INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
SPRING 2020

Redesigning the Information Architecture of LinkedIn

An improved information architecture to help restructure the LinkedIn Premium for better content discoverability and to improve the user interaction with LinkedIn Premium features.

Intent:
Interaction Design and Information Architecture coursework

Role:
Information Architect

Tools:
Figma, Sketch, Optimal Sort

Duration:
10 weeks

I chose LinkedIn because of my personal experience of using LinkedIn Premium for Job Seekers. Most of the exclusive premium features were spread across various tasks that a user could perform on the platform. I found that there wasn’t a clear differentiation between regular tasks and premium offerings, except for a golden color small callout of a premium feature, which was easy to miss. Navigating to various premium features was challenging and even worse, the help section was deeply rooted and almost hidden.

Weak information architecture (IA) with inconsistencies in navigation patterns

The existing navigation patterns and hidden menus of Premium content & features make LinkedIn's Premium for Job Seekers an unpleasant experience for the premium members.

THE PROBLEM
THE OPPORTUNITY

How may we help LinkedIn Premium for Job Seekers users find content easily and help them use all the premium features?

To validate my assumptions, I decided to quickly reach out to a few other users to get their views.

Their views resonated with mine. Some of their comments were:

“There are too many options and some of them aren't placed where I did expect them to be”
“I honestly am not aware of all the features available. I know I can see insights about jobs I apply to - that’s about it, as well as InMail.”
“I'm probably not aware of all of them but I believe it's hard to find information on LinkedIn as it stands. I feel as if LinkedIn overwhelms the user with very granular options”
THE SOLUTION

A redesigned Information architecture (IA)

The existing navigation patterns and hidden menus of Premium content & features make LinkedIn's Premium for Job Seekers an unpleasant experience for the premium members.

A new sitemap

INTRODUCING NEW TASK FLOWS

A new way to navigate to the core premium features

Task 1

View the job insights of any job of your choice to which you are among the top 10% of the applicants

Steps–

  1. Form the Homepage, the user clicks on Jobs on the bottom navigation to navigate to Jobs section
  2. The redesigned Job navigation page with clear differentiation between Premium features and regular features
  3. Clear tiles showcasing the Top Jobs sections. The user then clicks on the Top 10% Jobs tile to navigate to Premium Jobs listing the top jobs
  4. The user can also click on All Jobs to access all the jobs. This is a non-premium list of jobs
  5. Top 10% jobs list is showcased in a cards format with a horizontal navigation on the top of the page for navigation to Top 25% jobs, Top 50% jobs, and more
  6. The user then clicks on View job insights of a job to view more details and insights of that job. This is a Premium feature

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Task 2

Create your resume using the resume builder tool

Steps–

  1. Form top left corner of the homepage, the user clicks the Profile Icon to access the menu
  2. The user then clicks Resume builder from the navigation
  3. The user then clicks on New Resume to build the resume
  4. This is the create resume page with various sections
  5. The user clicks on the edit icon to edit various sections
  6. The user can access the help section of Premium Access directly from the profile menu
  7. How to use moved is now further up in the navigation
THE PROCESS

The process started with getting quick user feedback through user interviews. Then, I made a content inventory of the existing LinkedIn site to understand the information hierarchy of the website. I figured the content placement and grouping and identified the content that is deeply rooted.
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Next, I conducted hybrid card sorting exercises using Optimal Sort. Then I created a new sitemap and shortlisted 2 core tasks to test. I conducted tree testing to validate navigation and ended with the Chalkmark test (first click test) to evaluate the discoverability of the new sitemap and IA. Finally, I created new navigation flows for the two tasks.