Rapid prototyping for the web using the US Web Design System

We believe fast cycles of #prototyping and testing accelerate learning, reduce risk, and improve outcomes. We started a dedicated internal team to explore new processes and tools for using web-based prototyping to help our delivery teams lower the barriers to making ideas more tangible more quickly.

As part of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience, government agencies are required to modernize their websites using the U.S. Web Design System (#USWDS) to improve the public’s customer experience. Our team is working to empower designers to take ownership of prototyping in the web medium and enable them to better collaborate with developers through the common language of the USWDS.

A typical need we see in government is for people to fill out a simple screener before they complete a larger task. When these screeners are long, onerous, and confusing, they lead to wasted time and bad data. Drawing inspiration from one of our HHS projects, we decided to build an accessible, plain-language, effortless template to allow for rapid iteration of a screener, before starting on any production code. After making and testing 3 versions in less than 4 weeks, we demonstrated major improvements in user experience, accessibility, and usability that laid the groundwork for a better product.

Attendees will learn how our designers are using USWDS, GitHub, and other tools to better collaborate with their developer counterparts to align on #design intent early in a project and build confidence in what we’re implementing. We will demonstrate how attendees can use our template to build their own screener, or use it as a starting point for building their own templates.

🎤 Presenter(s): Philip Levy
🔗 Session details: LINK TO SESSION ON DGC WEBSITE

Drupal is a registered trademark of Dries Buytaert.