USDA FOOD SAFETY & INSPECTION SERVICES

FSIS is part of a science-based national system to ensure food safety and food defense. FSIS ensures food safety through the authorities of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act, as well as humane animal handling through the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

THE CHALLENGE

USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service lacked responsive and intuitive design, was missing cohesive and distinct branding throughout the site and failed to meet federal accessibility guidelines,. Users also found the site hard to navigate, especially for those needing to access imperative information on job sites through various devices.

THE SOLUTION

Through user testing, research, and data-driven design ideation, our team proposed solutions that resulted in a centralized design system and a much improved distinct branding and visual language.

THE RESULTS

Using a design system to globalize design elements, while minimizing technical debt, the result was a complete update of the website using an atomic design approach. The site now uses best practice standards, such as accessibility requirements, contrast compliance, 21st Century IDEA properties, United States Web Design System elements, and a mobile-first design structure.

A SNAPSHOT OF THE PROCESS

In order to properly prep for the redesign overhaul, we needed to speak to the right people and do our due diligence with the USDA team, its stakeholders, their top user pool, and audiences. From there we were able to gather critical feedback of what the user needed and what the internal team needed. We were able to connect to other sub-agencies and connect with key stakeholders on feedback with regard to our research and discovery. This provided great direction on how to move forward with the brand and the site.

DESIGN AUDIT

Through the design audit, the team compiled all existing pages, templates, components and any and all design elements that were used on the site. The team conducted an analysis of other sub-agency sites under USDA, to see how FSIS fitted, and could potentially fit, amongst the family brand. Research based on competitors and relative agencies for design inspiration were also gathered, evaluated and discussed with the client for feedback and direction.

USER PERSONAS

The team interviewed users and the clients to gain feedback on the current site and generate potential user pools from this data. We were then able to create three user personas according to this data: Advocacy Org; Evelyn & Erik Eatwell; Joe Jobseeker

IA STRUCTURE & WIRE FLOWS

The team explored the current setup of the site and iterated different potential flows through exercises such as: card sorting, user flows, and IA structure setup.

WIREFRAMES

With the foundation of the website generated, the team was able to rapidly prototype using general templated pages to get a view of functionality and how the site would function.

DESIGN

It was important to keep a balance between FSIS having its own, unique brand, while also following the USDA branding standards and requirements. Through conversation and style tile design exercises, we were able to fine-tune the design down to a single, cohesive visual language through a robust design system.

Agency:
Bixal, Virginia U.S.A.

My Role & Responsibilities:
Creative Direction, UI & UX Design, CX Direction, Creative Strategy & Ideation, Leadership

Team Credits:
Briana Bischoff, UI Design
Russell Lebo, UX Design
Susan Webb, Content Strategy
Chaz Chumley, Front-End
Jeff Fortune, Back-End