Designing a Scalable B2B Website System at Morningstar
Led the end-to-end restructuring of a complex B2B site, including its product taxonomy, navigation, and page architecture.
THE PROBLEM
Morningstar’s B2B website had grown in pieces over time:
Each business unit (BU) owned its product pages
As a result, the information architecture was very shallow
Offerings were difficult to understand and unorganized
Navigation didn’t reflect how customers think about solutions
Each new page required custom design, slowing down teams
Success was hard to measure because it was never set or designed for
Result:
Users struggled to find relevant content
Internal teams lacked a shared system to build from
My Role
I owned the following work:
Reorganize information architecture
Create wireframes
Turn wireframes into prototypes for design and development
Document content strategy, page goals, user journeys, etc.
NEW SOLUTIONS LOADING
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WHAT I DID
Made sense of complex offerings
1
Defined a new product taxonomy to organize Morningstar’s offerings
Implemented object-oriented design
Highlighted relationships between entities for dynamic content population and instant cross-linking strategies
Balanced internal business structure with user mental models
Created a foundation for consistent vocabulary across the site
Built A scalable page system
2
Shifted the team from one-off pages to repeatable patterns
Designed a library of reusable page types, including:
Product pages
Add-on pages (aka offerings that require the prerequisite purchase of a parent product)
Solution pages (aka a group of offerings anchored by a related use case)
Capability pages
Index/hubs pages
Content detail pages (I.e. blog post, research paper, etc.)
Client success stories
Segment pages
Redesigned navigation for clarity
3
Translated the taxonomy into a clear, scalable navigation system
Prioritized high-intent user paths and key entry points
Reduced ambiguity in how users explore offerings
Introduced breadcrumbs to reinforce wayfinding
Organized a fragmented content into a holistic information architecture
4
Consolidated content owned by distinct BUs into a clear, unified IA
Established parallel top-level structures for:
Offerings
Insights (thought leadership)
Capabilities
Segments
Events
THE IMPACT
Created a shared foundation for how Morningstar presents its offerings
Reduced ambiguity in navigation and content structure
Enabled faster page creation through reusable templates
Helped stakeholders align around a single system vs. fragmented decisions
Enabled dynamic content population via taxonomy relationships
Users can navigate both solutions and content through a predictable system
Final thoughts
This project was as much about navigating complexity as it was about designing systems. I worked across teams with differing perspectives, evolving priorities, and limited analytics early on—requiring strong alignment, clear communication, and thoughtful decision-making.
This experience strengthened my ability to build stakeholder trust, navigate ambiguity, and lead through complexity—skills that are just as critical as the design work itself.