UX Research-Driven Drupal 10 Migration and Product Discovery Platform for Master Bond

The primary goal was to create a modern digital platform that would help engineers and technical buyers quickly identify the right products for their applications. Main objectives included -

• Simplify product discovery across a large and complex catalog
• Improve navigation and filtering for technical users
• Migrate from Drupal 7 to a supported, scalable Drupal 10 platform

• Improve performance, accessibility, and editorial workflows

   

Master Bond’s adhesives are engineered for the most demanding technical applications, and we needed a digital platform that reflected that level of precision. Specbee didn’t just give us a new website; they helped us build a sophisticated tool that allows engineers to navigate thousands of formulations and find the exact data they need in seconds. The research-driven approach ensured that every design decision was backed by actual user requirements.

Dmitriy Zhitomirskiy
Marketing Manager, Master Bond

The Challenge

Master Bond’s existing Drupal 7 platform was approaching end of life and was no longer meeting the needs of its growing user base.

Some main challenges -

• A large and complex product database with highly specialized technical attributes
• Multiple user personas with different discovery paths and goals
• Inefficient navigation and limited filtering capabilities
• Performance issues affecting page load times and usability
• Data silos that limited integration with internal systems

This was not a simple redesign or migration. The project required deep UX research, careful information architecture planning, and a robust technical foundation to support complex search and data requirements.

The Approach

The project began with a structured discovery and UX research phase.

Specbee conducted:

• Stakeholder interviews and internal workshops
• User research and usability testing with multiple personas
• Two rounds of prototyping and validation using Figma

Based on the research findings, the team redesigned the information architecture and navigation model to support multiple discovery paths and reduce friction in product selection.

On the technical side, the team:

• Migrated the platform from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10
• Implemented a component-based design system using reusable Drupal components
• Built an advanced faceted search and filtering using Apache Solr
• Integrated product data from internal systems to ensure consistency and accuracy
• Preserved SEO equity during migration through careful URL mapping and metadata handling
• Implemented performance optimizations and accessibility improvements aligned with WCAG guidelines

A custom product selector tool was also built to guide users through complex technical requirements and narrow down suitable formulations.

The Result

The new Drupal platform delivered measurable improvements across performance and engagement.

• Website performance score increased from 65 to 98
• 92.5% increase in overall active users
• 64% increase in active users on the Contact page, the primary lead generation touchpoint
• The new product selector tool recorded over 12,000 interactions and more than 5,000 visits

The redesigned experience significantly reduced friction in product discovery and improved conversion paths for technical users.