Comply Chain Website Redesign
U.S. Department of Labor – ILAB
As one of the first in-house federal UX SMEs at the Department of Labor, and the first to work with ILAB, I embedded accessibility, content strategy, and scalable UX systems into the product, and delivered measurable improvements in user engagement, page load times (essential for majority of end-users, who lacked access to reliable and/or stable internet connections) and task clarity.
Project Summary
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) needed a full redesign of their outdated, text-heavy website, including a complete content overhaul, under a strict 120-day deadline.
As on of DOL’s first in-house UX SME, I served as UX lead on the project, delivering a responsive, Section 508-compliant, user-first site that significantly improved engagement, clarity, and accessibility for a global audience.
Timeline: 120 days (April – August 2024).
Team: Cross-functional collaboration with ILAB stakeholders and vendors.
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As UX Lead, and the first of DOL's new in-house UX SME team to work with ILAB, I :
Led UX strategy and accessibility governance.
Guided external vendor through federal compliance standards.
Conducted design reviews and quality assurance.
Created frameworks adopted across DOL projects.
Presented methodology at Drupal4Gov webinar.
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Challenges:
High-visibility relaunch with a non-negotiable 120-day timeline.
Cross-functional coordination under tight deadlines.
First DOL project to embed a UX SME across the full design and delivery lifecycle.
Opportunities:
Highly engaged stakeholders and PM eager to collaborate with UX.
Team leads deeply familiar with user needs, goals, and legacy product constraints.
Project roadmap adapted at kickoff to include post-launch UX research and optimization strategy.
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Outcomes
+30% increase in user engagement post-launch.
UX frameworks and design systems adopted across additional DOL projects.
Invited to present process and impact at Drupal4Gov webinar.
Key Takeaways
Designing for government means balancing competing priorities while using creative, low- or no-cost research methods to build stakeholder trust and buy-in.
Policy-compliant, accessibility-first frameworks are essential for scalable, mission-aligned design in the public sector.
Strong UX leadership includes offering just-in-time education and advocacy across functions — turning cross-disciplinary teams into design allies.
Project Insight
Compliance Process Steps Icons
Design Problem & Solution
-> Problem: Initial icon designs presented multiple usability and accessibility issues. I identified critical problems, established standards, and guided vendor to compliant solution.
✓ Result: User-friendly navigation that meets federal accessibility requirements, matches the end-user mental model, and is within the updated design system.
The green icons were the vendor's initial design that stakeholders had tentatively approved. The blue icons were redesigned by the vendor according to my specifications after I identified critical usability and accessibility issues through heuristic review.