Asset & Wealth Management
Client
American Century Investment
Scope
Information Architecture, Global Navigation, UX/UI Design
Role
Information Architecture · Behavioral Research · Persona Segmentation
Simplifying complex information architecture for four distinct user personas without cognitive overload.
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Challenge
How do you organize complex financial content for four entirely different user personas into a single, cohesive navigation framework without causing cognitive overload? At American Century Investments, delivering a seamless user experience across highly diverse audiences including Financial Advisors, Individual Investors, Investors with Outside Advisors, and Institutional Clients is a top priority. However, the legacy global navigation system created immense friction, making it difficult for users to locate relevant content efficiently. As the Lead Product Designer, I spearheaded the initiative to completely reimagine the navigation experience, crafting a user-centered solution that simplifies access and supports intuitive exploration.

Strategy
Map out distinct user paths for each of our four target personas. Rather than creating four separate websites, we designed a dynamic, segment-aware utility header that allowed users to self-identify their persona, instantly filtering and prioritizing the navigation links most relevant to their specific goals. We ran remote card-sorting exercises with active users to see where they intuitively grouped key financial topics like mutual funds, market insights, and account management tools. Before laying down a single pixel of UI, we ran tree tests to measure the findability of critical tasks within our proposed navigation hierarchy. Users struggled most with deep nesting. We discovered that flattening the menu hierarchy and utilizing mega-menus with clear categorization reduced user search time significantly.

Result
The final design is a responsive, highly accessible global navigation system that scales effortlessly across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. User Testing Results 42% Task Completion Increase 23% Time On Task Decrease 11% Increased user satisfaction scores Measuring the Impact -32% Drop in User Drop Off +48% Increase in Content Discoverability 100% WCAG AA Compliance



