Site Strategy
Information architecture is the process of organizing, structuring, and labeling content to ensure that it lines up with user needs and business goals. A consistent IA helps visitors find relevant information quickly across our web properties.
Top Hat
The top hat is a macro-level navigational tool at the top of most B2B pages. It reflects how we organize our business by highlighting our family brands, key segments, high-priority products, and industry insights.
The top hat should appear in the first position, above the nested navigation, on:
- Any awareness- or interest-level page on the B2B website.
- The investor site.
- Pages on any websites for acquired brands or subdomains.
We always pair the top hat with some version of the nested navigation. Avoid using it on consideration-level pages to focus the user on one task. For more design considerations, visit the Top Hat component page.
Nested Navigation
The nested nav is a micro-level navigational tool. It gives users a roadmap to complete primary actions, such as requesting a conversation with sales or searching for products that fit a business need.
The first level of the nested nav represents the information architecture of the Morningstar master brand or family brand. As users navigate deeper into the web experience for each brand, the nested nav visually keeps track of every level.
Every B2B webpage should use one of the three variants of the nested navigation. For more design considerations, visit the Nested Navigation component page.
Footer
The footer appears at the bottom of every Morningstar webpage. Users look to the footer as a final chance to find relevant information or as a repository for certain links, like contact and legal information. For more design considerations, visit the Footer component page.
