USDA - Plant Permit Application
UX/ UI Design & Usability Testing
CLIENT: USDA Animal and Plan Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
ROLE: UX Designer and Researcher
TEAM STRUCTURE: Interdisciplinary team of Business Analysts, Developers, and Testers. Entire team was roughly 40 people.
TIMELINE: 3 months
TOOLS: Sketch, Abstract, JIRA, Microsoft Suite, Zoom
FINAL DELIVERABLES: High-fidelity mockups of full application flow and usability test results
Context
Overview
We were asked to redesign APHIS' permitting system and migrate all the existing applications to a newer, Salesforce based platform. The work showcased in this case study is for a protected plants permit required for any individuals intending to import protected or endangered plants for profit or gain.
Challenge
The protected plants permit was only needed by a small subset of users who intended to use their commodity for gain or profit. Importers often misunderstood USDA's definition of "gain or profit" which includes trading, bartering, and collecting. As a result, many individuals and organizations failed to apply for this permit even when they needed it and were blocked at the port.
Outcomes
By implementing screener questions and supplying more information to users upfront, we were able to decrease ambiguity around who needed to complete this application. 8 months after launching, 380 permits were issued collecting around $26,000 in fees.
Usability Testing
What our client wanted to know:
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Were students enjoying the coursework and finding it meaningful?
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How can we make our lessons more interactive and engaging?
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Should our business switch to a different Learning Management System?
To answer these questions, we started with two concrete goals.
LMS Competitive Analysis
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This would help our client see which LMS platform would best suit their current and future needs.
User Surveys and Interviews
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We needed to hear about the experiences of current users and alums to see what could be done to improve their experience.