01 — OVERVIEW
Mar 2, 2026
Making Government Services Easier to Navigate
Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income are lifelines for seniors and people with disabilities who have very limited income and resources — in 2021, 9.5 million disabled workers and dependents relied on these benefits. SSA.gov is the only digital path to access them. I led a full evaluation of the site’s usability, then designed and pitched a mobile solution to fix where it broke down.
UX Research
Accessible IA
Role
Product Designer & Researcher (led interface design and prototyping; drove research synthesis)
Timeline
Jan – Mar 2022
team
Partnered with a 5-person cross-functional research team
platform
Figma, Maze, Optimal Workshop, Qualtrics, Usertesting.com
ROLE
Product Designer & Researcher
TEAM
Cross-functional team of 5
ORGANIZATION
SSA.gov
PROGRAM · YEAR
8 weeks
METHODS + TOOLS
Figma · Maze · Optimal Workshop · Qualtrics · UserTesting.com
![[replace with new prototype visuals] SSA.gov mobile case-study cover](https://framerusercontent.com/images/81mzNEJ8faYfhSa1H6lZeaYlJk.jpg?width=1614&height=1108)
Government usability is an access problem with real issues
SSA.gov is the sole entry point for millions of Americans applying for disability benefits. One in four U.S. adults will experience some form of disability, and applicants who cannot navigate the site risk losing income they depend on to meet basic needs.I set out to answer three questions: how much of this was a genuine usability failure, exactly where in the funnel it broke down, and what a fix could look like within the constraints of a live federal product. Every recommendation had to be evidence-backed enough to stand on its own with a non-design stakeholder.
02 — BUSINESS CONTEXT
This wasn’t a conversion-rate problem. It was an access problem.
The site had to work for seniors and people with disabilities at the exact moment they needed clarity most.
THE STAKES
Applicants risked losing essential income when the path to benefits was unclear.
THE MANDATE
Design recommendations had to be actionable without backend or policy changes.
THE QUESTIONS
How much was usability failure, where did it break, and what could change?
THE CONSTRAINT
No backend access, limited design maturity, and no built-in A/B testing.
![[replace with new prototype visuals] SSA.gov mobile case-study cover](https://framerusercontent.com/images/fqPKDAQwvDSujmHbMD3JtwxL4.jpg?width=2289&height=1581)
03 — MY ROLE & PROCESS
Evaluate → Benchmark → Research → Synthesize → Design → Pitch
OWNERSHIP
Led interface design, prototyping, and final research synthesis.
EVALUATION
Personally ran the heuristic evaluation and designed the Maze study.
DESIGN
Owned ideation, wireframes, final prototype, and mobile solution.
COLLABORATION
Partnered on competitive analysis, qualitative tests, card sorting, and the stakeholder pitch.
04 — DISCOVERY & FRAMING
SSA’s program was unique. Its site didn’t have to be.
I started with an expert heuristic evaluation against Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics, surfacing issues across navigation, text hierarchy, and visual design.
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
Navigation, text hierarchy, and visual design all created friction.
The issues were structural, not merely stylistic.
DIRECT COMPETITORS
EDD, Breeze, and Haven Life offered more usable patterns.
Their approach showed what SSA could borrow without changing its program.
BENCHMARKS
Medicare, Medi-Cal, and Norway expanded the comparison.
Most competitors made eligibility and next steps easier to understand.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might I make finding information on ssa.gov easier?
The direction shifted from rewriting content to rebuilding the path to it.
05 — RESEARCH APPROACH
I combined four methods to separate opinion from behavior.
Participants were recruited broadly across the 18–64 age range that qualifies for disability benefits, regardless of previous application history. I used qualitative comparison, quantitative behavior, card sorting, and survey context together to map both the current breakdown and the structure users expected.
USERTESTING.COM
6 qualitative participants comparing SSA, EDD, and Breeze on the same task.
MAZE
22 quantitative participants cross-checking live SSA navigation behavior.
OPTIMAL WORKSHOP
40 participants sorting 26 pieces of SSA content into their own groups.
QUALTRICS
29 participants reporting goals, perceptions, and friction points.
METHOD RATIONALE
Each method answered a different question about behavior, mental models, and perceived friction.
I used qualitative comparison, quantitative behavior, card sorting, and survey context together to map both the current breakdown and the structure users expected.
![[replace with new prototype visuals] SSA.gov mobile case-study cover](https://framerusercontent.com/images/NKTYtGx2CNpSYXo8ejOfiQvSXZc.webp?width=2500&height=2021)
![[replace with new prototype visuals] SSA.gov mobile case-study cover](https://framerusercontent.com/images/td48njfLxxqcQsniAsrI5x9UL0.webp?width=2500&height=1355)
06 — KEY FINDINGS
The failure wasn’t wayfinding to the right page. It was comprehension and scannability within it.
QUALITATIVE — 100%
Preferred direct navigation, but struggled once inside SSA content.
QUANTITATIVE — 21%
Found eligibility requirements on the Disability Benefits page.
06 — KEY FINDINGS
The evidence isolated a page-level failure with unusually clear precision.
100% PAGE REACH
Users reached the Disability Benefits page from the homepage.
21% TASK SUCCESS
Users found the eligibility requirements on that page.
64% MISCLICKS
Average misclick rate, with users drifting off path more than 78% of the time.
06 — KEY FINDINGS
The problem was not navigation to the page; it was what happened once users arrived.
A precise diagnosis: in-page comprehension was failing.
CARD SORT — 67%
Independently grouped content into Apply, Documents, Profile, and Disability.
SURVEY — 41%
Named presentation of information as the biggest thing to fix.
SURVEY — 50%
Came to learn about services, compared with 33% who came to apply.
SURVEY — 45%
Called finding eligibility information only “moderate” in difficulty.
![[replace with new prototype visuals] SSA.gov mobile case-study cover](https://framerusercontent.com/images/WYSjYRqSnARy98kEwwuXkEU8rU.jpg?width=3196&height=1371)
07 — INSIGHTS & RECOMMENDATIONS
I translated research into five evidence-ranked recommendations.
Every response addressed a specific, observed failure rather than a generic redesign preference.
01 — REDUCE TEXT OVERLOAD
Break content into smaller chunks, use 50–75 character line lengths, and create clear visual groupings.
02 — LEAD WITH PLAIN LANGUAGE
Start with a brief summary, avoid unexplained jargon, and reveal detail progressively.
03 — PRESERVE CONTEXT WHILE SCROLLING
Keep header and table-of-contents controls persistent so users do not lose their place.
04 — SIGNAL HIERARCHY
Use stronger contrast, collapsible sections, breadcrumbs, and intentional alignment to guide scanning.
05 — ELEVATE CRITICAL CONTENT
Put key links front-and-center, use high-contrast hyperlink styling, and reserve buttons for meaningful actions.
DESIGN RATIONALE
Spend less time on macro-navigation and more on in-page hierarchy, content chunking, and progressive disclosure.
08 — THE SOLUTION
I proposed a mobile platform rather than a surface patch to the existing site.
“Securing today and tomorrow” made eligibility, action, and status clearer.
ACCESSIBLE
Make information, eligibility, and application status easier to access through site-wide best practices.
EASY & INSTANT
Offer a convenient real-time alternative to the dense desktop experience.
ENGAGING
Capture feedback and sustain engagement beyond a single transaction.
DESIGN DECISION
A purpose-built mobile channel let me apply research without legacy desktop-template constraints.
08 — THE SOLUTION
I sketched and prototyped four core flows directly tied to the research findings.
Welcome → Learn About Disability → Apply → Check Status
01
WELCOME — A personalized entry point across benefit types.
02
LEARN ABOUT DISABILITY — Chunked, collapsible content addressing text overload.
03
APPLY / CHECK STATUS — Segmented steps and persistent claim tracking.
![[replace with new prototype visuals] SSA.gov mobile case-study cover](https://framerusercontent.com/images/As9IjirAbTekMKR0QZhRmidXJvA.jpg?width=2881&height=1560)
08 — THE SOLUTION
Prototype flows made the research-backed mobile direction tangible.
Product Goals:
Allows users an alternative method to find basic information, eligibility requirements, check for application status, and apply.
Use establish research and insights to inform design solutions.
Creates a solution that maintains user interest and motivation
09 — IMPACT & OUTCOMES
I turned a vague “the site is confusing” complaint into an evidence-backed business case for a specific product direction.
Diagnostic precision made the recommendation actionable.
79%
DROP IN SUCCESS ISOLATED TO A SINGLE PAGE-LEVEL INTERACTION.
6
EVIDENCE-RANKED RECOMMENDATIONS, EACH ACTIONABLE WITHOUT BACKEND OR POLICY CHANGES.
09 — IMPACT & OUTCOMES
One validated taxonomy. One new mobile concept. A stronger business case.
1 MOBILE CONCEPT
Designed and pitched for fast eligibility answers and real-time status tracking.
1 CONTENT TAXONOMY
Apply, Documents, Profile, and Disability — derived from user mental models.
DELIVERY MODEL
A research-backed design recommendation and stakeholder pitch, not a shipped release.
09 — IMPACT & OUTCOMES
79% DROP IN SUCCESS
Isolated to a single page-level interaction.
6 RECOMMENDATIONS
Evidence-ranked and actionable without backend or policy changes.
1 MOBILE PLATFORM
Designed and pitched for the two most-cited user needs.
1 VALIDATED TAXONOMY
Replaced assumption-based structure with tested card-sort data.
10 — REFLECTION / WHAT’S NEXT
01 — Run a tree test to validate the proposed navigation at scale.
02 — Extend the same method to Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Scoping the evaluation to one task — finding disability eligibility — kept the work focused enough to reach page-level precision, but it likely under-represents issues elsewhere on a site this large. Next, I’d run a tree test and extend the work to SSI.
This project sharpened how I approach institutional, high-stakes products: users can least afford friction when organizations can least afford to move fast.
THE WORK — I built a case, evidence layer by evidence layer, precise enough for a low-design-maturity stakeholder to act on with confidence.
FINAL TAKEAWAY