Large-scale government service transformation project (sanitised)
Background
A federal government agency initiated a major transformation project in response to legislative reform. The initiative required a complete redesign of their internal case management system, a new public-facing online portal, and a public register. Given the high visibility and legal sensitivity of the services, the agency prioritised delivering a transparent, accessible, and user-friendly experience across all platforms.
Design question
How can we design three integrated systems that effectively blend business needs, user experience principles, and evolving legislative requirements?
Design solution
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Online Portal: A public-facing interface for users to interact with the agency.
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Public Register: A searchable, transparent database aligned with legislative mandates.
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Internal Case Management System (CMS): A Dynamics-based system optimised for staff efficiency and scalability.
My role
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Designing the user experience across all three systems
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Creating UI for the portal and public register
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Optimising the CMS interface for increased case volume
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Uplifting and maintaining the agency’s design system
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Ensuring WCAG AA compliance across all deliverables
Approach
My approach is design-led but agile in execution. I focus on understanding the problem, validating early, and designing iteratively in lockstep with development.
I see UX as a bridge between strategy and delivery - ensuring we're not just building quickly but building the right thing.
Design process
Problem Discovery & Problem Definition
The project kicked off with a compressed timeline and a rapidly evolving legislative landscape. As the sole UX designer, I had to quickly orient myself within a multi-disciplinary team and define a clear path forward.
I needed to get clarity on the problem space and user needs before jumping into solutions.
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Stakeholder Workshops: Conducted workshop with policy advisors, legal teams, frontline staff, and technical leads to understand business goals, legislative constraints, and success metrics.
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Map Current Experience: Mapped the current experience and identified gaps or friction points.
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Define Target Users: Developed personas for both internal users (case officers, admin staff) and external users (citizens, legal professionals) to guide design decisions.
Persona - corporate lawyer
Define Product Vision & Design Artefacts
I used the research insights to create design artefacts and align the project team on what "good" design looks like.
I prioritised user problems with the product owner and defined a north-star experience to anchor iterative work.
To align the three systems, I created journey maps that visualised:
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User flows across the online portal, public register, and internal CMS
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Backstage processes and data handoffs between systems
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Legislative checkpoints and compliance triggers
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Pain points and opportunities for streamlining
These artefacts became foundational tools for cross-team alignment and prioritisation across agile sprints.
Thematic analysis of stakeholder feedback
Portal UX flow
Forms UX flow
Ideation & Prototyping
I generated multiple ideas through co-design sessions and sketching.
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Low-Fidelity Wireframes: Rapid sketches to validate concepts with stakeholders and developers
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Mid-Fidelity Prototypes: Built in Figma, tailored for each system’s unique needs
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Portal: Clean, accessible UI with clear calls to action
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Register: Searchable, filterable interface with legal transparency
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CMS: Efficiency-focused layout for high-volume case processing
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Prototypes were used for sprint demos, stakeholder sign-off, and developer handover.
Concept sketch for public register
Design & Delivery
Once direction was validated, I moved into high-fidelity UI, design systems, and component reuse.
I worked closely with developers during sprint planning - contributing to backlog refinement to make sure user stories reflect user value.
In agile, handoffs are continuous, not a single event. I often sat in stands or sprint reviews to unblock or clarify.
Test, Learn & Iterate
Despite time constraints, I embedded user testing into the delivery cycle where feasible:
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Remote Testing: Conducted moderated sessions with business users to get feedback
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UAT: Performed thematic analysis of internal and external user feedback to identify uplifts
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Accessibility Audits: Used WCAG AA standards to evaluate colour contrast and ease of navigation
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Feedback Loops: Incorporated findings into weekly design iterations, balancing usability with legislative fidelity.
If something didn't align with users, we adapted the design - not defend it.
User Feedback Analysis
Contribution & Impact
When I joined the project, design was not part of the delivery lifecycle. Requirements were handed directly from business to development, often accompanied by stakeholder-drawn mockups - one even sketched a UI in Microsoft Paint. There was no user research, no discovery, and no understanding of how to work with a UX designer. My primary contribution was not just designing three integrated systems, it was transforming how the team thought about design.
Before I Joined
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No UX process in place, requirements went straight from business to dev.
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Stakeholders provided their own designs (including one drawn in MS Paint).
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No user research, no discovery, no intentional design decisions.
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Team unsure how to work with a UX designer.
What I Did
Embedded Design into Delivery
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Introduced a design swimlane in the DevOps board.
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Ensured every user story was challenged for user value before development.
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Created UX artefacts (journey maps, wireframes, research summaries) to guide decisions.
Led UX Research with Limited Resources
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Conducted lean research to uncover pain points in existing systems.
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Translated insights into actionable design decisions.
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Worked with the Product Owner to prioritise the product vision from a user perspective.
Uplifted Team Capability
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Co-created handover processes with BAs, adding wireframes and design annotations to acceptance criteria.
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Built trust with developers, collaborated through technical constraints, they began seeking design input proactively.
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Managed stakeholder expectations, educating on UX principles and tech feasibility to achieve design sign-off.
Bridged Strategy and Delivery
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Acted as a connector between strategic design and delivery teams.
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Uplifted and maintained the agency’s design system, ensuring WCAG AA compliance.
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Delivered consistent, scalable design across all three platforms.
Outcome
In just 8 months, I transformed a delivery team unfamiliar with design into one that:
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Embedded UX into their workflow
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Made intentional, user-centered decisions
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Collaborated cross-functionally with trust and efficiency
Design became a strategic asset and not just a final step.