One navigation, built to serve two entities
CASE STUDY • BDO
Leading discovery, information architecture, and wireframing to modernize BDO USA and BDO Canada's digital experience without duplicating the work.
Partnered with the Project Manager to align scope with projected hours for the UX team, mentored a Junior UX designer through delivery, and collaborated closely with Visual Designers to ensure UX thinking translated seamlessly into final mockups.
CHALLENGE
Modernize the brand
without losing users in it
BDO delivers assurance, tax, and advisory services to clients throughout the country and around the globe. BDO USA and Canada have common goals as a global entity and some uniqueness that needs to be reflected in their new websites.
The team redesigned the entire site to modernize the look according to BDO's brand and propose better navigation and information architecture, while showing the interconnectedness between services, thought leadership, and multiple industries, without overwhelming the user.
CONTRIBUTIONS
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Led UX strategy as Senior UX Designer, presenting directly to BDO USA and BDO Canada stakeholders.
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Competitive analysis, persona workshops, and stakeholder interviews across multiple industries.
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37 responsive wireframes, interactive prototypes, and implementation-ready specifications.
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Caught usability issues before the code was written, through tree testing, first-click testing, and two rounds of moderated usability testing.
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Mentored a junior UX designer and partnered with a visual designer for seamless developer handoff.
APPROACH
Understanding both the business and the user
We began by understanding both the business and user perspectives. Through stakeholder interviews, customer journey workshops, competitive analysis, and information architecture exercises, we identified opportunities to simplify navigation and improve content discoverability.
Discovery & Information Architecture
Working closely with stakeholders across multiple business verticals, we redesigned the site's navigation to better connect services, industries, and thought leadership, then introduced contextual recommendations and tagging strategies to help users discover related content more naturally.
Wireframes & prototyping
Produced more than 37 responsive wireframes, interactive prototypes, and implementation-ready specifications, user flows, and developer handoff documentation.
Parallel design, shared system
BDO USA and BDO Canada were designed in parallel. While both institutions follow the same branding, I need to ensure the navigation and functionality elements are consistent and flexible enough to work for both entities with their own different set of services.
OUTCOMES
What the work made possible
Accountabilities
A unified design system across two complex entities reduced redundant design effort by ~30%, while preserving brand consistency and service-specific flexibility.
Delivered 37 wireframes and dev-ready specs on schedule, while mentoring a junior designer through the full process.
Multi-phase testing (170+ participants total) de-risked the platform redesign, ensuring BDO’s complex services were intuitively navigable while establishing a unified testing framework across Canada/USA operations.
