As 2023 comes to a close, we celebrate the 5th anniversary of our online store with a lovely gift that you might have noticed even before seeing this article: flaneurs.net has a brand new look.
Why? How?
Let's talk about it.
The Beginnings
The online store opened in late 2018.
At that time, it was a new field to explore for the whole team.
The project progressed gradually. It started with Pierre, a customer who became a friend, helping to create an online platform.
Then, it was the entire team, namely Peter, Quentin, Yoann, and Sylvain, working to manage orders, write product descriptions, conduct photo shoots, manage the Instagram account, respond to you online, in short: handle everything!
While the team was very careful to do things well and always looked to improve, they knew they could do better in terms of the website's usability and technical aspects.
Searching for a New Partner
By the end of 2022, Peter began looking for someone to collaborate with to evolve the site, with the help of Stéphane, who worked occasionally on web content.
The idea was to find someone capable of handling the technical part of the site, but also to assist with the overall usability that needed to be implemented.
And that's where I come into the picture: Manu, a freelance web developer, under the label manu.habite.la. I promise, I'm better at creating websites than naming a business.
It turns out to be a fortunate coincidence: I was already a customer of the store. I'm familiar with the universe of Flâneurs (yes), but also the site's bugs (ouch).
At that point, the team had several objectives:
- to have a site with a design unique to Flâneurs, without straying too far from the current site so as not to alienate regular customers. Let's not kid ourselves, Peter is very attached to the visual aspect of the store;
- to ensure navigation without frustration, especially on smartphones (the biggest problem of the site);
- to better highlight the apparel and partner brands of Flâneurs;
- to improve the life of the editorial team by simplifying the editing tools.
… All this within a realistic budget for the independent store that is Flâneurs.
The Design of the New Flâneurs Website
We worked at a more or less steady pace with Peter and the rest of the team throughout 2023.
On his part, Peter had ideas about the visuals and how to enhance the content on the site. On my part, I interpreted all this, regularly communicated with the team, and proposed solutions.
And there you have it! Today we are launching the new version of the site and we think that now: you can truly browse on https://flaneurs.net/en/!
So what exactly has changed?
1. First, navigating the site is more pleasant. Gone are the bugs when moving to a new page. The navigation is clearer, the content is more structured to better guide you.
2. Next, the clothing photos are better highlighted. The team is proud of its photos and now we are convinced that you can fully enjoy them.
3. Our category and flagship brand pages have become more user-friendly. For example, the Denim page now allows you to navigate directly among different jeans cuts.
4. There is a new blog section. The Flâneurs team loves to give advice, loves the clothes it sells, loves the brands it works with, and now has a designated place on the site to talk about all this.
5. Finally, you might not see it, but behind the scenes, we're also happy: the team keeps its current administration tool so it doesn’t lose its bearings, but has stopped the makeshift fixes in the administration section of the site to properly display text paragraphs…
As for me, I specialize in digital accessibility (ensuring that everyone can use the web, regardless of disabilities) and eco-design (limiting the environmental impact of the web). So, even though these were not the primary objectives of the redesign, Flâneurs still benefited minimally from my skills in these areas.
An example of accessibility: if using a mouse is difficult for you, navigating the site is totally possible using just a keyboard. And in terms of eco-design, we have, among other things, reduced the weight of the site's pages by three.
The future of flaneurs.net
This redesign marks a new beginning for the site. In the coming days, you will see some categories, brand pages, and product pages enhanced with new filters and content, all aimed at improving your navigation experience during your visit to the online store.
And this future is also written with you! We welcome your feedback at this address: nouveau-site-2023@flaneurs.net.
In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new site as much as we do!