USCF
2025
USCF: Website Redesign
A comprehensive UX audit and information architecture redesign to streamline navigation and modernize the digital platform for the US Chess Federation.
Overview
The US Chess Federation (USCF) serves as the national governing body for chess in the United States. As a Product Design Intern, I led a comprehensive UX audit and redesign of their digital platform to resolve critical information architecture challenges. By applying rigorous user research methods, I restructured the primary navigation and modernized the landing page to transform a fragmented interface into a cohesive, accessible, and user-friendly experience for the chess community.
Problem
Summary
The digital experience for the US Chess Federation was fragmented and visually outdated. The challenge was to simplify the complex information architecture and redesign the landing page to reduce cognitive load, improve global navigation usability, and help the chess community access critical resources more efficiently.
My Role
As the Product Design Intern, I conducted a comprehensive UX audit, analyzed existing navigation models alongside user pain points, and translated those insights into a restructured information architecture and modernized interface concepts to elevate the digital experience.
Existing Issues
The legacy website was overwhelmed by dense and text-heavy layouts with a severe lack of proper visual hierarchy. Users were forced to navigate a deep and overly complex dropdown menu structure, making it exceedingly difficult to locate specific pages. Competing calls to action and inconsistent visual formatting across pages left the interface feeling cluttered and uninviting.
Data-Driven Insights
The initial UX audit revealed critical usability barriers across the architecture of the platform. The sheer volume of pages buried deep within the navigation created massive friction for users trying to complete primary tasks. Furthermore, the audit highlighted a highly inconsistent visual language, including erratic font styles, button shapes, and colors that degraded overall accessibility.
Research
Competitive Analysis
I analyzed leading sports and enterprise platforms, including the USTA and the International Chess Federation, to identify architectural patterns that could streamline the USCF's complex information architecture.
Key Insights:
Navigation Models: Many other organizations structure their headers (mega nav, multi nav, dual nav).
Clarity and Consistency: Competitors maintain consistent headers, fonts, and colors. Reinforced the importance of a design system for professional credibility
Use of Micro sites: Many organizations use micro sites for specialized user flows
Utility Navigation: Other organizations have a clearer and intuitive utility navigation.
User Surveys
I analyzed quantitative survey data provided by the US Chess team to define the primary demographics and task-driven goals of the platform.
Core Audience: The website primarily serves tournament players, parents, coaches, and tournament directors.
Mismatched Priorities: Users arrive specifically to check ratings, manage memberships, and locate tournaments, but the current interface buries these critical actions.
Architectural Needs: Respondents highly requested an improved global menu structure, a dedicated search feature, and quick links for frequent tasks to reduce navigation time.
Site Mapping
Collaborating closely with the USCF team, I developed a new sitemap that directly synthesized our research findings. The updated architecture eliminates redundant pages, significantly reduces overall navigation complexity, and establishes a highly user-centric hierarchy that aligns perfectly with how players and directors actually use the platform.
Define
Guiding Questions
• How might I restructure the navigation architecture to help users find critical information without feeling overwhelmed?
• How might I redesign the landing page to simultaneously serve the distinct needs of players, parents, and tournament directors?
• How might I establish a cohesive visual language that brings consistency to a previously fragmented and outdated interface?
• How might I balance the organization's need to broadcast news with the users' need to quickly access functional tools?
Persona Development
To synthesize the quantitative survey data and ensure the new information architecture remained strictly user-centric, I developed two primary personas. These profiles serve as a cumulative representation of the USCF community’s core motivations, goals, and behavioral patterns.
User Flows
Building upon the established personas, I developed task-driven user flows for the platform's distinct audience segments, including Tournament Players, Directors, and Educators. Mapping these start-to-finish journeys allowed me to visualize the exact steps users currently take to accomplish high-priority goals, such as looking up player ratings, registering for events, or managing memberships. This exercise was critical for identifying unnecessary clicks in the legacy architecture and ensuring the new global navigation intuitively supports these primary paths.
Design Process
Lessons
