USDA REDESIGN
RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN
PROJECT SUMMARY
The current USDA website is confusing and challenging to navigate. Overall, users have a hard time finding the necessary information.
I redesign the current USDA website (desktop and mobile versions) by reorganizing the site hierarchy to make it easier for users to navigate the site and find information. My goal was to make the site more engaging, accessible, and easy to navigate.
Product Designer
User Research, Interaction, Visual Design, Prototyping & Testing
Timeline
~3 Weeks
Year
December 2020
THE DESIGN PROCESS
This project was part of the UI/UX Bootcamp at the University of Texas at Austin. We were tasked to redesign a government website.
At the beginning of this project, I collaborated with four team members to complete the user research, heuristic analysis, and redline. After analyzing user data, I worked independently to implement my findings into the redesign. I completed one round of paper/lo-fi prototyping and hi-fi prototyping before completing a usability test. I reiterated the design and prototyping process many more times before producing a final product.
RESEARCH
Our users were able to find the Farming Information on the USDA website but struggled to find specific information. In our user testing, we asked users to navigate the current USDA website to find the Farm Loan application. The majority of our users could navigate to the Farming Page but had difficulty finding the application and instructions on how to apply.
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Based on our research, users felt overwhelmed due to too much information, cluttered navigation, and lack of hierarchy on the USDA site. This leads users to have a poor and frustrating experience.
THE CURRENT USDA WEBSITE
DEFINITION
To understand the user and prioritize key features that would improve the user experience.
PROTO–PERSONA
We created a proto-persona based on our research.
Our user is Johnny Stash, and he’s visiting the USDA website because he needs to find specific information pertaining to starting a farm and getting government assistance.
By creating our persona, we were able to define the parameters of the redesign.
IDEATION
To generate ideas and solutions for the redesign
By creating an Affinity Diagram and 2x2 Features Matrix, we determined that we needed to prioritize site hierarchy and organization by–
– Eliminating repetitive call to actions & links
– Simplify the secondary navigation & footer
INFORMATION ANALYSIS
CARD SORTING
I performed a cart sort to organize the wealth of information available on the USDA website.
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By grouping information together, I was able to find a lot of redundancy. The site also highlighted content that wasn't important to the average user, making the site feel unnecessarily cluttered.
SITE MAP
For our users to find the correct and appropriate forms to apply for farm loans, they have to navigate two different home pages, the USDA Home Page & the FSA Home Page.
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Both page’s navigation systems are not very organized and difficult to digest. I resolved this issue by chunking the navigation links into categories.
Mobile Mockup Screens
Home Screen
Topics Screen
Grants & Loans Screen
Farming Screen
MOBILE
In the mobile user testing, the hamburger menu was confusing for some users.
I changed the navigation bar and removed the hamburger menu.
I also made the secondary navigation full page instead of an overlay to reduce the amount of clicks.
TESTING
To identify any usability problem, collect data, and determine user satisfaction with the product
I completed five user tests using the second iteration of the high-fidelity prototype. Users were able to complete the following task on the USDA website:
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Find the Farming Page from Navigation– 100% Success Rate
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Find the Loans & Grants Page– 85.71% Success Rate
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Go back to Home Page– 100% Success Rate
The redesign addressed the site’s navigation issues. The user testing showed users could successfully navigate the site without much frustration or confusion.
PROTOTYPING
First Iteration
Homepage
FIRST WEB ITERATION
I wanted users to be able to distinguish between buttons and links and text clearly.
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After the first iteration, I completed some user testing. Users remarked that too much white made the website feel stark and empty.
SECOND WEB ITERATION
I applied three different style guides throughout the process.
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Even though a government website should be professional and clean, I still wanted the site to be engaging and welcoming. After the first iteration, I completed some user testing. Users remarked that too much white made the website feel stark and empty.
Second Iteration
Homepage
Grants & Loans Page
Farming Page
CONCLUSION
Users were frustrated with the current navigation and remarked that the site felt cluttered, making it difficult to find information. The challenge in the redesign was to make the site inviting and engaging while still providing the necessary information. It was a balancing act because I couldn't aggressively clean house at the risk of confusing users with too broad or vague categories. However, at the same time, if I didn't' consolidate categories together, the site would still feel overwhelming. I think that's the delicate and essential job of a UI Designer– to consider and reconsider different inputs and make design choices that would benefit and enhance the user experience.
