UNi4 Online
Brand aggregation
Multiple education brands, one platform
- Role
- Visual Team Lead & UX Designer
- Client
- UNi4 Online
- Period
- May 2021 to Aug 2024
- Team
- Junior designers, learning designers, PM
The challenge
How do several education brands share one platform without losing what makes each of them distinct?
What it turned out to be
Unified navigation and shared patterns, with brand identity preserved at the point it matters.
Two problems arrived together. The design team was working in isolation, and several education brands needed to live on one platform.
They turned out to be versions of the same problem. Designers without shared visibility produce inconsistent work, and brands without shared patterns produce a platform people have to relearn on every hop.
Two tracks
Team and platform, run in parallel
Track 01 · As Team Leader
Designers working in isolation
- No shared visibility across projects
- Introduced regular check-ins, shared workflows, and Kanban-based tracking
- Output went up and KPIs were met consistently
Track 02 · Platform design
Several brands, one platform
- Designed a unified information architecture
- Balanced brand identity against platform consistency
- Delivered one platform carrying all the brands
The platform
Shared where it helps, distinct where it matters
Navigation, patterns and content structure are shared. Brand identity stays where a prospective student is choosing between institutions.
Process
What I did
- 01
Team process audit
Looked at existing workflows and talked to each designer about friction and morale. Nobody could see what anyone else was doing.
- 02
Kanban implementation
A shared board, weekly check-ins and clear task ownership. Output improved and missed deadlines dropped.
- 03
Competitor analysis
Studied multi-brand education aggregators globally for navigation patterns and IA approaches to consolidating distinct brands.
- 04
Information architecture
Designed the IA for cross-brand navigation with each brand's identity intact, on unified patterns built to flex.
- 05
Platform design
Delivered the aggregator design. Stakeholders across all brands reviewed and signed off.
The process change did more for output quality than any design decision I made that year.
Findings
What surfaced across both tracks
Insights
- 01
Designers needed clearer project visibility
- 02
Regular check-ins improved team morale
- 03
Users needed to move between brands without losing context
- 04
Content consistency was what built trust across multiple educational brands
Outcome
Output went up, KPIs were met consistently, and stakeholders across the brands signed off on the platform.
Reflection
What I took from it
- 01
Most of leading the team was balancing what individuals needed against what the team had to deliver
- 02
A process change moved output more than any design change did
- 03
Platforms need flexibility for multi-brand contexts under one roof