SSA.gov Digital-First Redesign

Enterprise Web • Human-Centered Design • Design System Leadership • 180M+ Visitors Annually

SSA.gov Digital-First Redesign

Design Story Overview

When the pandemic reshaped how Americans accessed government services, SSA faced a historic challenge:
a legacy website with 78,000+ pages, low satisfaction, and inconsistent user experience across channels.

As a Content Strategist & UX Lead, I helped drive SSA’s largest digital transformation effort in more than a decade — the digital-first redesign of SSA.gov, impacting more than 180 million annual visitors.

My work centered on:

Human-Centered Design (HCD) at enterprise scale
Building a Figma design system aligned with USWDS
Redesigning high-impact workflows (Retirement, Medicare, SSN, SSI)
Simplifying complexity using plain language
Iterative design & validation using research + analytics
Cross-functional leadership across USDS, GSA, CMS, developers, and policy teams

Outcome:
+22.3 CSAT improvement, 25% increase in online transactions, and 550% growth in online benefit verification letters — directly reducing office traffic and call-center load.

1. Problem & Context

SSA.gov was one of the most visited government websites, but:

Content was scattered across tens of thousands of legacy pages
Findability was low and task pathways were unclear
Mobile layouts were dense and inconsistent
Spanish content needed modernization & accessibility upgrades
No unified design system or editorial standard existed
Pandemic-driven demand exposed major gaps in digital service delivery

Baseline pain signals:

CSAT stuck at 47.7
High abandonment on common task flows
Increased call-center volume
Users struggled with long, text-heavy pages

SSA partnered with USDS to launch a full, digital-first redesign — and I was a core contributor to strategy, content, workflows, and iterative testing.

2. My Role & Team

Role: Content Strategist / UX Lead

I partnered with designers, developers, researchers, and product owners to design, test, and launch new digital experiences.

My contributions included:

Leading content strategy & plain-language adoption
Designing flows & prototypes for top tasks
Building and governing the Figma-based SSA design system
Analyzing Medallia & GA data to identify improvements
Supporting usability testing in English and Spanish
Collaborating with USDS, GSA, CMS, and internal SSA components
Co-founding the Digital Experience Council for cross-agency alignment
Delivering iterative releases in an Agile environment

3. End-to-End Design Process

3.1 Discovery & Research

Quantitative research

Medallia verbatims & satisfaction scoring
Google Analytics & Digital Analytics Program (DAP) flow analysis
Task abandonment & drop-off analysis
Search query analysis (internal & external)

Qualitative research

Customer interviews
Spanish-language usability studies
Accessibility walkthroughs
Field insights from front-line SSA employees

Key insights

Dense, complex content blocked comprehension
Top tasks were buried under the fold
Mobile users struggled with layout patterns
Spanish content (when avalible) lacked consistency & accessibility
Progressive disclosure dramatically improved comprehension

3.2 Definition & Alignment

I helped define the redesign strategy using:

Top task prioritization: top 20 pages = ~90% of traffic
Success metrics: CSAT, task completion time, adoption
Cross-component alignment via the Digital Experience Council
Editorial + IA standards co-developed across stakeholders

3.3 Design & Prototyping (Figma)

I created:

Wireframes
Task flows
High-fidelity templates
Content patterns
Eligibility decision trees
Figma design system components
Content databases

Design principles:

4th-grade reading level
One decision per screen
Mobile-first layouts
Clear, unambiguous CTAs
USWDS alignment
WCAG AA+ accessibility
Progressive disclosure

3.4 Testing & Iteration

I collaborated with UX researchers to conduct:

Moderated usability tests
Content comprehension tests
Spanish-language reviews
Accessibility checks
A/B comparisons

Measurable improvements

Paragraph length reduced by 40–60%
Improved comprehension across all redesigned pages
Higher click-through to “Start Application” actions
Stronger trust signals in plain-language content
Better scannability via headings & spacing

3.5 Agile Delivery & Collaboration

Throughout the redesign I participated in:

Sprint planning
Backlog grooming
Daily standups
QA/content freeze cycles
Feature demos & review sessions
Team retrospectives

This ensured:

Design intent was preserved through development
Complex content stayed accurate
Spanish versions aligned with English UX patterns
Releases remained iterative and user-driven
The needs of team members were addressed

4. Outcomes & Impact

Customer Satisfaction

47.7 → 70.0 CSAT after redesign
SSI section: 76.5 CSAT
Spanish content: 85%+ CSAT

Digital Adoption

25% increase in my Social Security online transactions
550% increase in online Benefit Verification Letters
Reductions in call center traffic
Improved navigation & findability metrics

Operational Impact

Governance for 78,000+ pages across legacy + WCMS
New design system + content standards
Consistent UX patterns across English/Spanish

5. What I Learned & Relevance to Institutional Services

Designing SSA.gov taught me to navigate:

Complex workflows
Rigid regulatory environments
Multi-stakeholder dependencies
Accessibility at scale
Data-driven iteration
Enterprise-level governance

Direct relevance to Institutional Services

Workflow design: Eligibility, claims, and verification flows mirror back-office institutional workflows.
Design systems: I maintained a multi-team design system in Figma — directly aligned with Appian UI consistency needs.
Stakeholder alignment: I coordinated policy, dev, research, and service teams — similar to cross-functional product squads.
Measurable impact: My work resulted in significant improvements across CSAT, adoption, and efficiency.
Agile collaboration: I delivered design increments in sprints alongside analysts, PMs, and developers.

6. Final Summary

This redesign transformed SSA.gov into a clearer, more accessible, and more human digital service for millions of people.

My contributions reflect:

End-to-end UX leadership
Visual/UI design and Figma proficiency
Complex workflow mapping
Design system governance
User research + iterative refinement
Enterprise collaboration
Proven, measurable results

This body of work directly supports my readiness to design Appian workflows, institutional-service tools, and enterprise experiences.

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