A Digital Home for Historical Headwear
client: Dirty Billy’s Hats
role: Project Manager, UX, UI, Design
timeline: 9 months
Background
In 2020, with small businesses struggling due to the global health crisis, Dirty Billy’s Hats, a Gettysburg-based haberdashery known for its historical and modern headwear, sought to expand its digital presence to maintain revenue.
Discovery
The existing website was outdated, merely directing customers to a social media page for inventory checks and providing a phone number for orders. I spent a day at the store to better understand their operational needs. Fran, managing modern hats, wanted an easy way to update inventory online and handle promotions, while Bill, the craftsman behind historical hats, aimed to educate customers on the accuracy of his creations rather than simplifying online sales.
Definition
The project’s objectives included establishing Dirty Billy’s as a premier online retailer for historical headwear, showcasing all inventory, streamlining the purchase of modern hats, educating on historical accuracy, managing customer expectations through clear communication, and integrating with their POS system for a seamless shopping experience across devices.
Design
After selecting Netzoptimize for development due to budget and maintenance suitability, we collaborated using Basecamp and Zoom. I designed wireframes for desktop, mobile, and tablet. Having familiarized myself with the websites of modern retailers such as Stetson and REI, I tried to anticipate the needs of a customer on a particular page. This included showing related products and a link to submit a custom order request at the bottom of a product page, creating hub pages for the primary services offered by DBH and linking them in the navigation, and creating category pages so that customers could quickly glance through the inventory available for purchase on the site.
After completing the page wireframes, I put together a series of moodboards to be reviewed and chosen from by the owners.
Ultimately they chose a rustic, hand-crafted style that played homage to the historical nature of their hats and their storefront in Gettysburg.
I set to work on building a design system and hi-fidelity prototypes – and, for good measure, I also gave their logo a facelift.
Takeaways
Through this project, I deepened my understanding of client-specific needs, particularly Bill’s emphasis on historical accuracy. Communication with developers improved with visual references and clear objectives, though I learned about the limitations of design software in handling multi-device responsive designs and large files. This project not only helped Dirty Billy’s Hats adapt to an online model but also underscored the importance of aligning digital solutions with a business’s unique selling proposition.
© 2025 Ariel Parzynski Design