Georgia Needham Information designer
All work

TELUS Spark Navigation Redesign

A UX research and information architecture project to make the TELUS Spark website menu shorter, clearer and easier to use.

Role
Solo project
Timeline
Jan–Apr 2026
Methods
Heuristic evaluation, open card sort, tree test
Tools
Figma, UX Tweak
Reading time
4 minutes

Hover over the menu to explore my final prototype. On a phone, open it in Figma for the full view.

The problem
The desktop menu held 8 categories and 53 items, with internal jargon, repeated links and long dropdowns.
What I did
Audited the menu with Nielsen's heuristics, tested it with users twice, and designed four iterations in Figma.
Outcome
6 categories and 23 items, in a high-fidelity prototype ready for developer handoff.

Read the complete case study (PDF, 5 pages)

The Problem

Navigation shapes the foundation of a website. The TELUS Spark site (as of Jan 2026) was managed by different people over time. Items had been added to the menu on an ‘as needed’ basis without a core organizational system, which resulted in a vague, lengthy and repetitive dropdown menu.

To ground my observations in evidence rather than bias, I applied three of Jakob Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics. They revealed three issues:

  • Jargon. Labels like "Flint" and "Rosie" leave visitors guessing.
  • Long dropdowns. Lengthy lists overwhelm the eye.
  • Repetition. Items like "Beakerhead" appear in several categories, blurring where things live.
Usability heuristics 2, 6 and 8: match between system and the real world, recognition rather than recall, and aesthetic and minimalist design.
The three heuristics I applied.
Two TELUS Spark dropdown columns with jargon items like Flint and ROSiE and the repeated Beakerhead item outlined.
Jargon and repetition in the original menu.

Who It Affects

Parents and Teachers

TELUS Spark identified them as the users who struggle most with the site. They need essentials fast, like which exhibits are open before planning a family or class visit.

Guest Services Team

When information is hard to find online, this team fields the extra questions and frustration. The cost of an unclear menu lands on them.

Design Principles

PrincipleHow I applied it
Jakob's Law Users expect sites to work like the ones they know, so I kept the familiar dropdown pattern.
Cognitive Load Theory Long lists and jargon demand mental effort, so I streamlined categories and used plain language.
Choice Overload Too many options stall decisions, so I trimmed redundant items and merged overlapping categories.

Iterations

  1. First Iteration

    I consolidated the original categories and items into broader groups that could hold more specific subjects with less redundancy.

    First iteration: a colour-coded table of five categories, Plan Your Visit, Experience Spark, Programs, Our Mission and Get Involved, with their menu items.

  2. Second Iteration

    I applied insights from my first usability test and consulted the representative for TELUS Spark.

    Second iteration: the colour-coded table now has six categories, adding Indigenous Science, with Community Requests shortened.

  3. High-Fidelity Prototype

    I shortened labels, like "Community Requests" to "Requests", and added items I had missed so all of Spark's content was accounted for. The menu dropdowns became functional using Figma.

    High-fidelity navigation prototype with six dark dropdown columns.

  4. Final Design

    After my tree test, I renamed "Experience Spark" to "Visit Us", moved "For Schools" into "Plan Your Visit", and refined the visuals for readability.

    Final navigation design: Plan Your Visit, Visit Us, Indigenous Science, Programs, Get Involved and About, with short dropdowns.

User Testing

1st Test: Open Card Sort

5 senior information design students labelled their own categories for 22 printed menu items.

A participant arranging printed navigation labels into groups on a table during the open card sort.
The in-person open card sort.
  • Participants made 5 categories on average, suggesting about 5 top-level categories would feel manageable. I added a sixth, Indigenous Science, to reflect TELUS Spark’s core goals.
  • "Community Access & Requests" was too long, so it became "Requests".
  • "Donate" and "Volunteer" were placed under "Our Mission". I kept them in "Get Involved" because both ask visitors to act.

2nd Test: Tree Test

6 participants completed two tasks on the prototype in UX Tweak.

UXTweak tree test result for Respondent 3. Task 1 was an indirect success in 43 seconds, with a path that backtracked through Experience Spark several times before reaching Programs, For Schools. Task 2 was a direct success in 38 seconds via Plan Your Visit, Hours and Location.
A tree test result: this respondent backtracked through "Experience Spark" before finding "For Schools".
  • Users defaulted to "Plan Your Visit", making it a strong anchor.
  • Splitting "Programs" from "Plan Your Visit" caused indirect paths.
  • "Experience Spark" read as vague, which led to the rename "Visit Us".

Results

The final navigation uses labels that are familiar to users and doesn't overwhelm them with information.

Before
8 and 53categories and menu items
After
6 and 23categories and menu items
Before: the original TELUS Spark navigation, with all eight dropdowns open and long lists of menu items. After: the redesigned navigation with six categories and short, plain-language dropdowns.
The original Spark nav. bar (screenshots taken Jan 2026) (top) and the revised design (bottom)

Next Steps

I designed the prototype dropdown categories to accommodate new pages to prevent content sprawl from coming back. Before I would give my Figma file to a developer for implementation, I would confirm what content management system (CMS) TELUS Spark currently uses, such as WordPress, Squarespace, or a custom-built solution, and evaluate whether it is compatible with my proposed navigation structure.

With more time and resources, I would:

  • Run larger tree tests with more tasks and participants. A free plan limited me to two tasks.
  • Add breadcrumbs, alt text and keyboard navigation.
  • Design a tickets button and a mobile version.

For the full research, rationale and testing detail, read the complete case study (PDF).

Sources: Flavián, Guinalíu and Gurrea (2006), The role played by perceived usability, satisfaction and consumer trust on website loyalty; Nielsen (1994), 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design; Yablonski (n.d.), Laws of UX.