Designing for clarity: How we restructured Intercom’s Information Architecture

Every product reaches a moment when its foundation begins to strain under the weight of growth. Intercom's Information Architecture (IA) was struggling to keep pace with the development of their product, leading to confusion among users and teams alike. The team restructured IA by asking fundamental questions about clarity, simplifying navigation, reducing noise, streamlining personal settings, and rethinking navigation design. Through a messy, iterative, collaborative process that involved listening first, mapping out the new IA, bringing structure to life, and prototyping, they created a structure that works for real people, not just internal business logic. The result is a product where users can navigate with ease, tasks become straightforward paths, and teams benefit from clearer guidelines and reduced friction. The team learned that design should be focused on real people, simplicity takes effort, and IA is never done.