Redesigning ISC2’s Website for Clarity, Scale, and Growth
PRODUCT
Membership Platform, Consumer Web
TIMELINE
August - December 2023 (4 months)
ROLE
Sole UX/UI Designer
FORMAT
Responsive Web
TEAM
Communications, Content Editors, Copywriters, Developers, Learning & Development, Marketing, Market Researcher, Business, Third-Party Design Agency
IMPACT
Transformed ISC2's global website from certification-centric to career-focused—contributing to 47% membership growth while coordinating across 30+ stakeholders on 3 continents.
ISC2
ISC2 is a global membership association for cybersecurity professionals, best known for its CISSP certification. The existing website hadn't kept pace with the organization's evolution—the interface felt dated, navigation was confusing, and the architecture heavily favored advanced professionals, leaving students and career changers struggling to find their way in.
As the sole UX/UI Designer, I led the end-to-end redesign of ISC2's global website aligned with a major rebrand. I coordinated across 30+ stakeholders spanning 3 continents to restructure the information architecture, modernize the UX, and reposition ISC2 from a certification body to a holistic cybersecurity career platform. The redesign contributed to 47% membership growth, improved content discoverability with a 20% increase in organic engagement, and established a scalable design foundation for future localization and product expansion.
Problem
ISC2's competitive landscape had shifted. New, lower-cost competitors entered the market, and audience expectations evolved beyond certifications alone. The existing website wasn't serving ISC2's full membership lifecycle—from students exploring the field to seasoned professionals seeking ongoing development
.
The site's messaging focused heavily on advanced certifications, leaving newcomers unclear about where to start. This limited ISC2's ability to attract new members and compete in an increasingly crowded cybersecurity education market.
What Research Revealed
Through user research conducted with our in-house market researcher, we identified three critical issues:
Engagement Drop-off
Users interacted only during certification cycles. Other valuable offerings—courses, memberships, community resources—went unnoticed. Members would certify, then disappear until recertification time.
Navigation Confusion
Information architecture didn't match user mental models. Labels were unclear, and member-only content wasn't marked, causing frustration when users hit unexpected paywalls.
Narrow Audience Appeal
Messaging focused heavily on advanced professionals. Students and career changers had no clear entry point or pathway through ISC2's offerings.
Students and career changers didn't know ISC2 offered anything beyond CISSP. They didn't realize resources existed for their career stage. This validated our hypothesis that the site needed clearer pathways for different audiences.
My Role
Product Design
End-to-end UX/UI including journey mapping, IA restructuring, responsive layout design.
User Research
Conducted interviews and surveys with current members, career changers, students, and cybersecurity professionals. Worked with in-house market researcher and external partners.
Design System
Partnered with external agency on typography, color palette, components, and accessibility standards. Ensured flexibility for future localization.
Cross-Functional Partner
Coordinated across 30+ stakeholders including marketing, content, development, leadership, and external agency partners. Facilitated working sessions across time zones.
Web Development Support
Assisted front-end developers in building pages to meet aggressive deadline. Hands-on implementation support to maintain design quality through development.
Who I Designed For
Our research revealed three primary user segments, each with different needs:
Students & Early-Career — Exploring cybersecurity as a career, overwhelmed by options, needing clear guidance on where to start.
Mid- to Senior-Level Practitioners — Seeking continuing education, professional development, and community connection beyond initial certification. Engaged only during cert cycles.
Academic Partners — Looking for resources to support students and training programs. Needed easy access to curriculum resources and partnership opportunities.
The redesign needed to serve all three segments without favoring one over the others—a significant IA challenge given the existing site's heavy advanced-professional focus.
Design Process
Discovery & Research
I worked with our in-house market researcher and agency partners to understand current pain points and validate assumptions.
What we conducted:
Screening surveys to identify user segments and recruit interview participants
Interviews with current members, career changers, students, and cybersecurity professionals
An independent study focused specifically on students and newcomers (our most underserved segment)
Stakeholder workshops to align on KPIs and define success metrics
The certification-centric IA wasn't just confusing—it was actively excluding potential members. Students couldn't find entry-level resources because everything was organized around advanced certifications.
This validated the need for fundamental IA restructuring, not just visual updates.
DESIGN PROCESS
Information Architecture
The original IA was certification-centric. Everything radiated from certifications, making non-certification offerings hard to discover.
Design Decision: Audience-Based Navigation
I restructured the IA around user goals and career stages rather than ISC2's internal product categories.
The new structure organized by intent:
Get Started — New section specifically for cybersecurity newcomers (didn't exist before)
Certifications — All certification paths and requirements
Continuing Education — Courses, CPE credits, professional development
Membership — Benefits, community, resources
About— Mission, leadership, industry advocacy
Why this worked: Users could now navigate based on where they were in their career journey, not based on ISC2's product catalog structure.
Solving the Paywall Problem
Throughout research, users complained about hitting unexpected paywalls. They'd click into content only to discover it was member-only, with no warning.
Solution: Added lock icons to clearly indicate gated content throughout the site. This simple visual cue made expectations predictable and reduced frustration.
Throughout IA development, I facilitated checkpoint sessions asking: Can this structure scale as we add new products? Does it address our key pain points? What needs to wait for MVP2? These checkpoints kept us realistic about timelines while moving forward strategically.
DESIGN PROCESS
Certification Detail
Certification detail pages were dense with information but lacked clear hierarchy. Users had to scroll extensively to find basic eligibility requirements.
What I changed:
"Quick Glance" sections at the top — Eligibility requirements, exam details, maintenance requirements
Clear CTAs — Reduced friction between "I'm interested" and "How do I prepare?"
DESIGN PROCESS
Design System
To support the rebrand and ensure consistency across multiple pages, I partnered with an external agency to develop a scalable design system.
My contribution:
Collaborated on typography scale (needed to work across multiple languages)
Color palette aligned with brand standards while ensuring WCAG 2.1 AA compliance
Modular patterns that could be maintained by internal team post-launch
Impact
47% membership growth — Redesign contributed to significant increase in new memberships following launch, supporting ISC2's global expansion strategy.
20% increase in organic content engagement — Interactive discovery elements drove users deeper into ISC2's resource library.
Improved content discoverability — "Get Started" section became highest-trafficked new page, validating underserved audience existed.
Reflection
What I Learned
Designing at scale requires strategic trade-offs
With 30+ stakeholders across continents, I learned to balance diverse needs while keeping user goals central. Not every stakeholder request could ship in MVP1—prioritization was constant.
I developed the skill of saying "yes, and here's when" instead of just "no." When stakeholders requested features outside MVP1 scope, I'd acknowledge the value, explain the rationale, and commit to revisiting in MVP2.
Alignment is as important as design craft
Some of my most valuable contributions weren't the interfaces I designed—they were the strategic questions I asked in working sessions that helped stakeholders see the user perspective and make better prioritization decisions