SERVICES
UX/UI Product design
Design systems
Creative direction
Responsive web
Prototyping
Research
COMPANY
Confidential
DISCLAIMER
This project is under NDA. Brand, visuals and identifying details have been changed. The work, the numbers and the testimonials are all real.
From navigation re-haul to full institutional website design
Meridian is one of the most significant financial and insurance marketplaces on the planet — serving brokers, underwriters, investors and regulators simultaneously across 200 territories. The site was generating a hero banner engagement rate of just 0.55%. Core content was being bypassed. Users couldn't find what they needed.
The brief was focused: redesign the navigation, prove the results, and lay the foundation for something bigger. What followed was a 16-month engagement that grew from a single sprint into a full institutional website transformation.
By the numbers
The navigation and homepage hero redesign delivered results that were measurable, significant, and fast. Every metric moved in the right direction. The data was drawn from analytics infrastructure I helped establish and maintain. The story was grounded in evidence from day one, not retrospective justification.
The results did not just validate the design decisions. They unlocked the budget for a full website redesign. That is what good design at senior level looks like: work that pays for itself and opens the next door.
+35%
HOMEPAGE ENGAGEMENT
More meaningful actions driven into core content areas. Greater ROI from existing content, without additional spend.
Three key design principles
Data before design. Nothing went into Figma without a reason grounded in evidence. Analytics reviews, stakeholder interviews, content audits and competitive benchmarking came first. Every design decision had a traceable rationale. Every presentation was built to hold up to executive scrutiny.
Design for intent, not just aesthetics. Users arrived at Meridian with clear intent but the site offered no corresponding journey. An intent-based framework was developed around three primary user behaviours — Learn, Access and Evaluate — each representing a distinct mental model. Deliberate design moments called "reasons to crossover" guided users from one mode into another, turning isolated pages into connected journeys.
A handoff built to outlast the project. A full token-based design system built from scratch — colour, typography, spacing, elevation and motion. Around 80 components, each shipped with interaction states, accessibility annotations and developer notes. The dev team could build from documentation alone. And did.
Content and digital managers were also able to create and publish new pages independently, without needing to come back to design. The system did not just serve the build. It transferred ownership.
In their own words
"The most precise and detailed designs and documentation I've ever worked with. It made our whole dev process faster and cleaner — and the designs themselves were something else entirely."
Duncan
Development Lead, Technology partner
