Service NSW

Simplifying vehicle registration transactions with transparency, accessibility, and ease.

Service NSW wanted to make it easier for NSW residents to manage their registrations via the mobile app and simplify the process of buying and selling vehicles. The current design lacks transparency and important information leading to significant consequences for customers.

 
 
 
 
 

Problem statement

The mobile app lacks important functionality needed by customers to effectively and efficiently manage their vehicle registrations. Customers aren't notified of time-sensitive information which can result in major disruptors in their lives like being unable to drive themselves to work. They’re also frustrated at not having the right tools on the app to complete the buying and selling process which can lead to incorrect registration information which could have legal implications for customers.

 

Role: Product Designer
Responsibilities: Research, prototyping, design, usability testing, accessibility

 
 
 
 

Research

Kick-off

Conducted a kick-off meeting with project managers and stakeholders to align on the scope, outcome, and unified vision.

Ideation and concept designs

Developed initial concept designs and shared them with stakeholders to validate and increase confidence before usability testing. These designs introduced a variety of highly requested features such as expiration dates, enhanced functionality, and user guides.

Research planning

Created a moderator guide that explores customers' understanding of vehicle registrations, their familiarity with the buying and selling process, and their current frustrations and feelings.

Prototyping

Created a clickable prototype using Figma for usability testing. The prototype had 4 user flows to test different popular scenarios.

 
 
 

Usability testing

Conducted one-on-one remote sessions, each lasting 60 minutes, with 7 participants. The sessions were divided into three sections: interview questions, usability testing, and an A/B preference test.

The designs received positive feedback, with users successfully navigating the screens and finding the information that’s important to them. It also showed that Service NSW is a trusted source of information, with all participants stating they would look to us as the source of truth. Not only should we be providing users with tools, it’s also important to provide them with guides and documentation.

Synthesis

Learnings:

  • customers were generally familiar with registrations, many having decades of experience.

  • while the buying and selling process was easy to understand, there was some confusion around terminology and customers wanted more guidance.

  • Service NSW is a trusted source of information with all customers turning to us for help.

Usability testing results:

  • customers preferred a more informative and descriptive UI.

  • customers appreciated a design that prioritises readability and scannability.

  • customers were able to complete each task that was assigned.


 
 
 

Final sign off

Engineers provided feedback to ensure feasibility and adherence to timelines.

Collaborated with PMs and engineers to break the development process into phases, prioritising and de-prioritising features while creating a long-term plan for an MVP release.

 
 
 

Accessibility

As a government organisation, it’s essential that our designs are compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. We collaborated closely with our in-house accessibility gurus to create a modified moderator guide for testing with users with visual impairments to ensure that our designs are usable with screen readers.

As we were testing remotely with a blind participant, we had to think outside the box and come up with inventive ways to communicate what was on the screen. We decided to "mimic" a screen reader and have a second designer in the call to essentially act as a screen reader would, reading out the text, labels (like 'heading' or 'button'), and actions (like 'expand').

Part of my role involved actively learning about accessibility, sharing those insights with the team, and applying them to the designs.

This was my first time testing with a participant with a visual impairment, and while there were some initial challenges, it was an incredibly valuable learning experience. I'm grateful for the opportunity to engage in these conversations and broaden my perspective.

I learned how to properly label designs and work with engineers to ensure that components and headings are accurately read out by screen readers for users who cannot see the screen.

 

Learning goals:

  • Can he navigate and find important information?

  • Is the page structured properly and are elements labelled correctly?

  • Does the ordering of information make sense?

  • How does he feel about the interactions e.g. double tap to expand, the app taking you to an external browser etc.

Summary of learnings:

  • The participant was able to find the information he needed.

  • The page was structured in a way that made sense to him.

  • The participant was able to find the information he needed.

  • Elements like buttons and accordions were labelled correctly and easy to understand.

  • He was able to tap to expand, to reveal more information.

 
 

Final designs

The final high-fidelity designs, created in Figma:

  • strike a balance between being informative and visually clear, avoiding information overload.

  • our research helped us identify what information customers prioritise, which informed our decision to use accordions and other interactive elements to neatly tuck away secondary details

  • carefully considered the information architecture, ensuring headings and labels were clear and intuitive, making it easy for users to find what they need

  • visual elements and colour were used thoughtfully and sparingly to draw attention to key information at a glance.