Architecting a future-forward identity for McChrystal Group
Client: Varident LLC & McChrystal Group | Year: 2022
Role:
Lead UI/UX design and information architecture
Team:
1 UI/UX designer, 2 visual designer, 1 project manager, 1 creative director
Tools:
Figma, FigJam, Adobe XD, Monday CRM
Goal:
Create a clear navigational structure that would guide users. Use competitive analysis to uncover similar naming and structures to ease friction and help users find solutions quicker. Connect site to Azure and Microsoft teams account to create personalized pages.
Navigation
Restructuring for legacy and longevity
On January 2023, I partnered with Varident (now Corner Pxl) to work on an information architecture for McChrystal group—a leading firm dedicated on improving your teams’ outcome in the professional market. The aim of this new architecture and wireframing was to discover how to improve their services in the market and make a slight separation from its founder who would be retiring in the coming years. The idea was focused on highlighting the features of the consulting agency over the founders personality.
Project background / challenge
The original McChrystal Group website was visually outdated and content-heavy, making it difficult for users to quickly understand the firm’s value proposition or locate relevant services. Stakeholders sought not just a modern, cleaner design—but also a smarter content architecture that could better support lead generation, talent acquisition, and long-term brand positioning.
Several key factors shaped the direction of the redesign:
- Evolving leadership presence
With General McChrystal approaching retirement, the agency recognized the need to shift away from a personality-driven brand. Instead, they wanted to elevate their flagship product—Team of Teams®—as the core of their offering. - Brand realignment
MG had recently completed a brand refresh and was eager to ensure the website reflected this new identity. This meant revisiting both the visual design and the underlying content strategy. - Improved navigation and content discoverability
From internal feedback and PR team input, it became clear that a more intuitive navigation system was needed—one that would highlight high-priority pages and make brand assets and resources easier to access for external partners. - A bold, differentiated presence
In a competitive consulting landscape, MG wanted to break from convention and build a site experience that better reflected their unique culture, values, and way of working. The goal was to stand apart from traditional agencies with a design and content approach that felt modern, confident, and distinctly “MG.”
Setting up the architecture
We began the project with a discovery questionnaire aimed at uncovering key user needs and defining the site’s core functions. This exercise revealed two primary user groups:
- Business leaders seeking to understand McChrystal Group’s offerings and determine whether the firm aligns with their organizational needs.
- Prospective job candidates looking to learn about the company’s culture, values, and available roles.
Each of these groups required direct, streamlined access to content tailored to their specific goals, all within a site experience that clearly reflected MG’s credibility, expertise, and unique perspective.
To lay the groundwork, I conducted a thorough competitive audit of consulting agencies. The review focused on several key dimensions: the amount and clarity of information presented, the industries served, and how services were positioned and structured across different platforms. This analysis uncovered gaps in consistency and missed opportunities in how competitors articulated their value—insights that shaped our strategy for building a more differentiated, user-centered experience.
Interestingly, despite the unique positioning of each agency, users often responded best to a familiar set of messaging conventions. These common phrases and patterns helped establish trust, suggesting that clarity, not novelty, is often what builds credibility in this space.
In short, my role involved:
- Auditing the existing site for usability gaps, unclear messaging, and visual inconsistencies
- Collaborating with stakeholders to prioritize core content and redesign the navigation system
- Creating low-fidelity wireframes to explore layout concepts and test information flow early in the process
Initial hypothesis
Based on initial research and behavioral insights, I formed several hypotheses to better understand user challenges and opportunities for improvement:
- Information accessibility: It’s likely that many users struggled to find what they were looking for, which may have contributed to the elevated bounce rate.
- Navigation clarity: A simplified and more intuitive navigation system could improve site behavior and create a smoother, more efficient user experience.
- Generational diversity: Since the target audience spans from Millennials to Boomers, the site should provide clear, guided experiences that cater to a range of digital comfort levels.
- Global presence: With MG’s international office in England, content and structure should reflect a global perspective and accommodate a broader audience.
- Competitive mindset: Potential clients are likely comparing multiple agencies, which makes clear differentiation and trust-building content especially important.
- Visibility of key features: Some core offerings appeared hidden or hard to find; these need to be brought forward to better communicate the agency’s value.
IA results
After several rounds of iteration and close collaboration with stakeholders, we finalized an information architecture that we felt confident would bring meaningful value to the new site. A critical component of this process involved proposing new pages aimed at clarifying and streamlining user pathways to high-demand content. These additions included:
- Media kit: A centralized hub for PR and marketing professionals to access official MG brand assets—such as logos, brand videos, and other downloadable materials.
- Featured news: A dedicated space to highlight company-sponsored news, reinforcing MG’s role as a thought leader and active player in its industry.
- Press releases: Distinct from Featured News, this section houses downloadable product announcements and updates on media-related events.
- Upload your resume: A clearly labeled section that simplifies the resume submission process, addressing the visibility issues users previously faced.
With the IA in place, the next phase was to define what the core pages could—and should—look like. We began by aligning each page to a high-level objective, then drilled down into the granular details of layout, content hierarchy, and user intent. This structured approach ensured each page served a clear purpose while contributing to a unified, user-centered experience.
Key design decisions:
- Simplified navigation: We reduced the number of top-level menu items and reorganized the service offerings into logical, skimmable groupings—making it easier for users to find what they need quickly.
- Homepage clarity: The redesigned homepage surfaces MG’s core offerings immediately, paired with concise messaging and strong calls-to-action to guide users toward key conversion points.
From IA to wireframes
Once the information architecture was finalized, I moved into wireframing. During the discovery phase, we included a questionnaire for key stakeholders, asking, “What adjectives come to mind when thinking about MG?” One response stood out: “Outlaw.” This, along with feedback highlighting MG’s adaptable, boundary-pushing culture, became a central theme in our design approach. With those insights in mind, I created a rough wireframe that offered structural guidance while leaving room for the visual designers to explore bold, unconventional layouts—encouraging them to reflect the brand’s personality and appetite for innovation.
Reflection & outcomes
McChrystal Group—like many consulting agencies—faces the ongoing challenge of standing out in a crowded, complex landscape. From organizing vast amounts of internal information to adapting to the evolving needs of the industries they serve, it’s more important than ever to differentiate through brand personality and innovation.
While some elements of the information architecture and wireframes evolved due to feasibility constraints and user feedback, the core concepts were successfully implemented and are now live on the site. Key improvements included the introduction of a mega-menu to efficiently display large volumes of content, preserving clear page hierarchies, and strategically placing calls-to-action to guide user behavior. The visual design team took these foundations further, enhancing the experience by embracing and expressing McChrystal Group’s bold, “outlaw” brand identity throughout the site.
Lessons learned
- The consulting world is larger than it seems
Before working with McChrystal Group, I was only familiar with a handful of consulting agencies. This project opened my eyes to just how saturated the space is. In such a competitive field, brand personality is often the deciding factor that gets you through the door. - Clarity over cleverness;
While creative naming can add flair, it can also create confusion—especially when it deviates from widely recognized terminology. Consistency with industry-standard language helps users quickly understand your offerings and reduces cognitive friction. - IA thrives on collaboration
Building a strong information architecture is not a solo task. While competitive analysis provides a great starting point, real innovation often comes from gathering insights across teams—and sometimes even outside your industry. A broader perspective leads to more thoughtful and flexible solutions. - Reduce friction, guide behavior
At its core, our job is to design experiences that guide users and change behaviors. This means making things easier, clearer, and more intuitive—removing barriers and allowing users to flow through the site with confidence. - Breaking convention with purpose
Although my primary role wasn’t to design the visual interface, working on the wireframes revealed a valuable insight: yes, conventions exist for a reason—but there’s power in knowing when to break them. Embracing MG’s “outlaw” spirit allowed us to push boundaries in a way that still respected usability, but gave the brand a more authentic and memorable voice.
