City of Seattle- Utility Assistance Program automation
OPPORTUNITY: The city of Seattle wanted to develop a long overdue, online application for their Utility Assistance Program. When the COVID crisis erupted they needed feedback on an early prototype to hit the ground running with their development efforts.
APPROACH: Circular by Design understood right away that designing an online experience for low-income populations was not the same as designing for other audiences. An early recommendation in the project was to engage mobile-first design with minimal load times to address inequities in computer and internet access for this target audience. A remote, online informal usability study was conducted with low-income Seattle residents to evaluate workflow and observe challenges in completing early prototype.
IMPACT: While much of the the prototype was easily navigated by participants, the study underscored the burden of participants understanding the correct paperwork that needed to be submitted for the application. Design interventions were recomended that could ease this burden, and motivated stakeholder conversations on whether the user experience could be enhanced by requiring less documentation.