The Green Coat Test: LeMieux's Userfeel Discovery That Streamlined Navigation for a 9% Mobile ARPU Increase

LeMieux, a leading equestrian brand, was experiencing a common issue: they had data showing where users were dropping off, but lacked the context to understand why. By using Userfeel to connect their analytics to real-user intent, they unlocked significant revenue gains, especially on mobile, and created a more intuitive shopping experience.

The Challenge: 'Numbers Without Narrative'

LeMieux had robust usage data. Clicks, drop-offs, and page views, but were missing the crucial user intent. This made confidently prioritizing development changes difficult.

• Cluttered Navigation: As the product range expanded, the menu grew organically and became cluttered. Analytics suggested users were struggling to find key products, but LeMieux didn't know the cognitive friction points.
• Discoverability Mismatch: Top-selling categories weren't getting the expected engagement from the main navigation paths, indicating they were either misplaced or poorly labeled.
• "Insider" Language Risk: An increasing number of buyers were non-equestrians shopping for a gift, raising concerns that the site's language and structure were too niche and lacked guidance for new-to-brand customers.

The result?LeMieux was forced to rely on internal assumptions, leading to slow and uncertain decision-making.

The Solution: Fast, Targeted Testing with Userfeel

LeMieux chose Userfeel for its flexible, pay-as-you-go model, avoiding the large annual contracts typical of competitors.

"Userfeel's pay-as-you-go pricing meant we could start immediately and buy sessions when we needed them, without going through a procurement saga."

Quick StartRapid test creation and execution with minimal onboarding.

Speed of Insight Sessions returned in hours (or within a day), feeding directly into live development decisions.

Flexible Pricing Pay-as-you-go model matched their need for quick, iterative, targeted testing.

Diverse PanelAbility to test with both existing customers and new-to-brand users to distinguish between familiarity issues and core usability problems.

The Critical Insight: Seasonal Shorthand Confuses New Users

LeMieux ran a task asking testers to find a women's coat in a green color. The results immediately highlighted a critical flaw in their homepage design and information architecture:

Unexpected Behavior: New-to-brand users ignored the main clothing ranges and clicked into the prominently featured SS25 (Spring/Summer 2025) blocks on the homepage, assuming they contained all available clothing.

The Problem:.Since the SS25 link only contained the seasonal subset, the green coat (which existed in the full range) was not available there. Users incorrectly concluded LeMieux didn't sell green coats.

The resulting design change: LeMieux realized they couldn't assume new customers understood seasonal shorthand. They shifted the homepage focus to broader, generic departments (Women / Men / Children), positioning seasonal collections as a secondary, optional subset. This lowered the cognitive load for new shoppers and provided a clearer path to the full product range.

The Implementation: Simplifying Navigation based on Intent

The user recordings reinforced that their problem was too many competing routes, not missing products. LeMieux simplified and streamlined their menu navigation:

• Consolidated Departments: Horse-related products (like "saddle pads" and "rugs") were grouped into clearer, single top-level buckets (e.g., "Horse"), rather than being listed individually.
• Clear Clothing Structure: Clothing was restructured into Women / Children / Men, with "New" and "Collection" subcategories to clearly label seasonal ranges as subsets.
• Preserved High-Value Features: Interactive features like Colour Collections and the Outfit Builder were retained at the top level or made easily accessible within departments, as testing showed they were core to the shopping process.

Measurable Results: Significant ROI and Performance Lifts

The usability improvements, especially on mobile where friction was highest, led to immediate and significant commercial gains:

+9% Mobile ARPU: Higher order values achieved by simplifying range discovery on smaller screens.

+54% Saddle Pad Engagement: Proof that "less is more"—consolidating products into a single "Horse" department removed choice paralysis.

+31% "New" Range CVR: Boosted conversions by standardizing where seasonal collections live within the site hierarchy.

-6% Time-to-PDP: Increased mobile efficiency by removing navigation "dead-ends," getting shoppers to products faster.

+380% Feature Engagement: Drastic lift in "Toy Pony Builder" usage simply by aligning its location with user mental models.

Long-Term Impact & Advice

Beyond the ROI, Userfeel provided LeMieux with a long-term quality and confidence boost by regularly exposing them to real user mental models. Decisions are now anchored in observed behavior, making prioritization faster and design rationales clearer.

"The uplift in ARPU and category engagement meant the research cost paid for itself quickly."

LeMieux's Advice for User Testing Success:

• Start Broad, Then Go Granular: Begin with full end-to-end journey tests to surface the biggest blind spots before zooming into specifics.
• Send Users on an Open Route First: Ask them to find a product naturally (e.g., "find a green coat"), then follow up with directed tasks to compare their default behavior against your intended pathways.
• Test Familiar and New Users: This helps separate brand familiarity from true usability issues.
• Use Userfeel’s Highlight Feature: Tagging and grouping key moments across sessions helps patterns surface quickly for easier analysis and sharing.

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