Bonhams

Turning Organic Traffic into Actionable Engagement

Overview

I was hired by Bonhams to cover the maternity leave of the Senior UX/UI Designer for 6 months.

During this time I worked as the sole UX/UI designer within the Technology team and took on a wide range of projects, from undertaking minor updates to existing designs, to engaging with and resolving new challenges that arose through the evolving needs of the company and continual adjustment of the website, mobile app and other digital platforms used by staff.

Bonhams operates in a highly competitive international auction house market with multiple branches globally and serves high net worth individuals.

Problem

Google Analytics revealed that thousands of users were landing on sold lot pages via organic search every month. However, these pages were dead ends:

Items were no longer available.
Very few users clicked through to upcoming lots listed at the bottom.
As a result, high-intent traffic was being wasted.

Goal

Transform sold lot pages from a dead end into an engagement and conversion opportunity by:

Increasing interaction with upcoming lots.
Encouraging registrations and bids.
Raising visibility of consignments.

My Role

As the sole designer on this project, I conducted competitor and market analysis, synthesised insights and collaborated closely with stakeholders including web analysts and business analysts. I created wireframes and mockups, and presented my solutions to stakeholders and developers to ensure alignment with business goals, technical feasibility, and brand tone.

Before & After

Before: Sold lot pages acted as dead ends. Users landed via Google, saw an item already sold, and had no clear way forward.

After: Pages became entry points, with a carousel of upcoming lots, a clear “Lot Sold” banner, and a consignment card integrated for visibility.

Process

Research & Insights

Analytics showed users searched for generic items (e.g. “sapphire ring”) rather than specific lots.
Older sold lot pages ranked highly in search engines, funnelling traffic to unavailable items.
In retail, out-of-stock products often suggest alternatives — an idea we could adapt for Bonhams.

Bonhams sold lot result: User lands on old auction page

2. Competitor Analysis

Benchmarked retail recovery patterns (M&S, luxury retail) and auction competitors.
Identified patterns that worked: related items surfaced early, transparent labelling of sold status, subtle prompts to continue exploring.

M&S example showing how suggested items are displayed when stock is unavailable

3. Design Solutions

Added a carousel above the fold with related upcoming lots.
Introduced a “Lot Sold” banner with a jump link to the original details, ensuring transparency.
Preserved sold lot content below for clients interested in provenance.

Solution design: enhancing sold lot pages to promote upcoming lots and consignments

Iteration & Challenges

Consignment visibility: Stakeholders wanted to push consignments more strongly. The original section was buried too low, so I reworked the carousel to include a consignment card styled consistently with lot cards. This aligned with the brand’s understated tone while giving the CTA real visibility.
Constraints: We worked within the CMS and sprint cycles. The focus was on layout and hierarchy changes that created impact without introducing new components or affecting performance.

Impact

The redesign is live and delivering strong results:

↑ Click-through rates to upcoming lots increased significantly via the new carousel.
↑ Registrations and bidding activity rose as more users moved from sold lots into live sales.
↑ Consignment leads also increased thanks to the elevated carousel card.

By turning a high-traffic dead end into an entry point, the project is now contributing directly to revenue and engagement.

Before: Users arrived via Google on sold lot pages, but with no onward path most exited immediately.

After: The redesigned page offers clear onward routes: related upcoming lots, consignment prompts, and full lot details

Conclusion

This project showed how small, evidence-based interventions can transform a dead end into a growth channel. By blending data insights, competitor inspiration and stakeholder priorities, we created a respectful, brand-aligned design that unlocks measurable business value.

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Small, brand-sensitive interventions can unlock major business value.

Other key experience...

During my tenure at Bonhams, I worked on multiple other projects, including:

Leading a redesign of the Homepage, Department Page, and Auction Calendar Page with a refreshed layout to better highlight recommended auctions, improve engagement, and increase conversion rates. I presented the designs to senior stakeholders, who responded positively.
Redesigning a Sales Dashboard for the data analysis team to support internal decision-making.
Continuing work on several long-term projects that began before my tenure, including design development for an in-house bidding engine, a registration engine, a new mobile app and a value management system.

In development sprints I have worked closely with front-end developers to fix errors or fill in missing design elements. My responsibility was also to uphold the existing design principles and to create new screens that stayed consistent with the current design system.

Overall Experience

Working at Bonhams has been a highly valuable experience, through which I have:

Developed a nuanced understanding of the auction industry and serving high net-worth individuals and stakeholders.
Collaborated closely with back-end and front-end developers, business and data analysts, alongside marketing, sales and IT security teams in a fast-paced environment where quality and attention to detail is prioritised.

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