Product Design
Rebuilding an Internal Intranet Post-MVP
Redesigned a global organization’s internal intranet beyond MVP by restructuring content hierarchy, validating decisions through user research, and improving engagement for distributed teams.
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May 2024
Compassion International

5 min
Yes

Information Architecture
UX Research
Content Strategy
Overview
Context
Compassion International’s intranet served as a primary internal communication hub for staff across regions. While the platform had launched as an MVP, teams struggled with content discoverability, inconsistent hierarchy, and limited engagement.
My Role
I worked as a Visual Designer and UX Researcher, leading research efforts and design improvements in close collaboration with internal stakeholders.
Tools

Figma

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop
The Challenge
Although the intranet was live, it had not scaled well with growing organizational needs. Key challenges included:
Unclear homepage hierarchy and content prioritization
Inconsistent navigation patterns across sections
Limited insight into how different teams actually used the platform
The goal was to improve usability and engagement without disrupting an already-live internal system.


Research & Design Approach
I grounded design decisions in qualitative research to move beyond assumptions.
Designed and distributed questionnaires to internal users
Conducted 10 user interviews across roles and regions
Synthesized findings using card sorting to uncover shared pain points and mental models
Insights from research directly informed homepage restructuring, navigation updates, and content grouping—ensuring the intranet reflected how teams actually searched for information.

Information Architecture & Visual Updates
Based on research findings, I:
Reorganized homepage layout to surface high-priority content
Refined content hierarchy to reduce scanning friction
Updated visual styling and branding to improve clarity and cohesion
I also created supporting email templates, banners, and internal graphics to reinforce adoption and guide users to key intranet resources.

Impact
Improved clarity and usability of the intranet homepage
Increased internal usage following redesign
Email and visual assets contributed to a 3% increase in click-through rates
Provided stakeholders with a clearer framework for future intranet updates

Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of treating internal tools with the same rigor as customer-facing products. Designing post-MVP required balancing existing constraints with research-backed improvements, while advocating for clarity, structure, and long-term usability across a diverse user base.
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