York University, Calumet & Stong Colleges (CCSC)

Unified Navigation: Redesigning Information Architecture

UX/UI Design

Web Design

Information Architecture

Timeline

4 Weeks, 2025

MY ROLE

UX/UI Designer

team

Coordinators, Communication Marketing Assistants

Overview

Calumet & Stong Colleges Website

The original website was divided across three separate websites, forcing students to navigate inconsistent menus. By consolidating these into a single, unified navigation system, the project removed technical friction and improved content discoverability for all student success resources.

The Goal

The goal is to simplify the user journey and create a predictable experience. In the existing setup, the navigation layout changes completely when moving between college pages, creating significant cognitive load and user confusion.

Research & Analysis

Key Findings

01

Lack of Guidance, Leads to Risk

1/2 of Canadians report difficulty understanding or using nutrition labels effectively (Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research, 2018).

02

Food Choices Are Uncertain

25–35% of Canadians order takeout or delivery on a weekly basis, although rising food costs (Statista, 2023-2025).

03

Apps Aren’t Truly Personalized

AI-based systems show strong potential to help prevent allergic reactions and can scale into user-friendly solutions across different environments (Rodriguez-Alonso et al., 2025).

04

Market are breaking in specific usages like calories, recipes, allergies.

Finding the Friction

Research

User interviews revealed that the primary pain point was a lack of consistency.

01

Consistency Standards

A site audit revealed that clicking the primary link loads a completely different menu, causing the user to get lost.

02

Visual Clutter

The existing navigation was too cluttered, overwhelming students who were looking for specific "Student Success Programs" or "Events".

Unified IA Hierarchy

Solution Sketch

One website = One navigation

Before

3 separate websites, Multiple navigation systems, Inconsistent user experience.

After

1 unified CCSC website, 1 consistent navigation system, Cleaner and more intuitive structure.

Final Solution

Simplified Student Experience

01

Consolidated Navigation

All resources from the three previous domains are now managed under one persistent menu, ensuring a single source of truth.

02

Prioritized Discoverability

Audited and restructured links to prioritize high-value content like student success programs and events, making them scannable at a glance.

Information Architecture Process

01

Audit

Identified and removed redundant links that contributed to visual overload.

02

Categorization

Grouped program-specific data into logical buckets (Support, Get Involved, Events) to ensure the system is easy to learn for new students.

03

Mapping

Defined a clear "parent-child" relationship between CCSC and the individual colleges to maintain a cohesive brand and functional identity.

Outcome

Key results

Simplified navigation menu
Consistent experience across all pages
Reduced number of pages
Removed outdated content
Improved user flow between pages