Overview
I worked on the redesign of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) intranet—an internal platform used daily by 75,000+ employees across multiple agencies, roles, and working environments.
The project supported MTA's transition to a new intranet platform, with goals to:
- Improve information discoverability
- Establish a consistent, scalable navigation system
- Align the intranet with updated MTA branding
The redesigned navigation and homepage launched in Spring 2023 and are now used company-wide.
Role & Scope
I contributed across user research, information architecture, navigation design, homepage redesign, and module prioritization — collaborating with product and engineering to balance usability with delivery constraints.
Problem Space
Information everywhere—and nowhere.
The existing intranet had been in use for over 20 years. Information was outdated, duplicated, or deeply buried; navigation patterns varied across agencies; and visual design no longer reflected current MTA branding. Employees often couldn't find essential resources — or didn't know they existed.
Research & Key Insights
To understand user needs, we conducted 20+ interviews with employees across different age groups and roles from multiple agencies. The goal was to learn how the intranet fits into their daily work and what they expect from the new version.
1. Information Everywhere and Nowhere
“You know what? It is today when I was talking to you I first realized there was this whole benefits section for the employees.”
MTA's intranet contained so much information that employees got disoriented. Useful resources were hidden, and many never realized they existed. The new intranet should make information and resources more discoverable and accessible.
2. Varied Homepage Information Preferences
User 1: “I would say most of the stuff I really did not ever pay attention to. I mean, the only reason for me to use the site is to get my job done.”
User 2: “The homepage has stayed the same forever. I would definitely want to know more about the most recent corporate news to get more involved.”
Users diverged in how they used the intranet. "Minimalistic" users only clicked what they needed for work—common among field employees rarely at a computer. Others checked daily for updates and wanted to stay engaged with the company.
The homepage redesign needed to enhance work productivity for every employee while also cultivating a sense of corporate culture and pride.
Key Design Decisions
Standardizing information architecture across agencies
To reduce fragmentation and improve predictability, we redesigned the intranet's information architecture:
- Reduced top-level navigation categories from 7 to 5
- Established shared naming conventions and hierarchy
- Prioritized frequently used resources based on research
This created a structure employees could rely on regardless of agency.
├─ Agencies │ ├─ MTA HQ, NYCT, LIRR... ├─ Construction Development └─ Departments ├─ Corporate Compliance...
├─ Benefits │ ├─ Organizations & Events... ├─ Career & Development │ ├─ Career Opportunities... └─ Employee Resource Groups ├─ Multi-Culture, Veterans...
├─ Productivity │ ├─ Kronos Forms, Slack... ├─ IT │ ├─ UPN Lookup, ServiceNow... └─ Workplace ├─ Building Engines...
├─ All-Agencies Policies │ ├─ Telework, IT Policies... └─ Code of Ethics ├─ Harassment Policy...
├─ Emergency Contacts ├─ Safety Training ├─ Incident Reporting └─ Security Guidelines
Selecting a navigation model that scales
We explored three navigation approaches that could support large content volumes while improving discoverability.
Option 1: Horizontal Global & Vertical Local Navigation
Strengths
- The list of sections under each category is always visible
- Nested tree sidebar that could potentially accommodate 3rd level content
Tradeoffs
- Extra space needed for the sidebar navigation
- Extra clicks to open each section and page with accordion expand/collapse
Option 2: Mega Menu Navigation
Strengths
- No clicks needed to view both 1st & 2nd level information
- Clear information hierarchy through typography and layout choices
Tradeoffs
- Hover-to-show may lead to inaccuracies for users relying on a mouse
- The visual presentation may become overwhelming when there are numerous sections and pages under each main category
Option 3: Horizontal Global & Local Navigation
Strengths
- Stacked horizontal navigation which minimizes eye & mouse movement
- Users are accustomed to the dropdown pattern, as it was implemented in the original intranet
Tradeoffs
- Hover-to-show may lead to inaccuracies for users relying on a mouse (more precision needs compared to the mega menu option)
- Extra clicks to get to each section and page
Designing a homepage for different user needs
Rather than aggressive personalization, we designed a modular homepage that balanced:
- Task-driven access
- Agency-specific updates
- Company-wide communication
This allowed flexibility while maintaining consistency and clarity.
Rescoping & Delivery
With limited engineering capacity and a fixed launch timeline, not all concepts could be implemented.
We used an impact–effort matrix to prioritize modules that delivered high user value while remaining feasible to ship.
The final homepage addressed three layers of employee needs: company-wide content (Top Stories, a new Keep Track module for employee recognition), agency-specific information (Updates & Events), and individual resources (customizable Quick Links). Scoping to these four modules kept the launch realistic while covering the breadth we'd identified in research.
Outcome
- New intranet navigation and homepage launched Spring 2023
- Adopted across all MTA agencies
- Improved consistency and information discoverability across the platform
Reflection
With 75,000 users across wildly different roles and environments, structural clarity mattered more than surface polish — and consistency became a form of usability at scale. The most useful skill I built here was advocating for less visible user groups, like field employees whose needs are easy to overlook in office-centric systems.