Context

JD’s main navigation had grown organically over time.

New categories, brands, campaigns and trading priorities were layered on without structural reconsideration.

The result:

• Inconsistent category logic

• Overloaded menus

• Tension between merchandising and usability

• Mobile and desktop behaving differently

The brief was optimisation.

The opportunity was architectural redesign.

Project Team

The project team consisted of a Product Manager (PM), Business Analyst (BA), and myself as the Product Designer from JD Sports, working alongside JD engineering teams.

Key stakeholders involved in the project included the Head of SEO for the UK, Head of SEO for Europe, and Trade representatives for both the UK and European markets. The work was highly collaborative, bringing together product, engineering, commercial, and SEO perspectives to align on the problem and shape the solution.

The Real Problem

Navigation wasn’t just cluttered — it reflected internal org structure, not customer mental models.

Commercial pressure meant:

• High-margin categories pushed to top level

• Campaign links competing with core journeys

• SEO considerations influencing labelling

• Merchandising priorities changing weekly

Users, meanwhile, were trying to:

• Find products quickly

• Browse by intent (sport, brand, gender)

• Understand where they were in the hierarchy

This was a structural and governance issue — not a visual one.

Approach

1. Reframe Navigation as a System

In kickoff, I positioned navigation as:

The structural backbone of the ecommerce experience.

Not a menu redesign — a scalable taxonomy decision.

This shifted conversations from “where should we put X?”
to “what mental model are we committing to?”

2. Diagnose the Current State

I analysed:

• Search query data

• Top navigation click paths

• Drop-off points

• Category overlap

• Mobile vs desktop divergence

I mapped the existing IA and identified duplication, dead ends and competing hierarchies.

This made complexity visible to stakeholders.

3. Align Around User Mental Models

I ran:

• Open and closed card sorts

• Tree testing on proposed structures

• Internal workshops with Merchandising & Trade

The tension was predictable:

Commercial priorities vs cognitive simplicity.

Rather than remove commercial needs, I created rules:

• Core taxonomy remains stable

• Campaigns live in controlled promotional zones

• Top-level categories reflect user entry points, not margin

This prevented future sprawl.

Strategic Decisions

1. Simplify Top-Level Categories

Reduced redundancy and clarified primary entry routes.

2. Separate Structural vs Promotional Space

Stopped campaigns from corrupting IA.

3. Align Mobile & Desktop Behaviour

Committed to a shared taxonomy with platform-appropriate interaction patterns.

4. Introduce Governance Principles

Defined criteria for adding new categories or links.

This was critical.
Without governance, navigation would degrade again.

Delivery Under Constraints

Constraints included:

• SEO equity tied to existing URLs

• Trade teams requiring agility

• Engineering limitations within the CMS

• Tight trading calendar windows

To manage this, I:

• Phased rollout by category

• Preserved key URLs where needed

• Designed flexible mega-menu templates

• Created documentation for future additions

This balanced structural improvement with operational reality.

Outcome

Navigation click through rate increased from 18% to 32%. Weekly revenue from navigation journeys rose from £125k to £205k — a 64% uplift that held post-launch.

Beyond the numbers: category duplication was reduced, findability improved in tree testing, and mobile and desktop now share a consistent taxonomy with governance rules to keep it that way.

Navigation shifted from reactive to intentional. The structure is now something the business owns — not something it inherits.