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Client
N/A
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Year
2020
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Role
UX Designer
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Tools
Sketch, InVision, Miro, Google Workspace
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Deliverable
Medium-fidelity prototype
Problem
Is there a way to measurably improve the way users interact with their local government?
Service Center is a microsite template designed for small cities to simplify outdated, congested websites so that users can quickly and easily access government services.
Defining the project
What do users want and how will we provide it?
My team began by exploring the ways that people interact with their local governments. With a better understanding of how this relationship works, our team would be able to more effectively identify the problems and develop solutions. We interviewed a variety of US residents and discovered that people overwhelmingly interact with their local government when looking for information on government services (permits, licenses, inspections, etc.)
A competitive analysis of municipalities of various sizes revealed that larger cities typically had highly functional, aesthetically appealing websites. While smaller cities were often poorly designed and confusing to the user.
Persona
Meet Eva…
With the information gathered thus far, the team created a persona that would serve as a proxy for the users we were hoping to attract and devised a problem statement that would define the project’s goals.
Regardless of their level of civic engagement, the user needs clear and easy access to government services. When municipal websites are dense and hard to navigate, residents have a hard time availing themselves of these essential programs.
Ideation
We have the why, now for the how…
Beginning with rough pen & paper sketches, each team member worked on a divergent design idea, refining the design until a low-fidelity wireframe was created. At this point, there is a general idea of what the design will look like as most of the important elements are in place.
Sketch of a potential bill payment flow
Low-fidelity wireframe of a bill payment flow
The team reconvened with our divergent designs and we then set out to create a single convergent design. As a group, we talked about what we liked and didn’t like about the low-fidelity wireframes, but it was important for us to put the designs in front of some potential users to see what worked and what didn’t. With the feedback from user testing and intra-group analysis, the next step was to create a medium-fidelity prototype.
Prototype
Results
User needs addressed with our design.
In order to test the efficacy of our design, we decided to see how our prototype would stand up against a real, small city municipal website. We asked our test subjects to complete the same three tasks, once using the Service Center prototype and again using the Hilton Head, SC municipal site.
Conclusion
Moving forward…
Due to the time constraints of this project, my team had to stop after building the medium-fidelity prototype. Had time allowed we would have
User tested the prototype
Made the appropriate design changes
User tested the prototype again
Made more design changes
And on and on and on until all parties involved felt the project was ready to move on to a next step (be it a higher fidelity prototype, handing off to a UI team, etc.)
I would also caution anyone against using a design program that will lock your prototype behind a paywall.