Custom Wizard Design – Dept. of State Records Submission Portal
The UX Challenge
The Department of State’s records management & information access systems for processing FOIA and other record requests were a patchwork of disparate technologies. Submission and management of permanent records from more than 200 US government locations worldwide was an even larger issue, lacking oversight, accessibility, and a streamlined process. With new federal mandates, the current process made it difficult for the Department to comply with the requirement to manage electronic permanent records used to respond to FOIA and other record requests. The client request: design and develop a records submission portal to be used across the Department of State for all electronic permanent records management. *Due to client sensitivity, I am happy to discuss this project with you, but am limited on what I can show.
The UX Approach
The team partnered with the Department of State Records Management division to transform business processes across the Department by:
1. implementing a new Records Submission Portal across the entire Department;
2. developing a new Records Submission Dashboard for management oversight;
3. automating manual processes to reduce data entry, improve the quality of records ingested, and increase efficiency for record submission to Records Managers.
After sitting down with the Client I explained the value of the human-centered design process for both the business and the customer when designing software. To begin, I recommended an audit of the current process for both end users and administrators to better understand the current state of user needs, problems, and technical and functional requirements.
Scheduling interviews and laying out target customer needs was done using personas and an initial prioritization of features by the client based on Department priorities and federal mandate deadlines. We identified that users needed to ensure all profile data was accurate in 2 different systems, an HR system and a 32 question online record submission form, in order to ensure records were submitted with accurate biographic information. If information was not accurate in the HR system users could not modify the details of the record submission form. Once submitted, the form went through a workflow requiring 4 different offices provide support in order to transfer the records to the Records Management division. Once records were transferred, the Records Management division spent up to 2 weeks culling through one submission request to scan for viruses and filter out permanent records before uploading them into the legacy records repository.
Based on the information gathered, the team created wireframes for a new Records Submission Portal that capitalized on automating data entry for users by pre-populating biographical details and reducing the number of questions asked from 32 down to 7. Administrators can manage all submissions from their Records Management Dashboard and initiate the automated record ingestion process into the Department permanent record archive after final review for accuracy.
The UX Impact and Final Product
This revolutionary transformation allowed the Department to streamline business processes, increase ease of record submission, and automate record ingestion of more than 1 BILLION Department records, bringing much needed uniformity to the record management process. The modernization will help the Department comply with new federal mandates, and set the stage for records management across the entire federal government.
My role: product manager, user research & requirements gathering, content audit, wireframe design & annotated prototype presentations.