Chapter 03 · Information Architecture
From feature stack
to home command center.
The Verizon Home App needed to become the command center for everything Verizon Home Internet—from network health and equipment setup to parental controls, cybersecurity, smart-home services, and AI.
01 · The inherited problem
The app was organized around products—not the customer’s home.
When our team inherited the concept, the structure was not prepared for the scale ahead. Important features were buried, repeated, or labeled differently depending on which product team owned them.
Duplicate entry points
Customers could reach similar functions through multiple, inconsistently labeled paths.
Nested features
Valuable tools were hidden several levels deep and were nearly impossible to discover.
Product silos
Network, security, equipment, and services behaved like separate products living inside one app.
No hierarchy
The experience lacked a clear model for what belonged on Home, in navigation, or inside deeper destinations.
No proactive layer
The homepage presented entry points but offered little reasoning, prioritization, or situational guidance.
No room to grow
The architecture could not comfortably absorb Smart Home, cybersecurity, AI, advanced networking, or equipment setup.
02 · Evidence before hierarchy
Research defined what deserved permanence.
I led the MaxDiff effort, built the study, and partnered with Consumer Insights to run it. I combined those findings with CANDOR analytics, IA research, and competitive analysis completed with support from my squad.
Customers wanted pertinent information immediately—not another long surface to scroll.
Device Detail and Device List were the most-used device pages among roughly 43K monthly users.
Security and energy capabilities increased interest in a centralized home-management app.
Favorites only felt valuable when they were meaningfully tailored to the customer.
Moderate smart-home users represented the largest opportunity for future growth.
03 · Architecture strategy
Scale the surface without breaking the product.
The challenge was not simply reorganizing screens. We needed a phased architecture that could support future products while remaining feasible for engineering and familiar to existing customers.
Make Home situational
Surface network health, security status, pertinent actions, and relevant guidance before secondary content.
Give domains room
Create dedicated destinations for rapidly expanding domains instead of forcing everything onto Home.
Protect feasibility
Improve the high-value layers first while preserving deeper L4 and L5 structures that did not need immediate reconstruction.
04 · A destination with room to grow
I created the Network destination. The domain squad made it deep.
Network was the fastest-growing area of the product. Advanced tools were arriving too quickly to keep adding them to Home.
I proposed a dedicated Network destination, established its place in the bottom navigation, and defined the high-level content that belonged there.
Selina’s squad owned the detailed page vision, Level 3 hierarchy, visual design, and execution. The architecture gave that team a destination they could expand without bloating the homepage.
05 · Phased delivery
A scalable foundation, delivered without flipping the whole app.
The final direction deliberately balanced ambition with technical reality. We changed the layers that mattered most and deferred deeper models that required broader product or engineering support.
Shipped
- Dedicated Network Hub
- Revised bottom navigation
- New application site map
- Notification center
- Multi-address controls
- AI Assistant
Designed, then deferred
- Equipment / Devices / Rooms model
- Status-summary widgets
- Favorites and customization
- Proactive AI suggestions
- Smart Home integration
06 · Outcome and reflection
Less Grand Central. More adaptive command center.
The new foundation supported stronger engagement across device groups and parental controls, enabled the Network Hub’s growth, and prepared the Home App for a much broader ecosystem.
Looking back, I would push the homepage further away from being a grand collection of feature entry points. I would make it a more proactive, customizable dashboard that prioritizes the most relevant information first.
I would also remove the dynamic image earlier and elevate the AI Assistant sooner. The phased approach protected feasibility, but preserving parts of the legacy structure also kept us tethered to a few deeper architectural compromises.
A clearer, extensible architecture for controlling everything Verizon Home Internet from one place.
Leadership + Organizational Influence
Impact beyond
the interface.
As Verizon Home grew, my role expanded beyond owning critical experiences — strengthening how the organization made decisions and delivered.
CANDOR 2.0 / Analytics as an operating system
Audited, redesigned, handed off and entering phased development.
Platform serving 1M+
That's me!
01 / Set Direction
Translated research, analytics, and technical constraints into scalable IA and roadmap decisions.
554-person Home Security study • 581-person Network MaxDiff
02 / Align the System
Connected functions, leaders, and external partners around one clear customer experience.
Recognized for connecting new departments, leads, and ICs.
03 / Enable the Team
Recruited, onboarded, and mentored two designers, championed VDS, and built a Gen AI learning launchpad.
Both new hires contributing to active projects by week two.
Recognition as Evidence of Trust
Trusted to lead
the hard work.
Recognition followed the way I led — through evidence, alignment, ownership, and an insistence on one clear experience.
Exceptional leadership… championed the need for a single-app experience.
Richard DaltonVP, Experience DesignTitan Award nomination
Innovation + Intellectual Property
Approved
Technology patents
Verizon Titan CX Award
Customer Experience
The trust behind the work
2025 Review"Your strong customer focus, drive for one app… and strong relationships with neighboring departments all played a factor in you winning the Titan Award."
Dave SkuratowiczSenior Director, Home Products & Experiences
and mentoring designers
Closing Reflection
The work shaped the principal designer I became — able to turn ambiguity into direction, evidence into alignment, and craft into organizational leverage.