Redesigning the IA for a Leading Supplier of Science Education Equipment

B2B Ecommerce

Introduction

Flinn Scientific is a leading provider of hands-on science materials for K–12 classrooms. As the company expanded beyond chemistry into broader STEM disciplines, its ecommerce navigation no longer reflected how educators think or shop. I was brought in to redesign the site’s information architecture, navigation, and sitemap to better align with how educators think, plan, and purchase.

Problem: The site was difficult to navigate, dated, and not optimized for mobile.

Flinn Scientific’s navigation followed a traditional, product-category-driven ecommerce structure:

Browse by Category (L1)

Products
By Subject
Resources
Safety
SDS

Core subjects like Chemistry and Biology were buried at Level 3, requiring multiple clicks to access. This forced teachers to translate curriculum needs into product categories — creating unnecessary friction.

Safety and SDS were duplicated across primary navigation and dropdown menus, adding redundancy and cognitive load.

The structure did not reflect how educators think (by subject and curriculum), and the deep hierarchy did not translate cleanly to mobile.

structure.

Goal: Shift the experience from a product-category-driven ecommerce model to a topic-based structure aligned with curriculum, reducing friction and positioning Flinn as a trusted teaching partner — not just a supplier.

Process: Conducted educational and gender-based desk research to inform IA, navigation, and sitemap decisions, providing a well-supported foundation for the proposed design direction.

Team: Executive Director of UX, UX Designer (Me), Project Manager, UI Designer

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SOLUTION

I developed and evaluated two IA models, ultimately implementing a topic-based navigation structure that aligned with educator workflows and supported Flinn’s future STEM expansion.

The selected model repositioned core subjects—Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Earth Sciences—as primary navigation categories, eliminating the need for educators to navigate through product layers before accessing curriculum-relevant content.

To address the structural misalignment, I developed two distinct IA models:

Model 1 – Traditional Ecommerce: A product-first structure balancing browse and search efficiency.
Model 2 – Topic-Based / Curriculum-Aligned (Selected): A subject-driven model aligned with how educators think and plan.

Grounded in persona insights and targeted desk research, I recommended Model 2. The client liked this approach and selected this direction.

1. Subject-Based Primary Navigation

Primary Navigation:

Chemistry
Biology
Physics
Earth Sciences
Safety
All Products

This aligned the experience with how teachers plan lessons and shop for materials.

2. Clear Hierarchy & Reduced Redundancy

Consolidated Safety and SDS to remove duplication
Simplified dropdown depth
Separated primary shopping pathways from utility links (Resources, Contact, Digital Solutions)

The result was a cleaner, more intentional structure.

3. Scalable Sitemap for STEM Growth

The new sitemap was designed to: