Executive Summary
As Product Owner for Beacon, S&P Global's unified platform consolidating four divisional websites — Ratings, Market Intelligence, Platts, and S&P Dow Jones Indices — Priyanka led the 0-to-1 build of a single reusable framework — customized per division, with localization and personalization built in, delivered on a tight timeline. Partway through, behavioral evidence contradicted a decision the team had already committed to, and she made the case to change course.
The Original Bet
The plan was to consolidate four divisional websites onto Beacon behind a structured, curated navigation model — an information architecture organized around each division's product lines and content categories, the way a traditional corporate site is typically built to help visitors browse to what they need.
The Discovery
As the platform came together, behavioral data told a different story. Regardless of division, region, or how carefully the navigation was organized, visitors weren't browsing it — they were going straight to search.
The Tension
The navigation model had already been designed and, in large part, built. Leadership had committed real time and budget to it across all four divisions. Raising a fundamental change meant questioning a decision the team believed was settled, on a platform already running on a tight timeline with little room to relitigate scope.
The Decision
Priyanka analyzed the behavioral data to confirm the pattern was real and consistent across divisions, then brought the evidence directly to senior leadership — framing it not as a critique of the original plan, but as what the data was now showing about how people actually used the platform.
The Pivot
Rather than defend the original navigation investment, the team redirected toward a search-first experience, coordinating the redesign across Product, Design, Engineering, Marketing, and regional stakeholders for all four divisions — without abandoning the reusable framework, localization, and personalization work already underway. Content displayed still adapted to each visitor's location, language, and interests; how they got there changed.
The Outcome
Activation improved significantly following the pivot. The change validated the platform's prior investment rather than wasting it — Beacon still launched as one reusable, personalized framework across four divisions, built around how people actually found what they needed rather than how the team originally assumed they would.
What This Taught Me
Beacon remains one of my favorite product experiences because it reinforced something I still believe deeply: strong product management isn't about defending the original idea. It's about staying close enough to the customer to recognize when the evidence is telling you to build something different.
My Role and Scope
Product Owner, Beacon Global Digital Experience — led the 0-to-1 consolidation end to end, from platform approach through delivery across Product, Design, Engineering, Marketing, and regional stakeholders, including the mid-project navigation pivot.
Related Capabilities
- Product Discovery
- Customer Research
- Product Strategy
- Strategic Pivot
- B2B
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