Visual communication for education leaders.

Targeting student aid recipients and administrators, our team’s goal was to consolidate legacy systems and outdated processes, introducing new functionality into a single, accessible portal enhancing the relationship between our client and their partners. Our team embarked on a mission to design and develop an efficient, customer-friendly Portal solution connecting our client with their school partners.

As the lead visual strategist, I was responsible for managing all designers and shaping the visual strategy throughout the engagement. I constructed a scalable and accessible design system, ensuring a unified look and feel across our product and maintaining cohesion throughout the larger account. Leading client and stakeholder working sessions, I introduced human-centered methodologies, emphasizing the importance of visual and service design. This approach established trust and a successful working cadence with our client partners, contributing to a successful future partnership.

Client

Department of Education

Duration

10 months

The team

4 interaction designers

1 visual designer

Deliverables

Information architecture, digital design system, content strategy, user flows

Process & approach.

Tasked with consolidating content and functions into a single platform, enabling single sign-on access, and modernizing partner eligibility management, our team's primary objective was to migrate 400+ data points and 13,000+ articles to the new portal with design enhancements. With both custom and Drupal CMS, we wrote 2,500+ requirements and designed 500+ wireframes over 10 months.

The team divided into two work streams, balancing efforts across nine features. Weekly meetings ensured consistency in design decisions, with daily co-creation and collaboration with functional account team partners and regular engagement with our client and stakeholders.

Facilitating working sessions with the client, we iteratively defined site requirements, audited examples, built mock-ups, and finalized key features. Nine usability tests were conducted with trusted school representatives, evaluating and prioritizing results for a good user experience.

Deliverables.

Leading the visual design strategy, I crafted a design system in InVision’s DSM for scalability, evolution, and adaptation. The hybrid look and feel aligned with pre-existing programs, encompassing color palettes, typography, grids, spacing guidelines, and foundational UI components. Our system adhered to 508 WCAG accessibility standards, accounting for sizing, scaling, screen reading, and color contrast. In early 2021, I spearheaded the integration of our system with pre-existing programs, sparking an organization-wide strategy to align our client’s brand and identity. For all features, our team produced detailed user flows, information architecture, low-, mid-, and high-fidelity wireframes, InVision prototypes, client presentation materials, and traceability documentation.

Select sample screens below.

Reflections.

This project was the longest engagement I have been part of to date, and I learned so much about my leadership style throughout. Managing a team of designers and ensuring design consistency across hundreds of features was no small ask. To proactively address this, I organized twice-weekly critique sessions, regular 1:1s with each team member, and lunch and learns where designers could speak to a topic of interest (such as Figma tips, typography basics, etc.).

With hectic meeting schedules and demanding hours, it was quickly apparent that a strong team foundation would set us up for success, beyond project delivery. We crafted a team charter that the team could look to, reminding us of our goals as a team and what success look like.

Overall, I was reminded of how important it is to meet others where they are, and I’ve taken this learning with me into other projects & designers I have managed.