Maine unemployment insurance site redesign - full plan

Recruit a diverse research pool: Actively engage claimants from different regions, industries, age groups, and language backgrounds, along with Maine Department of Labor staff and community service organizations.
Run participatory workshops and interviews: Use co-design sessions, empathy mapping, and journey mapping with real users (including BIPOC, disabled, rural, and immigrant claimants) to surface lived experiences, pain points, and unmet needs.
Implement regular community feedback mechanisms: Create low-barrier ways (SMS surveys, digital polls, local partnerships) for claimants and advocates to provide ongoing input as designs evolve.
Document and prioritize equity gaps: Create an equity impact assessment that identifies gaps not visible from UX alone, and ensure findings are traceable to specific design, policy, or technology actions.

Facilitate cross-functional workshops: Bring together UI staff, IT, legal/policy analysts, and relevant partners to collaboratively review workflows and identify regulatory, operational, and experience barriers.
Map policy to UI flows: Use service blueprinting to connect user journeys to specific policies or technical requirements, highlighting where modernization would make the experience more efficient or equitable.
Draft modernization recommendations: Provide actionable proposals for policy/process changes needed to support frictionless digital claims (e.g., remote identity verification, mobile-first document submission).

Develop interactive, production-like prototypes using actual claimant scenarios, with accessibility built in from the start.
Schedule RITE (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation) sessions: Each round recruits 5–8 new participants from target demographics. Address top usability issues after every round and retest, aiming for “no new issues” across several iterations.
Utilize analytics and behavioral tracking: Gather evidence of task completion, error rates, and drop-offs to drive rapid design improvements, not just subjective feedback.

Host integration architecture workshops: Work with state IT to map out legacy systems, data flows, and high-priority integration pain points (e.g., authentication, payment processing).
Conduct privacy and security audits in collaboration with state technology leads, ensuring all recommendations align with state and federal data policies.
Co-create a phased implementation roadmap, focusing first on “pilot” features that deliver clear wins, then on scaling core infrastructure in waves.

Engage third-party accessibility specialists and users with disabilities to conduct WCAG audits on all prototypes. Iterate until all blockers are addressed.
Pilot multilingual versions with community-based testers (including French, Somali, and Spanish speakers), tracking comprehension and access rates.
Develop a language and accessibility dashboard to report ongoing compliance and identify where new needs or gaps emerge.

Establish milestone-based workstreams: Set quarterly “impact checkpoints” (e.g., full mobile usability, real-time claim status, full language parity).
Assign clear owners for each stream (staff, vendors, community partners) and map out dependencies and risks in a centralized delivery plan.
Invest in change management: Train staff, create claimant education materials, and set up channels for feedback before, during, and after rollout.
Measure and report on claimant outcomes and trust: Define impact metrics, such as time to claim completion, customer satisfaction, and reduced support calls, and track results transparently throughout the project.

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