Problems We Solve

Case Studies + Customers

For more than a decade and over hundreds of projects, we have successfully delivered digital strategies through collaboration with our clients. Our focus is on value creation—working to combine diverse talents—to design something greater than the sum of its parts.

Our strength lies in crafting language systems and navigational structures that make complex systems feel simple, providing a resilient, beneficial, and enjoyable user experience.

Our Work Speaks for Itself

Although these digital environments are powered by technology, they are experienced by users as places of information. Where not restricted by NDAs, these case studies showcase how we've leveraged our expertise in information architecture to reengineer processes and workflows for users. We guide these users through these digital spaces in a manner that is not only resilient for stakeholders but useful and enjoyable to work with. Be sure to contact us if your industry is not represented here so we can address your specific application.

Case Studies

Featured

Defining and Validating a New Product Space

TUG’s research empowered Science Co. to move forward with confidence in their expansion into a new market. By providing actionable insights and strategic recommendations, we equipped Science Co. with a clear understanding of user needs across different scientific roles, validated product concepts and feature priorities, a roadmap for future development and market positioning, and tools and methodologies for ongoing user research and product refinement.

Going Beyond Retail for an Entire Digital Ecosystem

Outdoor Co. came to The Understanding Group (TUG) for help with a strategic effort to redesign the universal navigation bar in ways that served all the people who visited their digital place.

The core question they were asking about their digital place was simple, but difficult in execution: how might Outdoor Co. better expose all their offerings online so people could discover and use them without compromising other people’s ability to shop?

Understanding Self-Service User Behavior

SoftCo. provides mission-critical software to modern software development teams. Early product designs were driven by SoftCo’s innate understanding of their user, but as they grew, they wanted to develop a research-based perspective to increase their product’s performance. TUG conducted research and created maps that allowed the SoftCo. design team to meaningfully apply research findings to solve the most important problems.

Prototyping Large-Scale Structural Changes

When LifeCo, a large, digitally savvy non-profit, wanted to create a single coherent digital place they asked TUG to create a structure that would make it easy for members and non-members to find what they needed on a site that served millions of members and hosted hundreds of thousands of pages.

Empowering Grant Writers with Artificial Intelligence

Our client sought a guide who could explore AI's potential by first understanding their team's needs and processes, instead of just selecting a tool and rearranging their work around the available features.

TUG’s people-first approach appealed to their core needs, and the lightweight proof-of-concept design of the project would allow the firm to explore generative AI's potential in their specific context before investing in a technology solution.

Laying a Digital Foundation for National Expansion

Progressive wanted to differentiate itself from competitors with a unique digital presence that was adaptable to changing market strategies and expanding content channels. To achieve this, they knew they needed a different approach, and partners that could help them define a resilient digital architecture and uniquely ownable brand expression.

PAE selected TUG to lead information architecture design and Highland Group to transform the information models into the distinctive digital presence Progressive has today, with a focus on design, usability and content.

Helping The Innocence Project Tell Its Story

Since 1992, The Innocence Project has been at the forefront of criminal justice reform, using DNA and other scientific advancements to reverse wrongful convictions.

The team at Innocence Project realized that their website made it difficult for visitors to grasp the full breadth of the organization’s efforts, muddying their core message. The Understanding Group was engaged to help them redesign the information architecture of the site.

Establishing a Digital Strategy

The University of Michigan (U-M) Division of Student Life had stakeholders representing 26 units and 100 different websites. TUG conducted 29 interviews with 60 individual participants and then helped them develop a shared language for talking about their problem space and for prioritizing and balancing strategic considerations. Our research pointed to three key dimensions that tied their work together. We also identified ten major topical themes across the grouping of sites. We mapped the current state for each of these dimensions separately and created a diagram that merged all three overlays so they could be visualized together in one place.

Improving Internal Communications

The Ford Foundation is a globally-oriented philanthropic organization committed to advancing human welfare. TUG helped them improve their internal communications, and break down silos between programs and regions, by designing a new Intranet/digital workplace. Since Fordify was launched, we have continued to help them make the platform a valued and integral part of their work culture with a vibrant online community .

Defragmenting a Digital Footprint into a Single Portal

When we started, the University of Michigan (U-M) Human Resources digital footprint spanned nearly 30 different sites. The primary website did not fully communicate the resources available to employees and retirees nor the value of working at U-M. TUG partnered with design firm Q Ltd to redesign and develop the website to improve findability and user experience for the University’s employees, job seekers, and retirees. The top navigation was re-architected to serve user needs and the new structural framework consolidates all 25+ previous HR websites within a simple, overarching taxonomy.

Customers

For more than a decade, over hundreds of projects, working with a wide a variety of companies from small nonprofits to the Fortune 5, we have successfully delivered digital transformations that are resilient, useful, and beautiful.