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Zoopla

Information architecture overhaul and UI redesign

Zoopla sought to scale sustainably after diversifying its offerings and being acquired by Silver Lake. PA Consulting were brought in to enhance their B2C propositions, leading to the formation of three teams. As part of the IA team, my focus was on auditing and improving their core web experience.

Challenge

Myself and the Product Manager conducted an audit of the current state, uncovering issues like a bloated navigation, fragmented value proposition and neglected UI/tech stack in high-value areas.

Interviews with teams across the company indicated that these problems were symptoms of broader challenges at Zoopla (primarily a result of siloing teams and competition between them).

Information architecture

Following user and staff interviews, I performed a schema redesign to align it with user intent. This was validated using card sorting and tree testing, resulting in a leaner, user-centred navigation which outperformed the original during testing.

Myself and the Product Manager took this on a roadshow across the company, to get buy-in and open a dialogue around IA.

User interface design

The redesign started with an Optimizely deep-dive to inform what was in need of change. This included all of Zoopla’s high-value and high-profile pages, including the home page, Buy, Sell and House prices.

I teamed up with a content designer and SEO for wireframing. After testing, I crafted high-fidelity interfaces and worked with the design system team to publish new components.

Impact

  • Drop-off rates on updated flows decreased by 22% and vendor leads increased by 16%, directly contributing to business growth

  • Zoopla's SEO enhancements outperformed the market leader by a margin of 5:1, resulting in smallest ever difference in ranking

  • The influence of our IA team extended beyond the web platform, and we collaborated with the mobile team to ensure a seamless cross-device experience

  • All of this enabled our team to became the go-to resource for enacting change at Zoopla, who extended PA’s engagement for an additional 4 months. We provided support for the product marketing, ‘My Home’ and ‘Sell’ teams