Intranet IA and governance for a global retailer
Sector: Retail · Scale: ~45,000 employees, multiple markets worldwide · Services: Discovery, IA, usability testing, governance, content-owner enablement
Brief
A large worldwide retail business needed a new corporate intranet with strong information architecture, governance, branding, and templates that decentralised content owners and publishers could roll out across markets.
They brought us in to run research and discovery, IA planning, card sorting, navigation design, tree testing, and usability testing with interactive prototypes of the site and templates - then to brief technical teams and content owners so those assets could be followed out across the organisation.
Challenge
Highly decentralised content owners and publishers across multiple markets
IA had to work at global scale and remain governable as the intranet grew
Branding and templates needed to roll out without losing consistency
Content owners needed ongoing guidance and training - not a one-off handover
Approach
Discovery and research
Research and discovery with stakeholders across markets to understand how people find and publish content, and what the new intranet had to support.
Information architecture and testing
Card sorting, navigation design, and tree testing to shape the IA. Usability testing sessions with interactive prototypes of the site and templates before rollout.
Governance and enablement
Briefed technical teams and content owners to follow branding, templates, and structure across the business. Defined governance rules, policies, and guidance - plus a content owners help centre and regular drop-in training sessions.
Impact
IA and templates ready for multi-market rollout by decentralised publishers
Governance rules and policies that help maintain consistency over time
Content owners help centre with guidance for day-to-day publishing
Regular drop-in training so people stay aligned as the intranet evolves
FAQ
Did you build the intranet or only the IA?
We ran discovery, research, and information architecture - including card sorting, tree testing, and usability testing on interactive prototypes - then briefed technical teams and content owners to roll out branding, templates, and structure across the business.
How do you support decentralised publishers?
Through clear IA, branded templates, governance rules and policies, a content owners help centre, and regular drop-in training so markets stay consistent without centralising every update.
Is this only for retail?
No. The same discovery and IA methods apply wherever large, multi-market organisations need a governed intranet. See Discovery & IA.
Related: Discovery & IA · Our work
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