Texas dmv
A government website redesign to help users gain the whole DMV experience.
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is a state agency that offers various services related to motor vehicles, including customer service and consumer protection. With around 24 million registered vehicles annually, Texas is the second-highest state in terms of drivers, making the agency's website a crucial resource for Texans seeking assistance with their motor-related needs.
The Objective
Analyze the usability of the Texas DMV website and identify any areas for improvement.
The Problem
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles website is cluttered with numerous links, some of which are dysfunctional and contain excessive information. How might we create a way to develop a streamlined user experience for individuals seeking to utilize the department's services?
Goals
-
Gain an understanding of the pain points users experience when navigating the website
-
Understand the thought process of how users get to the end product
-
Understand the context users search when looking for information
Solution
-
Redesign the website to reduce the number of steps in scheduling appointments and renewing vehicle registration
-
Organize information accordingly to give the website a clean appearance and for readers to easily digest
My Role
UX/UI Designer in a team of 2 other designers
Tools
Figma
InVision
Trello
Project Duration
4 weeks
Identifying potential problem areas
To gain insight into the difficulties users encounter when navigating the Texas DMV website, I conducted a personal exploration of the site. Through this evaluation, I could pinpoint areas that could benefit from improvement. Our team compiled an annotation list outlining multiple aspects of the website's layout to aid this endeavor. We also created a heuristic evaluation checklist to determine which areas should be prioritized.
Website Navigation
Heuristic Evaluation
User Interviews and Usability Testing
We asked users to complete various tasks to help pinpoint the areas that needed to be polished. Users had to go through the process of scheduling an appointment, renewing vehicle registration, and buying or selling a vehicle. As they were going through the process of accomplishing each task, they provided us with valuable insight into the functionality and appearance of each page.
Scheduling an appointment is stressful.
Why are there so many steps? I should've used the search bar from the beginning.
Setting up the appointment isn't very straight forward.
It's difficult navigating from scheduling an appointment to registration renewal
Define
During this phase of the process, we organized the research data into an affinity diagram. Based on user feedback, we have discovered that scheduling appointments has been a challenge for many users. Further observation showed that their scheduling habits differed from our initial assumptions. We also identified broken links and a nonfunctional back button as factors that negatively affected the navigation experience of our valued users.
According to the feedback we received, most users found the appointment scheduling service to be confusing and not user-friendly. They were uncertain if they were on the correct page or if they were clicking on the right links, which made the process more time-consuming than expected.
Identify User Persona
Ideate
Once I understood the user's needs, I delved into brainstorming essential features and potential scenarios that would benefit them most while also being practical. Using the research feedback as a guide, we can prioritize the primary focus areas when revamping the website.
Prioritizing Features
We created a feature prioritization to help us determine which main structures of the layout had to be redesigned.
The primary focus points that should be considered when reconstructing the website is:
-
Relocate link to schedule an appointment
-
One button for making appointments
-
Easy navigation from home screen to vehicle registration renewal
-
Consistent layout, buttons, and colors
Evaluating the information architecture
Card sorting was my next step to help reconfigure the website navigation. After several card-sorting sessions, I was able to implement my findings into a new navigation bar. Users disagreed with the current navigation bar. They believed some tabs did not belong with the other categories, such as 'home' and 'forms.' A commonality among the users was that having five categories was ideal.
Design & Prototype
After gathering qualitative information from users, I created sketches of a redesigned website and used them to make low-fidelity wireframes that addressed our primary issues. I prioritized creating a user-friendly navigation system allowing users to quickly locate the DMV's most popular services. Additionally, my goal was to create a straightforward and effective website for people of all ages to use. To achieve this, I aimed to minimize the need for scrolling and make it easier for users to find the information they need without searching the entire site.
Design System
Iterations
Many iterations have been made to the previous Texas DMV homepage. I enlarged the website's name on the banner so the user would know where they landed. Before, it was just the logo on the navigation bar, so it was difficult to see the name of the DMV due to its small font size. I also removed the ‘Find your local tax office and DMV’ from the resources and made it a separate section. Doing so can help make the website look less cluttered. I also thought adding a section for office hours on the main page would benefit those who want to check the office’s operating hours.
Next steps
-
Continue to make iterations to the design and user flow
-
Conduct more user tests to improve accessibility and functionality
Reflection
Through my first government-assigned project, I gained a deep understanding of the intricacies of creating a government website. It was a challenging experience that taught me the importance of designing a website that is easy to navigate, functional, and simple. I have realized that the key to developing a successful website is through careful planning and thorough testing as we strive to meet the needs and alleviate users' pains. Overall, this project has given me a compassionate insight into the development of websites and how critical it is to have a well-thought-out strategy.