Redesigning the site navigation presented significant challenges from a UX perspective, primarily stemming from organizational practices and misaligned priorities. Below is a detailed breakdown of the challenges faced:

1. Siloed Product Groups and Lack of Goal-Oriented Information Architecture

The business structured individual Product Groups independently, leading to a fragmented approach to the overall information architecture (IA). Without clear, shared goals guiding the IA design, each group developed their sections in isolation, resulting in a disjointed user experience. The lack of a cohesive strategy made it difficult to create a unified navigation structure that reflected the company’s offerings in a logical, user-centric way. This siloed approach also caused overlaps and inconsistencies in the categorization and presentation of information.

2. Use of Internal-Facing Language

Each Product Group was heavily attached to their own internal naming conventions, which were not intuitive or meaningful to end users. This internal-facing language created a significant barrier for users, as the labels and terminologies used in the navigation did not align with how users naturally thought about or searched for products. This challenge highlighted a gap in understanding between internal stakeholders’ language and the users’ mental models.

3. Limited Understanding of User Needs and Perspectives

The navigation design process initially lacked a user-centric approach, with minimal research or empathy for how users would interact with the site. Decisions were often made from an internal perspective, focusing on organizational priorities rather than user workflows. This lack of user insight meant that the navigation structure failed to address key user pain points, such as discoverability, clarity, and ease of navigation.

4. Fragmented Ownership and Inconsistent Navigation Design

Each group owned a portion of the navigation and managed it independently, which led to significant inconsistencies across the site. This included differences in labeling, categorization, and the overall structure of navigation paths. The absence of a centralized ownership model or a set of design guidelines resulted in a navigation system that lacked coherence, making it harder for users to predict and find the information they needed.

These challenges required a balance of strategic collaboration with internal teams and a focus on user needs. Resolving these issues involved not only redesigning the navigation but also fostering a cultural shift toward user-centered thinking. By integrating user research, aligning internal stakeholders, and prioritizing consistency and clarity, the navigation could be transformed into a more intuitive, cohesive, and goal-driven system.

Redesigning and restructuring the global navigation for the site involved several goals that, while seemingly straightforward, became increasingly complex due to the number of stakeholders and the scope of the project. Below is a detailed explanation of the goals and how they were approached from a UX perspective:

1. Managing Complexity Through a Phased Approach

Given the significant scale of the project and the involvement of multiple groups and stakeholders, the first goal was to break the redesign into manageable steps. This phased approach allowed the team to focus on one aspect of the navigation at a time, ensuring that each stage was thoroughly considered, tested, and aligned with both user needs and business objectives. By tackling the redesign incrementally, the project maintained clarity and reduced the risk of overwhelming the team or introducing inconsistencies.

2. Increase Real Estate with Mega Navigation

One of the primary goals was to increase usable screen real estate by implementing a mega navigation. A mega menu allows for a broad and shallow structure, providing users with a clear, at-a-glance overview of available categories and subcategories. This design approach reduces the need for excessive scrolling or deep navigation paths, improving usability and efficiency. The challenge here was organizing a large volume of information in a way that was intuitive and prevented cognitive overload for users.

3. Simplify Tiers and Layers in the Structure

The original navigation had multiple tiers, often requiring users to click through three to four levels before reaching their desired information. The goal was to simplify this by reducing the number of layers, consolidating redundant categories, and streamlining the paths users needed to take. A flatter hierarchy improves accessibility and allows users to find what they need more quickly. This required extensive user research to understand how users navigated the site and the most logical ways to group and present information.

4. Simplify Descriptions

The original navigation relied heavily on long and overly detailed descriptions, which overwhelmed users and made scanning difficult. Simplifying descriptions meant rewriting labels and content to be concise, user-friendly, and actionable. This effort aimed to align with best practices for web content, ensuring clarity and readability while maintaining essential context. The challenge was striking a balance between brevity and providing enough information to guide users effectively.

5. Redo Information Architecture for Products

The information architecture for the Products section required a complete overhaul. The original structure mixed products and solutions, creating confusion for users trying to locate specific items. The goal was to create a dedicated product taxonomy that logically categorized products based on user mental models and search behaviors. This redesign focused on ensuring discoverability and clarity while aligning with business goals and the company’s updated messaging strategy.

6. Redo Information Architecture for Solutions

Similarly, the Solutions section needed a distinct and user-friendly IA. This required separating it from the product offerings and organizing it in a way that reflected how users approached solution-based queries. For instance, solutions could be grouped by industry, business challenges, or use cases, depending on what resonated most with target audiences. The challenge here was ensuring that the solutions structure complemented the product navigation while avoiding redundancy or confusion.

The overarching goal of the global navigation redesign was to create a user-centric, scalable, and intuitive navigation system that balanced the needs of users and stakeholders. By increasing real estate, simplifying the structure, improving content clarity, and rethinking the information architecture for both products and solutions, the redesigned navigation aimed to deliver a seamless experience that enhanced usability and supported business objectives. Each step required collaboration, user testing, and iterative design to ensure the final solution met the needs of a diverse user base while addressing the complexity of the organization.