USDA: U.S. Department of Agriculture

A complete redesign to the navigation of a federal government agency.

UXR and UI Designer: Cristina Samper C.

Tools Utilized: Figma | Adobe CS | Google Suite | Pexels

Project Overview

The Problem

Despite being used as massive information archive hubs by hundreds of thousands of users, government websites are famously hard to navigate and are not considered user-friendly.

Navigating the USDA site with ease is our top priority. I utilized a sub-categorization method in order to group topics together and facilitate the navigation process throughout the USDA website.

The Approach

Heuristic Evaluation

  1. The page margins are too large, space they could use and avoid scrolling in the home page

  2. Government website disclaimer, small and necessary

  3. USDA logo and sub logo clearly stated on the left side of the page

  4. Navigation is overall small scaled, and does not interact too much with the user.

  5. Secondary navigation bar, takes user outside the USDA site, but necessary for large-scale .gov sites

  6. Search bar does not navigate within USDA by default which is confusing

  7. COVID-19 safety FAQ - space can be repurposed to more relevant emergencies

  8. Primary section: news articles, re-route the user to the Blog section

  9. Our Priorities section can be re-thought, as well as the rest of the welcome page.

Initial User Interview Insights

Five (5) people were interviewed and requested to find specific links within the USDA site. Three main points came up as we searched for overarching issues in the USDA website today.

  1. Legibility

Small font type throughout the site makes it hard for users to read.

2. Navigation

There is no indication of which links are external redirecting links, which are downloadable documents, which are navigation links. Navigation is overall confusing.

The search bar should search inside USDA parameters by default.

3. Usability

Currently, the user flows are not standardized and cause confusion.

Proto-Persona Analysis

I set up two personas whose needs would be considered throughout the redesign process.

User Personas

I started out creating two personas to guide every organization and user interface decision made from this moment forward. Each persona represents a varied demographic of users who could need to use the USDA site.

Persona I: Staying up to date

Persona II: In search of government grants & initiatives

The Purpose Behind a Redesign

USDA provides leading news and updates on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on public policy, the best available science, and effective management.

The USDA website is a great resource hub for urban and rural farmers, but getting to those resources is confusing and difficult for users.

A redesign of the navigation bar will help cut users’ time searching for what they need in the website, and increase the time they have to digest the information and think of follow-up questions, all the while reducing the bitterness that comes when thinking of having to use a government website.

Card Sorting

Cards

Navigation Map

Annotations

Low-Fidelity Navigation

Under the Topics section, three (3) sub topics have derived: Farming, Climate, Health, and Safety, and Technical Resources are created. In this way, the user engages in a constructive browsing process, where further subtopics appear as users go deeper into main topics.

Mid-Fidelity Navigation

The aim was to maintain a familiar style of the existing site, yet sectioning the topics so the site is more easily navigated.

Mid-Fidelity Prototype

The more you know in the design and development complexity, the better the workflow is across the team. Developers have all the information they need for a clear exchange of ideas.

Final Observations and Next Steps

Feedback

A final set of user interviews was done, with five (5) interviewees who compared the original site and the new iteration. Here were the top notes that were made.

“It’s a comprehensive approach to the complex site navigation. I would appreciate a more advanced search engine as a new feature.”

-C

“Sectioning the elements in the Topics section was a good idea, you were able to simplify a very long list of topics.”

-M

“I like that you maintained the main design structure of the site, and it all looks more organized and seamless.”

-L

Next Steps

Had I more time on this project, I would have spent some time in a new feature development such as an AI bot to help users navigate the site.

  1. Identify ways to shorten steps to find information tools.

  2. Refine and streamline the USDA search engine.

  3. Incorporate an assistant bot to provide suggestions to tools, and other elements that facilitate navigation to all user profiles.

  4. Generate a consistent flow that invites site users to provide feedback to the USDA site.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this case study!

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