UI/UX design of an engaging Story Slider Navigation app for Shopify Stores

About MO

MO is a Shopify app that lets merchants turn their store menu into familiar “Stories”-style sliders.

Challenge

MO’s founders came to Merge with a request to create a minimalist, utilitarian interface that adapts to any Shopify store and is easy to configure for non-technical merchants. The design had to balance neutrality with flexibility to not compete with the store’s own branding but rather complement it. Another goal was to make an onboarding that removes the need for a developer when setting up navigation.

What Merge delivered

For this project, our team conducted a UX audit of navigation apps and then designed a minimalist, responsive component system (following Shopify Polaris) that easily blends with any storefront. We created a simple, no-code setup with real-time preview and provided a ready-to-use Figma file with all the necessary details. We also offered Design QA support to ensure accurate implementation. The BaseXTech team handled further development.

Tech stack

Figma, Lottie

Simplicity and customization

A key design challenge was striking the right balance between simplicity and the need for customization. The MO Story Slider app was meant to empower Shopify merchants who aren't technically savvy. We focused heavily on creating an onboarding process and configuration interface that felt intuitive from the start. We wanted to make sure merchants could successfully install, customize, and launch the feature on their own.

An adaptable UI

The client requested a design that could seamlessly integrate into any Shopify store, regardless of its existing theme or branding. This presented the challenge of creating an interface that was visually neutral yet appealing. We chose a minimalist aesthetic, and the design system allowed for the customization of key elements within the app's settings, enabling merchants to match the slider to their brand identity. However, we kept the core UI clean and utilitarian, so it wouldn't clash with the merchant's backend experience or feel overly branded by MO.

Stores reported conversion lifts from 0.64% to 1.61% and 1.60% to 2.23%

Within the first month post-launch, stores reported conversion lifts from 0.64% to 1.61% and 1.60% to 2.23%, thanks to clearer product discovery and improved mobile engagement.

The design also lowered the support load. The average setup time dropped below three minutes, and early churn fell below 2%.

Outcome

Our Merge team designed a solution that Shopify merchants could easily install, configure, and manage themselves. For that, we delivered a lightweight, brand-agnostic UX that turns complex navigation setup into an easy, four-step, code-free experience. Merchants now guide shoppers to bestsellers with tappable story sliders that feel native on mobile and desktop. We have also designed other components for the client’s Shopify store offerings that will soon be released.

Special thanks to Morpheus Media for trusting us with the design and to BaseXTech for continuing and handling the development.