Overview
I led UX design efforts for Connecticut's Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) digital transformation, helping streamline a complex government website from 500 pages to a focused 180. Through comprehensive user research and usability testing with ~100 participants, we completely reimagined the information architecture and overall user experience.
The project resulted in major improvements on multiple fronts such as process compliance by 30%, decrease in support calls by 83%, and user satisfaction reaching 4.2/5. With 78% of users giving extremely positive ratings to the new navigation, we transformed a frustrating experience into an intuitive one.
Beyond improvements to the DMV site itself, we created a scalable design system with reusable components and templatized pages that was implemented across their state-wide service sites.
Role
UX Designer
Team
2x UX Designers
2x UI Designers
2x Business Analysts
Development Team
Year
2021-22
Process
Key Responsibilities
Content Strategy | Mapped and restructured content to eliminate redundancies, reducing site pages by 64% while improving information findability |
|---|---|
Prototyping | Created and validated interactive prototypes through rigorous usability testing with ~100 participants across demographics |
Stakeholder Management | Facilitated client communications and approval processes while coordinating cross-functional teams toward shared objectives |
UX Design | Crafted intuitive user flows that reduced process completion time by 42% and improved compliance rates |
Design System Development | Built a comprehensive component library that's now scaling across multiple state-wide government services |
Identifying Complexities
When I joined the project as a UX Designer, we started with a clearly known problem with their digital experience being frustrating, confusing, and often leading nowhere. With more than 500 pages of scattered information, users abandoned critical processes out of frustration, with 62% of test participants unable to find what they needed. The site was a patchwork of inconsistent designs that failed accessibility standards and left users calling support centers in desperation.
“It’s mind-boggling to study all the the information on the DMV website. It’s a lot”
"I tried to use the website, but I couldn’t figure out where to go for a lost title. It didn’t make any sense to me what I read”
"I just need to renew my license but I've been clicking for 20 minutes. Ended up calling the office because I couldn't figure out which form I needed."
Addressing Information Overload
After carefully reviewing datapoints via website analytics, we slashed the site from 500 pages to a focused 180. Several iterations on the architecture during internal reviews with content, business, and SEO teams helped us test the new IA with actual DMV employees, making further adjustments along the way.
Tasks involved (Censored/Altered):
Content audits | Navigation usability tests | Usage data analysis | Taxonomy sorting | Journey Mapping |
|---|
Design Overhaul - Before/After
Design System (Select Components) - Preview
Layout Templates - Nested Component System
Outcome
When we launched the redesigned experience, the difference was immediate. Users who had struggled for 15+ minutes to find registration information were now completing the same task in under 4 minutes. DMV staff reported significantly fewer confused calls, and completion rates for online processes jumped by 30%.
Beyond the 78% positive rating and the 83% drop in support calls, it's the comments from users that made the project a huge success:
"I dreaded dealing with the DMV website, but this actually makes sense now."
"We receive 3,000 calls per day and this new design will help us decrease that substantially."
"I like how easy it is to find information; and how information is broken down in logical order."
The team continues to scale other service sites beyond my participation, based on these design foundations. This project demonstrates my ability to lead complex UX initiatives, translate user research into compelling solutions, and deliver measurable improvements that impact thousands of lives daily.