How I launched and expanded an online platform for Russian IT vendors

• Lack of research. Decisions were being made without evidence of what users needed.
• Inconsistent information architecture. The organisation of information on the portal was unclear.
• No visual design consistency. A lack of uniformity across the visual design.
• Content search and filtering difficulties. Users struggled to find and filter content.
• No mobile responsiveness. The portal was not adapted for mobile devices.

Then the constraints tightened: the other designer first switched to remote work, then went on maternity leave, leaving me to carry the redesign through.

I conducted interviews across the audience segments the platform had to serve (analysts, marketers and vendors) to understand how each group looks for information and promotes products.

The research crystallised into five key segments: integrators & vendors and startups as primary personas, with analysts & journalists, executive assistants and project managers as secondary audiences, each with distinct goals, problems and points of contact.

• Categorised content organisation. A clear system replacing the tangled architecture.
• Robust filtering for a catalogue of over 3,300 IT solution cards.
• Mobile optimisation across devices, with careful attention to font size, colour contrast and navigation patterns.
• Interactive elements. Charts and infographics that made market data readable.
• Cross-functional collaboration with developers and content creators, overseeing implementation quality through to release.

I also led an illustrator and expanded the platform with an English version and an adapted showcase of Russian projects, extending its reach internationally.