Learn with Cisco on cisco .com
Learn with Cisco is a tech education organization within the Cisco ecosystem. It began as a way to train IT professionals to use Cisco products, like routers and firewalls, but it has since expanded to include over 20 career certifications, hundreds of training courses, labs, and a dedicated learning platform. Consequently, the organization has hundreds of pages within the cisco.com website, describing every course, every certification exam, and other learning products.
In 2022, the Learn with Cisco started a major site migration from their on-premesis environment to AEM Cloud. This initiative included a full content audit, as well as messaging updates and a totally redesigned user experience. I co-led this project with two of my colleagues, creating a modern, user-first “site within a site” on cisco.com
content audit, site architecture, and user journeys
Learn with Cisco had accumulated hundreds of pages over its 30-year history as an organization. As a result, the site was hard to navigate, and much of the content was either duplicative or conflicting. The first step in the migration was to evaluate all pages, look for patterns in content types, and develop an updated information architecture. All in all, we reduced the footprint of the site by over 60%, flattened out the site structure, and improved navigation for the site, making it easier for users to find what they needed.
UX transformation
The old Learn with Cisco site had become visually outdated, and the pages were crowded with too much information and too many CTA’s, learning to user overwhelm. We partnered with Cisco’s internal digital agency to draft new page templates using the Cisco brand’s design system and define a clear purpose for each page. Streamlining the user’s journey and reducing the number of CTA’s led to a marked increase in sign-ups for Cisco U., the organization’s learning platform. We were also recognized by Cisco’s corporate marketing team as a migration success story for our quick work and overall site improvement.
Messaging overhaul
To align the site content with the new look and improved UX, we reinvented the Learn with Cisco organization’s story and message. We made Learn with Cisco a welcoming and friendly place, inclusive of all learners — from students just starting out in IT, to professionals with 10+ years of experience looking to stand out in their field, and everywhere in between. I created a comprehensive messaging guide for all content creators within the organization, including market differentiators, tone and voice, writing samples, persona-based user narratives, and more.
Scalability and governance
Learn with Cisco is a large division of Cisco, with many content contributors and subject matter experts, many of whom participate in shaping the organization’s website. To help maintain consistency, streamline site governance, and accelerate publishing, we created scalable templates that can be used to create almost any type of page, as well as an AI-assisted process for developing the messaging documents needed to develop content for new products.
