Reimagining the Intranet

Client:

Regional Financial & Housing Institution

Role:

Lead Product Manager

The Challenge

The company’s intranet was a mess—outdated content, fragmented tools, poor UX, and minimal engagement. Critical information was buried. Employees were frustrated. Departments operated in silos, and no one owned the content lifecycle.

Leadership needed more than a redesign—they needed a strategic overhaul to reconnect employees to tools, knowledge, and each other.

The Approach

Using the North Star Alignment Model, I led a 3-phase engagement to uncover real user needs and translate them into clear, business-aligned priorities. We worked closely with the Director of IT and department heads to break through silos and build ownership.

The Solution

We built a modern SharePoint intranet integrated with Microsoft Viva, Power Platform, Workday, and the company’s learning system. It became a centralized, personalized employee hub with access to:

Mentoring & reviews
Benefits & training
Tools & communications
Career development

All connected by a seamless experience and scalable design system.

The Outcome

+82% increase in engagement in first 90 days
80%+ found what they needed within 3 clicks
Streamlined and reduced duplicate content
Introduced stronger content governance via RACI workflows
Faster onboarding with centralized learning tools

The North Star Model worked because it:

Grounded decisions in user insight
Balanced design with business goals
Brought IT, HR, and Comms into alignment
Enabled faster implementation with fewer rework cycles

Client Quote

“Before this project, our intranet felt like a junk drawer—cluttered, forgotten, and frustrating. Now, it feels like a true home base. I’ve had team members tell me it’s the first time they’ve actually felt connected to the organization. It’s more than a redesign—it changed the way people feel about coming to work.”

—

Michelle T., Director of IT and Digital Transformation

Reflection

This project reinforced how much cross-functional alignment matters. The tools alone couldn’t fix the experience—it was the collaboration and shared purpose that brought the design to life.