The Problem: FYSB grantees struggled to find the resources they needed on The Exchange. Through years of beneficial but unguided development, the site had become a sprawling hub of competing priorities, with the navigation no longer able to support what the platform had become.
The Strategy: Rebuilt the information architecture from the ground up using card sorting, and user flow analysis, then validated the new structure through moderated usability testing before launch.
Results: Resource downloads up 54% (19.5 → 36 daily average) and return users up 30% (317 → 412) over six months — evidence that people were finding what they came for and coming back.
Overview
The Exchange serves as a resource hub providing HHS grant updates, technical support, and multimedia learning resources for recipients of Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) or Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grants.
I was brought in halfway through the FY26 grant year to take over management of the platforms and address the issues the client had identified as areas of improvement.
The 54% increase in resources being downloaded by grantees was due to my Information architecture work, user testing initiative, and the overall site redesign I led.
Role: Platform Lead / UX & Product Lead
Team: Led 7-person cross-functional team (Developers, Security, PM, UX/UI)
Metrics: Return users up 30% (317 → 412) in 6 months | Resource downloads up 54% (19.5 → 36 daily avg)
Technical Context: Federal website under ATO (Authority to Operate); Drupal Core with custom modules attached to a Moodle learning system.
The Challenge
When I came into the role, The Exchange website was suffering from years of beneficial but unguided development. This was most obvious in the information architecture of the site. The homepage lacked clear user flows, the navigation used confusing terminology, and the client had noted that users were not engaging with the learning resources as frequently as intended. One additional factor was that many grant recipients’ organizations had high turnover, creating a constant influx of new users navigating the site for the first time.
My Approach & Actions
To address this, I took a three-pronged approach:
- Creating and Enacting a Targeted Research Plan – I designed and executed a research roadmap to diagnose the root causes of the user’s discoverability issues. I recruited participants, conducted interviews with the core audience, and synthesized findings for the design and development teams.
- Evaluating and Refactoring the Information Architecture (IA) -Using findings from the user interviews, I mapped out a new IA and worked with the UI/UX design team to translate them into clean, intuitive navigational wireframes. See the past and future site maps here.
- Pre-Handoff Usability Validation — Before handing wireframes off to the engineering team, I ran validation sessions with end users to confirm the redesigned navigation aligned with how public health professionals actually locate resources in their daily work.
Outcomes
By the end of my tenure, resource downloads had grown from around 19.5 per day to nearly 36 — a 54% increase. Return users grew 30% over the same period (317 → 412), suggesting the redesign was helping drive repeat engagement from the grantees, not just first-time discovery. The client also reported high satisfaction with the outcomes, which is always a plus.