If there’s one place where composable design truly earns its keep, it’s eCommerce.
In eCommerce, things move fast. Products change, promotions shift and entire categories get restructured overnight.
And yet, through all that, your UI needs to stay solid. Familiar. Easy to use. That balance between consistency and adaptability is tough to nail!
That’s exactly where composable design makes all the difference.
We saw this up close while working with KÜHL, an outdoor apparel brand with a growing digital presence.
From the start, we knew we couldn’t just design a nice-looking store.
We had to build a system that could scale — one that would stay functional, clean and brand-aligned no matter what they added or changed later.
“When we built KÜHL's design system, we had a composable design in mind from the start. First, we set up core design variants—things like colors, spacing, and typography—that we could apply consistently across the entire project.
From there, we applied these styles and variants to all components. Some components are even made up of smaller ones—like buttons, input fields, and other elements—each with their variations for different modes, states, and breakpoints.” Lucia Aznares, UX UI Designer @ Capicua.
What Composable Design Really Looks Like in eCommerce
This kind of modular thinking completely changed how we approached the project.
Instead of designing screen by screen, we focused on building reusable pieces that could adapt to any context.
Need a new promo banner? A product tile with a new label? A category page in a different layout? No problem. The system already knows how to handle it.
“Working this way has made a huge difference. The design is more consistent, updates are easier, and it’s saved us a ton of time. Plus, communication with developers has been smoother, making their job easier and reducing mistakes.” Lucia Aznares, UX UI Designer @ Capicua
And that’s the part I always come back to: composable design isn’t just for designers. It helps the entire product team move faster and with more confidence.
Devs don’t have to second-guess visual decisions. Product managers can launch things without waiting on redesigns.
Designers can focus on solving real UX problems instead of reinventing components.
In eCommerce, where speed and scale are everything, composable design gives you the best of both worlds: a strong visual foundation and the flexibility to grow without losing your way.
And as someone who’s seen plenty of platforms collapse under their complexity, I can tell you — that’s no small thing!
