52 design checkpoints across 8 categories — score your store's visual design, usability, and conversion readiness.
Good design is invisible. Bad design is a conversion killer. This checklist covers 52 design fundamentals that separate stores customers trust from stores they bounce. Work through each category and check off what your store already handles.
Based on principles from Refactoring UI by Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger and Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug.
The eye should know exactly where to look first, second, and third on every page.
If visitors have to squint, pinch-zoom, or re-read a sentence, you have already lost them.
Consistent spacing signals professionalism. Inconsistent spacing signals "we built this in a weekend."
Color should guide attention and communicate meaning — not just decorate.
Visitors should always know where they are, where they can go, and how to get back.
More than half your traffic is on a phone. Design for thumbs, not cursors.
The product page is where browsing becomes buying. Every element either builds confidence or creates doubt.
Visitors are looking for reasons NOT to buy. Remove those reasons before they find them.
Your design audit score
Check off each item as you audit your store. Your score updates in real time.
Run a full audit quarterly, or whenever you make significant changes to your theme, layout, or navigation. Small design changes can have cascading effects — a new header font might break your visual hierarchy without you noticing.
Start with Mobile Experience and Visual Hierarchy. Over half your traffic is mobile, and if visitors cannot figure out where to look or tap, nothing else matters. Typography and Navigation come next. Trust elements and color refinements are polish — important, but fix the structural issues first.
No. Aim for 80% (42+) as a strong baseline. Some items may not apply to your store — for example, not every store needs breadcrumbs if the catalog is small. The goal is to catch blind spots, not chase a perfect number.
Absolutely. This checklist works for auditing any ecommerce store — your own, a competitor's, or a client's. It is especially useful when evaluating a new theme or preparing a redesign proposal.
Use WebAIM's Contrast Checker for WCAG color contrast ratios. Chrome DevTools can measure element sizes — inspect any element and check its computed dimensions. Google's Lighthouse audit flags tap targets under 48px automatically.
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