We incorporated marketing and UX best practices throughout. One addition was the logged-in header showing the user's rep information — encouraging customers to call if they had questions. We also used Ryerson's bright orange highlight color to indicate important actions (checking stock, adding to cart), drawing attention and easing nerves as the user progresses.
We created two extensive documents: one calling out specific elements and explaining the UX and design best practices behind them, and a 50-page annotation document explaining all functionality to the development team. Full documents, wireframes, and designs available upon request.
Note: for Phase 1 of this project, I worked on UX and partnered with a visual designer for the final designs.
Phase 2 — Location Finder
After a successful update, Ryerson came back to Orbit to build out additional functionality. This time, they wanted to improve their map feature to better showcase locations and shipping lanes, while taking into account the proximity of customer locations. We worked with their developers to create a custom experience that completely reimagined their location finder, matching the recently updated designs. Unlike Phase 1, I worked by myself on Phase 2, using the existing design system to establish both the UX and UI.
When we started, the project was only intended for users to enter one location. As we moved through discovery and design iterations, it was decided that customers may want to enter multiple locations at once for a holistic view of their options. We iterated on the location search multiple times, creating a solution that allowed users to add multiple locations — then further add custom labels, colors, and icons to clearly differentiate their locations from Ryerson facilities on the map.
We needed to show Ryerson and Ryerson Partner facilities, while also providing an option to filter by the same criteria users shop by — Metals, Processing Options, and Markets. This required a large filter set with toggles for each category (matching existing designs), and quick interactions to select or clear all for faster navigation.
The map itself had to account for over 100 Ryerson locations, plus custom locations users could add. To prioritize the initial map view, we hid the list of results in a toggle, focusing on the map pins. On click of a pin or the results toggle, a full list of locations and corresponding contact information would appear with the desired location highlighted.
Results
This site has been an overwhelming success — conversion rate doubled and revenue tripled since launch.