Improving Access to Benefits
Designing with veterans, not for them
by Clare Martorana & Kat Jurick
Veterans have come to expect the same intuitive user experience from their government websites as they have on private-sector websites, such as USAA or TurboTax. Instead they were burdened with navigating the different Veterans Affairs (VA) websites to apply for and manage their disability, health, education, and other benefits. VA’s digital ecosystem was a maze of hundreds of websites and over 400,000 paper forms, forcing Veterans to understand the agency’s organizational structure to find their most frequently used benefits.
The United States Digital Service team at the VA, has worked with Veterans over the last few years to improve how they can discover, access, and use their VA benefits. From rebuilding Veteran-facing applications to creating a personalized dashboard where Veterans can see their benefits in one place, our approach was the same: Veterans were at the center of every decision we made. By listening to Veterans and working with our VA partners, we ultimately transformed the front door of the Veterans Affairs (va.gov) into a holistic portal that prioritized Veterans’ needs for easy access to benefit services and tools.
Paving the way for va.gov
As many technology stories do, ours started with a minimum viable product (MVP): improving Veterans’ health and education applications on a single website, Vets.gov. We needed to show that it was possible to apply agile product management, modern DevOps, and user-centered design to create better Veteran-facing experiences. In doing this, we were experimenting with a new way for VA to interact with Veterans.
We built Vets.gov by validating our design decisions with Veterans through user research. Iteratively, and over time, Vets.gov evolved into a website designed with Veterans, where they could apply for and manage several of their benefits. However, a VA partner’s user research study helped us realize that while we had improved specific Veteran-facing applications and services, we had also become part of the problem. Vets.gov was yet another website — in addition to va.gov and several others — where Veterans had to navigate for their VA benefits. What Veterans wanted most was a single place where they could easily manage their VA benefits. Most importantly, they expected va.gov to be the agency’s digital front door.
Partnering for a better va.gov
This meant Vets.gov needed to merge into va.gov. We needed to transform va.gov from a website prioritizing agency communication to a site that put Veteran-focused content first. We worked closely with partners across VA to simplify access to benefits and services, minimize confusion between disjointed VA program websites, and organize va.gov around its users. We determined with key partners these goals would be our sole guiding principles, foundational to all our work.
Designing for impact
The team learned how Veterans discovered benefits, and which benefits they used most, through user research, analytics, and conversations with VA staff. We asked Veterans to group benefits into categories they defined. Veterans mapped pathways to accessing top tasks through VA with card sorts and tree tests. Their feedback informed initial mockups of a new va.gov. Veterans provided input on each round of designs, from initial wireframes to high-fidelity prototypes. Additionally, content strategists examined benefit information available on the site, worked with VA stakeholders, and tested with users to develop a plain-language, single source of truth on eligibility and application processes for each benefit category.
The team divided into two groups. One worked to solve accessibility challenges with users to improve Veterans’ login and authentication experiences. The other group developed a personalized dashboard, user profile, and account pages. This meant that, for the first time, Veterans could login to va.gov to complete simple transactions like a change of home address, check the status of benefit applications, refill prescriptions, and exchange secure messages with doctors.
In addition to individual applications and tools, the team also worked to improve the overall usability of va.gov. Ultimately, over 2,000 Veterans and hundreds of VA partners provided feedback and influenced the new site, which launched on Veterans Day 2018. Incorporating human-centered design, agile methodologies, iterative product management, and collaborative teamwork throughout the process resulted in a better user experience for Veterans.
Post-launch, one Veteran shared with us, “When I come on here, I can clearly see information I need is available, health care, disability, education, this is your one-stop-shop you need for Veteran related stuff.”
Now, when Veterans come to va.gov, instead of finding VA’s org charts and agency press releases, they find the top 20 tasks they use most, and clear pathways to tools they need. For example, the redesign of va.gov has increased the customer satisfaction score by 6 %, online appointment scheduling by 700 %, and the number of healthcare applications submitted electronically by 81 %.
Designing with Veterans is an ongoing process. The team continues to make improvements to the discoverability, accessibility, and usability of VA benefits and tools. With Veterans sitting at the table, the new va.gov will continue to provide the growing services Veterans need.
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Clare Martorana is the Chief Information Officer at US Office of Personnel Management. Previously she was a member of the USDS, and worked for Everyday Health and WebMD.
Kat Jurick is Director of Design at the US Digital Service. Previously she worked for Defense Digital Service, Razorfish, Microsoft, and Salesforce.
