Creating a digital home for employees
The New York Times At The Times
Challenge & Goal
In the shift to remote and hybrid work, The New York Times needed more than just a functional intranet — it needed a digital home where 5,000+ employees could connect, stay informed, and feel part of a shared culture. Times Central, the existing platform, was underused due to technical, UX, and content challenges. Our goal was to reimagine the employee experience: create an intuitive, engaging, and inclusive space that supported daily work and amplified the people and stories shaping The Times.
My Role & Leadership
As Executive Director of Design, I co-led the two-year redesign effort, bringing together internal communications, publishing, and brand teams with an outside UX agency. I shaped the design vision, led research and strategy, and championed an employee-centered approach — from launching a listening tour to co-creating with advisory groups, stakeholders, and leadership. I guided the team through information architecture, UX design, content development, and testing, ensuring the new platform reflected employees’ needs, workflows, and aspirations.
Outcomes & Impact
In November 2023, we launched At The Times — a vibrant, intuitive intranet that has become the primary source for company-wide communication and resources. Employees can easily find announcements, resources, and community stories, personalize their experience through bookmarks and feeds, and engage across departments. Beyond delivering a tool, we helped strengthen connection, transparency, and culture across a complex, hybrid organization, making the digital experience feel as human and collaborative as The Times itself.
Process & Details
This two-year redesign effort brought together cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and employees in a participatory, research-driven process. Below are selected moments from the design journey, showing how we shaped the product from insights to launch.
Listening Tour Began with in-depth conversations and research activities — observing how employees used Times Central, surfacing pain points, and grounding our redesign in their daily workflows.
Employee Mindsets Developed six flexible mindsets to represent diverse employee needs, helping the team prioritize features and design an experience that supported multiple use cases.
Information Architecture & Site Maps Redefined the site’s structure around employee mental models, using card sorting, IA workshops, and testing to ensure intuitive navigation and content discoverability.
Wireframes & Prototypes Explored and tested core interactions, using rapid wireframing and weekly UX validation sessions with staff.
Navigation & Search Simplified the site architecture into four clear sections, improved search functionality, and designed filtering tools to help employees quickly locate what matters to them.
Homepage Design Designed a homepage that balances “need-to-know” updates with community stories, offering personalization features like My Feed and Bookmarks to tailor the experience.
Resources Section Consolidated essential policies, guidelines, and tools into a streamlined Resources section, with clear hierarchies and layouts that enable efficient, confident access.
Community Section Created an employee-driven space to showcase teams, stories, and connections — using editorial content to strengthen culture, belonging, and cross-team engagement.
Teams Section Built a flexible Teams section that adapts to department needs, providing employees with visibility into the people and work that make up the broader organization.