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SSA.gov Mobile-First Redesign

Enterprise Web • Human-Centered Design • Task-Centered UX • Accessibility & Spanish-Language Equity

Design Story Overview

SSA.gov serves more than 180 million visitors a year, making it one of the most heavily used public-service websites in the United States. When I joined Web Strategy as a Content Strategist and UX lead, the site was struggling with:

The goal of the Digital-First Redesign was to transition SSA from a field-office-first service model to an online-first, scalable digital ecosystem. We aimed to modernize high-impact user journeys across the site by:

What follows is the story of how we re-centered SSA.gov around user needs and modern web practices—ultimately increasing CSAT to 70.0, improving online service adoption, and laying the foundation for sustainable enterprise-wide digital governance.

To show how this came together end-to-end, the following six sections walk through the core challenge, the team, the UX process, the key insights that shaped the redesign, the organization-wide impact, and the plan for what comes next.

1. The Call to Solve a Problem - Clarifying User Needs, Pain Points, and the Core Challenge

Before the redesign, the SSA.gov experience was shaped more by program structures than by how people actually searched, navigated, or completed tasks online. Our early research surfaced a consistent pattern:

Users weren’t Googling “programs”—they were searching for solutions.
(“Apply for retirement,” “Get a card,” “Verify my benefits,” “Check a payment.”)

Where the experience broke down

Across analytics, Medallia feedback, field office insights, and Spanish-language testing, we saw:

The core challenge

We needed to transform SSA.gov into a task-centered, mobile-first, research-informed experience that:

This was not a page redesign—it was a structural and cultural shift.

2. Gathering the Right Team - My Role, Collaboration Approach, and Cross-Functional Partnerships

My Role: Content Strategist & UX Lead

I served as a core strategist on the redesign team, responsible for:

The team behind the work

This was a deeply cross-functional initiative involving:

Collaboration strategy

To keep alignment across such a large and distributed environment, I:

We worked in Agile cycles, delivering improvements in measurable increments rather than waiting for a “big bang” relaunch.

Figure 2 – Image detailing the iterative evolution of SSA's home page.

Figure 2: Rather than a one-time major overhaul, we adopted Agile methodology to implement incremental enhancements.

3. Navigating the Design Journey - End-to-End UX Process: Discovery, IA, Content Strategy, Prototyping, and Testing

3a. Discovery & Research

Our North Star was evidence. We combined:

Quantitative insights

Qualitative insights

Key findings

These findings, shown in Figure 3a, led us to a unified, top-task IA strategy.

Figure 3a – Usability testing and observations examples

Figure 3a: Examples from usability testing and observation sessions that informed top-task prioritization and content restructuring.

3b. Top-Task IA & Content Strategy

We built a new IA (Figure 3b) that centered on the most common user needs, which accounted for the majority of traffic:

High-level IA Consolidation Map

Figure 3b: Example of high-level IA consolidation showing streamlined top-task pathways.

Content strategy pillars

This set the foundation for the design system.

3c. Design System & Prototyping

As part of the redesign, I helped build and maintain the SSA Design System in Figma:

Multiple images that show unfinished wireframs

Figure 3c: Wireframes for redesigned top-task landing page.

Prototyping focus

3d. Testing & Iteration

We conducted:

Iterative improvements included:

4. Reaching the Breakthrough Moments - Key Insights, Usability Findings, Decisions, and Iterations

Breakthrough #1: Users wanted tasks, not programs

Switching from program-focused pages to task-focused landing pages significantly improved findability and comprehension.

Breakthrough #2: Spanish parity required structural redesign

Spanish content outperformed expectations, regularly scoring 85%+ CSAT, after introducing structural parity and clearer translation workflows.

Breakthrough #3: Plain language was transformative

Simplifying long, policy-heavy text into short, scannable statements directly correlated with higher task completion rates.

Breakthrough #4: Consistent design patterns mattered

The design system reduced fragmentation, guided new content creation, and enabled faster iteration across teams.

Breakthrough #5: User confidence increased dramatically

CSAT rising from 47.7 → 70.0 aligned directly with a redesigned experience that felt simpler, more predictable, and more trustworthy.

5. Ripples Across the Organization - Outcomes, Impact Metrics, and Alignment to Agency Priorities

The redesign’s impact rippled far beyond the pages themselves.

Measurable Outcomes

Image detailing design launch improvements on web and mobile

Figure 5: Web and mobile wesite design.

Organizational Alignment

Recognition & Validation

This work contributed to:

6. Reflections and Future Direction - Summary, Lessons Learned, and Opportunities for Continued Improvement

What I Learned

Opportunities Ahead

Final Reflection

The SSA.gov Mobile-First Redesign proves that a complex federal website can become clearer, more human, and more efficient through thoughtful design. It laid a foundation for long-term modernization—one that centers user needs, elevates accessibility, and supports millions of people in moments that matter.

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