Redesigning Access to Support and Resources

Washington 211

client
Washignton211
My role
Usability Analyst
duration
2025 (10 Weeks)
team
Usability Analysts, Usability Researchers, Web Master, W211 Stakeholders (Sponsored Project)

At A Glance

Worked with Washington 211 to improve the usability of their online resource locator, a tool that connects users to essential community services. Led usability testing sessions with previous users and collaborated with stakeholders to identify barriers in navigation, content clarity, and overall user flow.

This was a sponsored project by University of Washington, Usability Department.

The Impact

Our research uncovered critical usability issues that were previously overlooked. The insights and prioritized recommendations we delivered directly shaped design decisions, helping the team improve resource discoverability and reduce user frustration, ultimately aiming to decrease dependency on call center support and enabling the general population to have wider access to support and resources.

The Challenge

Image of key challenges for Asha, highlighting time constraints, environmental impact, limited culinary variety, and insufficient food management as core issues to address in the project.

The Approach

Image of the design thinking approach for Asha, outlining the process from empathising through research, defining insights, ideating solutions, prototyping, testing, and finally evolving through algorithmic solutions.

Explore runs

Enable users to discover nearby group runs, tailored to their preferences with customizable filters.

Highlighted that runs are displayed within a 5-mile radius, refined filter designs based on insights from A/B testing.

Conversation levels are defined clearly and socialization opportunities available during and before/after runs.

Recipe Generator

The recipe generator empowers users to create personalised meals based on their cravings, dietary needs and on-hand pantry ingredients.

  • Customisable Recipe Suggestions: Users select meal preferences and dietary restrictions to generate tailored recipes.
  • Interactive and Guided Flow: A step-by-step approach helps users discover creative meal ideas effortlessly.

Home

Enable users to upload FASTQ files (DNA sequencing text based files) to initiate fusion detection directly from the home screen.

Users can filter and sort through files and create folders to organize the data for more streamlines upload-to-results pipeline with realtime updates and clear progress.

Parameters

Allow users to customize key analysis parameters prior to running the pipeline.

Parameters are clearly labeled with helpful default values to support novice users, while advanced users can fine-tune settings to fit specific research needs.

Progress

Provide users with real-time visibility into each stage of the fusion detection pipeline through a clearly segmented progress tracker.

Each module, from read alignment to fusion calling, is labeled and dynamically updated as steps complete.

Results

Display fusion detection results in a concise, user-friendly table immediately after analysis completion.

Designed to support quick interpretation and downstream decision-making, with the ability to scroll, review, and export data for further analysis.

Settings

Enable users to configure essential app settings such as file storage location, cache management, and update preferences.

Users can change default settings of parameters in the settings to personalize the fusion detections settings based on their needs.

Profiles

Allow users to personalize their profiles to share content on profile based on privacy preferences.

Agency to expand their network by connecting with compatible runners through friend requests.

create runs

Empower users to design runs by setting location, pace, and distance while fostering community through nearby runner participation.

Enhanced customisation options for greater control, including socialisation preferences and granular interest matching. Added seamless run-sharing across social media.

My runs

Keep a track of all runs—upcoming, hosted, and saved for later—organised in one place, along with related notifications like join requests, their statuses, and friend requests.

Updates were informed by user insights to align seamlessly with the overall experience and ensure consistency throughout the app.

Onboarding

Enable users to set running and social preferences like pace, experience, and interests.

Added a product overview with engaging wording and playful icons.

Introduced onboarding questions for personalisation and an app walkthrough for seamless navigation.

detailed process

Infographic showing how expert interviews, feedback sessions, and usability tests led to four design goals: improved navigation, clearer workflow, better result interpretation, and a cohesive design system.

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A comparison of the current (first image) and revised (second image) Nanopore App flows, showing a shift from linear navigation to a more organized, expert-informed layout with improved sorting, navigation, and tab structure.

A stakeholder map for BioDepot Workflow Builder (Bwb) showing concentric layers of end users, direct and indirect stakeholders.

Information Architecture of SynQ

A journey map outlining user steps, pain points, and design opportunities in the Nanopore app workflow. Starting from launching the app to editing workflows.

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Image of usability testing and prototypes for Nanopore, showcasing home, parameters, progress and results screens, focusing on usability of legacy and revised versions.

Link to Design System Figma File

Image of a design system, including logotypes, colours, typography, icons, UI components, and customised elements, ensuring consistency and scalability of Nanopore.

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Images of usability testing findings for a recipe app, highlighting user feedback on meal selection, onboarding, pantry organization, and home screen improvements.

Link to Github Repository
Information Architecture of SynQ

The image shows Python code for constructing a CNN model using TensorFlow and Keras, featuring convolutional, max pooling, flatten, and dense layers, compiled with the Adam optimiser and categorical crossentropy loss.

Other ProJects

Redesigning Bioinformatics Workflows

Interaction Design, Usability Testing, A / B Testing

Transforming Grocery Management

UX Design, Sustainable Ideation, AI Driven Technology

Connecting Runners, One Stride at a Time

Mobile End-to-End, User Research, Algorithm Strategy