Information Architecture and Navigation Design

My Role:

UX Designer

My Tools:

Sketch App, Google Analytics

Problem Statement

Our agency client, the Human Resources Certification Institute, wanted to redesign their site navigation in line with a new suite of products they planned to roll out later that year. They also hoped to target new user groups on their site, including military personnel and universities (as organizations).

Process

I examined the information architecture in-depth, and found that the navigation options were duplicative and had multiple dead ends. In order to support my recommended approach, I:

Put together a deck,
Compiled several user personas,
Created a user journey,
Undertook a heuristic review, and
Created a UI-focused competitive analysis.

My Focus: Integrate new products into the site while maintaining ease of long-term content management and consistency.

E-Commerce Mindset: Integrate new audiences into the site content and navigation flows.
Business Goals: Drive certification applications and product purchases by streamlining the overall checkout process based on analytics.

Mockups

I sketched two navigational approaches both of which took into account the larger strategy of simplifying content and clarifying calls to action each step of the way.

Overall:

Smart search for quick results
Sign In/ Apply Now divided and clarified
Clarified product groups

Nav 1 Highlights:

Drop down tells a story - learn/resources to help/recertify/partners

‘Explore’ calls out main navigation
Product division categorized then grouped by level

Nav 2 Highlights:

Nav story laid out for the user right away

Products categorized then organized by region and language

COLLABORATION CHECKPOINT

I worked closely with developers to ensure that my approaches were viable. I created several workable options, ran them by the marketing team and then worked with the client to select one option I would continue to build out.