IA & Bilingual Strategy for a National Science Organization
Case Study
Information Architecture & Website Strategy
Services
🧭 Information Architecture
🌳 Tree Testing & Card Sorting
🌐 Bilingual (EN/FR) Content Strategy
♿ Accessibility Review
📐 Wireframing
Note: This case study is anonymous. Please message me for more information.
Building a site structure that works for the general public, students, and specialists
A national science and mapping organization needed a website that served genuinely different audiences — the general public, students, and technical specialists — without forcing them into a one-size-fits-all structure. I led UX strategy and research to rebuild the information architecture around how each group actually thinks, while building bilingual EN/FR support from day one.
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Project Goal:
Rebuild the information architecture around real audience mental models —
not internal categories — while building full English/French parity into
the structure from the start, not bolting on translation after the fact.
My Approach
Audited the existing site to find where the architecture was breaking down for different audiences
Met directly with each audience segment (general public, students, other target groups) to understand how they thought about and searched for content
Ran tree testing and card sorting to validate how each group naturally grouped and labeled information
Owned wireframe creation, so the research-driven structure carried directly into what users would actually navigate
Built bilingual EN/FR parity into the IA and content structure from day one, rather than retrofitting a second language later
Reviewed accessibility continuously, from the initial audit through final development review, to confirm the build met guidelines before launch
The Result
The redesigned IA shipped, modeled directly on real audience behavior rather
than internal organizational structure, with full bilingual EN/FR parity
built in from the ground up. Accessibility was verified through to final
launch, giving the organization a structure built to serve its full range of
visitors — not just the easiest ones to design for.
“Emerald demonstrated a deep understanding of user experience principles that helped tremendously throughout the project. We highly recommend working with her!”