Intranet automates 100s of hours in HR requests so they can spend more time on the mission

UX Strategy & Design

Technology Strategy & Architecture

Rapid Prototyping

Technology Training

Reimagined the intranet as a true employee engagement platform for one of the world’s largest NPOs and its 1,800 global employees.
Conducted org-wide workshops and developed a training model to “train the trainers”
Increased collaboration and alignment across distributed teams through content and UX strategy

With almost 2,000 employees across the world and $69 billion in assets, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the second-largest charitable organization in the world. Stellar redesigned the charity’s intranet so that it could better manage its global workforce and achieve its mission to improve food and healthcare access in the developing world.

Situation

With nearly 2,000 employees across the globe, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation needed a better way to connect and collaborate internally. Their outdated intranet—spread across 10 different departmental sites—was no longer meeting employee needs, and usage rates were falling fast. Unifying these fragmented platforms into a single, streamlined experience would require not only a technical overhaul but also deep collaboration across multiple teams and stakeholders, all while working within a tight timeline.

Solution

After a two-day offsite gathering input from teams across the organization, Stellar uncovered more than 200 distinct user types who relied on the system, each with unique needs. Using rapid prototyping, we mapped out a simplified, more intuitive experience that made it easier for employees to access resources, get engaged with the company, and stay connected to one another. To ensure a positive official rollout, we launched a “train the trainers” program, hosting on-site seminars to empower internal champions to onboard their teams. The result was a unified intranet platform that boosted engagement, improved communication, and helped the Gates Foundation’s global workforce work more efficiently toward their mission.

Impact

The new intranet shifted HR support from a manual, high-touch model to a seamless self-serve experience. Hundreds of staff hours previously spent fielding requests were saved, operational efficiency significantly improved, and internal engagement increased. By streamlining these processes, the Foundation freed up teams to stay focused on their mission: addressing global inequities in healthcare, agriculture, and education.