Child Support Services (CSS) is a government program that ensures non-custodial parents fulfill their legal financial obligations to custodial parents and children. This project is a large-scale, ongoing effort to develop an internal system designed to help caseworkers efficiently manage child support cases.
Unlike traditional client-driven projects, this initiative is unique in that it is being developed as a framework rather than for a specific state or client. The goal is to create a scalable, adaptable solution that can be customized and adopted by various states and tribal governments.
Lead UX/UI designer in a team of 2-4
TBD
March 2024 - Present (work in progress)
Currently, most states rely on outdated child support management systems that are inefficient, cumbersome, and difficult to use.
These legacy systems create significant challenges for government caseworkers, slowing down processes and hindering their ability to effectively manage cases.
The goal of this project is to develop a scalable, user-friendly framework for child support case management that simplifies workflows, enhances caseworker efficiency, and can be customized for various states and tribal governments to improve support for custodial parents and children.
The UX/UI Team facilitated working sessions with subject matter experts with several years of experience in the child support industry to understand the goals and challenges of the government workers using our application. We also gained insights into the types of clients they typically work with, including their circumstances, limitations, and needs.
After parsing through all the valuable information, we created a user persona for a child support worker and a client. These personas guided our design decisions by helping us prioritize user needs, streamline workflows, and ensure the interface was intuitive and aligned with real-world use cases.
The business analysts provided over 100 user stories for the project, with the list continuing to grow as we refine requirements and expand the system’s capabilities. Here are some examples:
As an intake worker,
I want to review applications and edit the information,
so that I can ensure everything is accurate before establishing a case
As a case worker,
I want a case timeline and time tracker for a case,
so that I can monitor the case progress and ensure my deadlines are met.
As a case worker,
I want to have a global search functionality
so that I can quickly locate cases and participants.
As we received user stories and requirements, we builded information architecture diagrams to map out the structure of the application.
A quick summarized view of the worker's key performance indicators, upcoming work, and calendar events.
Workers have the option to use AI to help them summarize their notes in a professional and concise manner.
Search and filter the database to quickly find and navigate to a specific case or participant.
Workers can view their current and upcoming meetings on a calendar in month, week, and day view.
Continue developing the framework and demo to potential stakeholders to secure an official client.
Once a client is secured, conduct usability testing to further refine and customize the product based on their specific needs and requirements.
Reach out to additional states and tribal governments to promote the framework and explore potential adoption.
