A shopper who knows the product type should not need several intermediate pages to see products.
Store category navigation
Small catalogs often benefit from a direct product list. Larger catalogs can use category hubs to help customers choose a direction.
Research context: Baymard · DTC category navigation ↗
Essential goes directly to a few products; Famme uses collections; Index needs filters. Choose by assortment size and shopping task.
Try the pattern
Task and expected result
- 01
Find the test payment without choosing a category first.
- 02
Open Softy and check every displayed item belongs to that collection.
- 03
Open the mobile menu with a keyboard and follow a collection link.
- 04
Open Essential on mobile: all product choices should be available without a category popup.
- 05
Open Famme from a direct collection link: home and other collections remain available.
How to investigate value
Observe whether participants find an item meeting every need, not just how many cards they click. For measurement: relevant selections per eligible search/list visitor.
Watch for side effects
Zero results, false variant matches, lost list context and slow filters. More product-page visits are not necessarily better.
This is a proposed investigation, not a measured result. Choose one hypothesis and define the audience before testing.
Build a measurement plan for this concept ↗