Structuring Support for a Better Customer Experience

Role: UX Lead, UI Design

Keywords: Information Architecture, Accessibility, Content Strategy

Thumbnail of the newly redesigned support pages – A small preview of the updated support pages, showing a refreshed layout and design.

Overview

 

The goal of this project was to enhance the self-serve support section of Canada Post’s website, with a strong focus on accessibility improvements. By optimizing the page for users with disabilities, we aimed to create a better experience for all users, making support content easier to find, navigate, and understand.

Outcome Highlights:

  • Increased task success rates
    Improved navigation and content organization led to better user outcomes.
  • Improved content helpfulness
    A clearer content strategy reduced frustration and increased user satisfaction.
  • 78.2% improvement in SuperQ score
    Users reported a significantly better support experience.

The problem

Customers struggled to access support information effectively.

  • The knowledge base was difficult to navigate, leading to frustration and abandonment.
  • Users often found themselves trapped in content loops, unable to resolve their issues.

These challenges made self-serve support frustrating and ineffective, increasing reliance on customer service representatives.

Research Approach

To understand user challenges and inform our design decisions we started by conducting the following research activities.

Customer Feedback Analysis

  • Reviewed customer feedback to pinpoint key pain points in the self-serve support experience.
  • Collaborated with the UX research and accessibility teams to conduct user interviews with individuals with disabilities, gaining firsthand insights into accessibility barriers.
  • Analyzed web analytics and customer support reports to identify issues driving increased support inquiries.
Research – gathering and analyzing user feedback – A visual representation of the research phase, highlighting methods used to collect and interpret user feedback.

Content Inventory & Audit

  • Conducted a full audit of 400+ knowledge base articles to assess relevance, accuracy, and organization.
  • Identified redundant, outdated, or mislabeled content that hindered findability and contributed to user frustration.
Research – framing the new content strategies – An illustration of the content strategy process, focusing on structuring and refining information for clarity and effectiveness.

Competitive Analysis

Evaluated self-serve support experiences from industry leaders, comparables and competitors to identify best practices in navigation, content structure, and accessibility.

Research – looking at comparables and best practices – A snapshot of competitive research and industry best practices informing the design approach.

Key Insights

Our research identified three core issues:

  1. Unclear Information Architecture
     Confusing topic labels and disorganized support articles made it difficult for users to find relevant information. Misplaced content and an overwhelming number of categories created additional frustration.
  2. Lack of Directional Cues
    The absence of breadcrumbs, clear headings, and intuitive navigation made it difficult for users to retrace their steps and find relevant support content.
  3. Content Inconsistencies
    Inconsistent formatting and language reduced readability, while outdated articles led to confusion and caused users to get stuck in endless content loops. Standardizing content style and removing redundant articles were key to improving clarity and usability.
Image of the old support templates – A screenshot of the previous support page templates, showing the older layout, navigation, and content structure before the redesign.

Recommendations

To resolve these issues, we proposed the following improvements:

IA Improvements

  • Restructure categories and subcategories to align with user mental models, improving content findability.

UI & Navigation Improvements

  • Redesign category, subcategory, and article templates to:
  • Improve navigation with clear directional cues (e.g., breadcrumbs, meaningful headings).
  • Enhance content hierarchy and scannability for quicker access to relevant information.
  • Ensure compliance with accessibility standards.

Content Strategy Refinement

  • Given the project scope, we prioritized key support topics based on user needs.
  • Standardize formatting and language for clarity and consistency.
  • Remove redundant and outdated articles to eliminate content loops.

Design Process

Redesigning Information Architecture (IA)

  • Mapped user mental models to improve content discoverability.
  • Developed a new IA framework:
    • Categories aligned with user tasks.
    • Subcategories organized by relevant products.
    • Articles focused on specific user issues.
  • Validated the structure through card sorting and tree testing.
Design process – exploring the mental models of users – An illustration of the user research process, focusing on understanding how users think and interact with the system.

Content Strategy Refinement

  • Identified the top five support topics based on customer interactions.
  • Improved content clarity, structure, and accessibility.
  • Removed outdated articles and eliminated unnecessary content loops.
Design – framing the new content strategies – An illustration of the content strategy process, focusing on structuring and refining information for clarity and effectiveness.

Wireframing & Usability Testing

  • Created wireframes reflecting the revised IA.
  • Conducted usability testing to refine UI and improve ease of use.
  • Collaborated with stakeholders to refine templates, ensuring accessibility best practices while maintaining brand alignment.
Design process – exploring wireframes and mock-ups – A visual representation of early design explorations, showcasing wireframes and mock-ups for the new support experience.

The Solution

To create a cohesive and scalable support experience, we redesigned the category, subcategory, and article templates. These structured templates establish clear navigation patterns, improve content clarity, and make it easier to maintain accessibility standards across all support pages. 

Screenshots of the newly designed support pages, featuring a refreshed layout, updated navigation, and improved readability.

Clearer Navigation with Category Pages

To help users quickly find the right support topics, we improved findability and navigation by aligning categories with user mental models.

  • Reduced cognitive load by displaying only high-level categories, making it easier for users to choose the right path.
  • Enhanced wayfinding with clear breadcrumbs, meaningful titles, and alternative navigation paths to related topics.
  • Updated visual design to maintain brand consistency and meet accessibility standards.
Image of the new category templates – A screenshot of the redesigned category templates, showcasing the updated layout, navigation, and content organization.

Easier Discovery with Subcategory Page

To improve content structure and ease of discovery, we refined how articles are grouped within subcategories.

  • Stronger content hierarchy organizes articles by topic, making it faster to locate relevant information.
  • Improved scannability and readability through typography and layout enhancements.
  • Updated visual design to enhance usability and ensure accessibility compliance.
Image of the new subcategories templates – A view of the new subcategory templates, highlighting improved structure and usability for browsing related topics.

More Usable and Accessible Content

Articles are now structured for clarity and ease of use, guiding users toward the right next steps with minimal friction.

  • Removing outdated and redundant articles to eliminate content loops and confusion.
  • Enhancing typography and layout for effortless reading and comprehension.
  • Applying a consistent content hierarchy to improve scannability.

To ensure consistency and scalability across the entire support experience, we developed reusable components for essential elements like lists, images, instructional guides, and alternative support paths. These components help maintain a cohesive user experience while making it easier to scale content updates in the future.

Image of the new article pages template – A screenshot of the refreshed article page template, featuring an optimized layout for readability and accessibility.

Results & Impact

To evaluate the effectiveness of our redesign, we conducted a baseline study and a benchmark assessment.

Key Findings

Navigation became more intuitive

  • Before: Users encountered excessive clicks and unclear labels.
  • After: Clearer labels and direct links reduced friction, making navigation more seamless.

Information is easier to find

  • Most participants successfully located relevant articles within the intended categories.
  • A clearer IA and improved content organization led to reduced frustration.

SuperQ Score increased by 78.8%

  • Baseline (2022): 14.6%
  • Post-Implementation (2022): 92.8%
  • Scores in trust, usability, and confidence saw significant improvements.

Project learnings

By addressing key pain points and streamlining content and navigation, we created a self-serve support solution that is more intuitive, accessible, and effective for all users.

  • Accessibility Drives Usability
    Improvements designed for users with disabilities enhanced the overall experience for everyone.
  • Information Architecture is Critical
    A well-structured IA reduces friction and increases self-service success rates.
  • Design for User Mental Models
    Users engage more effectively when language, formatting, and structure align with their mental models.

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