The Challenge
Invisalign.com serves millions of visitors monthly, but usability testing revealed only 67% of users could complete core tasks like finding a provider or understanding treatment options. The site had grown organically over years, resulting in inconsistent navigation and buried content.
I was tasked with restructuring the entire site while maintaining SEO equity and serving users across 90+ international markets with different regulatory requirements.
"How might we simplify the Invisalign.com experience while serving the diverse needs of patients, parents, and providers across global markets?"
A Site That Outgrew Its Structure
The site had grown from a simple product page to a complex ecosystem serving patients, parents researching for teens, and dental providers, all with different needs and regulatory constraints per market. Years of organic growth created a tangled information architecture where critical content was buried and user paths crossed in confusing ways.
The Scale of the Problem
Where Users Got Lost
Session analysis revealed three critical friction points in the user journey:
Understanding User Mental Models
My approach centered on understanding how users actually think about orthodontic treatment, not how the business had organized content. I employed a mixed-methods research strategy combining card sorting, tree testing, and behavioral analytics.
Content Audit
Inventoried all pages across markets, identifying redundancies, gaps, and content that had drifted from user needs.
Card Sorting
Open and closed card sorts with patients, parents, and providers to understand mental models across user types.
Tree Testing
Validated proposed taxonomy with task-based tree testing before committing to development resources.
Key Insights
Research synthesis revealed three core issues that mapped directly to the drop-off data:
Navigation Confusion
"I clicked on 'For Doctors' by accident and got completely lost. I'm just trying to find out if my insurance covers this." — Patient participant
Content Depth
"I gave up after clicking through five pages trying to find treatment time information. Why is this so hard?" — Parent participant
Mobile Experience
"The menu takes up my whole screen and I still can't find what I need. I'll just call my dentist instead." — Mobile user participant
A New Information Architecture
Rather than incremental fixes, we rebuilt the site's information architecture from the ground up, using card sorting results to create a taxonomy that matched user mental models rather than internal business structure.
Three Design Principles
The solution was grounded in three core principles that directly addressed the research findings:
Task-First Navigation
Reorganize around user tasks ("Find a doctor", "Learn about treatment") rather than business units. Clear audience separation with persistent wayfinding so users always know where they are.
Progressive Disclosure
Surface key information upfront with clear paths to detail. Reduce maximum depth from 5 clicks to 3 for critical content while maintaining comprehensive information for those who want it.
Mobile-First Redesign
Design for the 60% first. Simplified navigation patterns, thumb-friendly tap targets, and streamlined provider finder optimized for on-the-go research.
Implementation Process
Content Audit
Inventory and gap analysis
Card Sorting
User mental model mapping
Tree Testing
Validate new taxonomy
Global Rollout
Phased deployment
Business Impact
The redesigned site was rolled out over six months with continuous measurement against baseline metrics. Results exceeded targets across all key performance indicators.
Rollout Strategy
Measured Impact
2x Site Traffic Growth
Better UX improved engagement metrics that search engines reward. SEO and UX aligned to drive organic growth without paid acquisition.
What I Learned
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IA is the Foundation
No amount of visual polish can fix broken information architecture. Getting the structure right enabled every other improvement.
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SEO and UX Can Align
The fear was that restructuring would hurt search rankings. In reality, better UX improved engagement metrics that search engines reward.
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Global Requires Local
A structure that works in the US may fail in markets with different healthcare regulations. We built flexibility into the IA from the start.