ABOUT

Challenge.gov is the federal government’s platform for running open innovation and prize competitions across agencies. It supports complex workflows, diverse audiences, and strict accessibility and compliance requirements.

The challenge was to modernize and scale the experience while working within the U.S. Web Design System.

ROLE

Creative Direction, UX, Content Structure, Prototyping in Figma.

Worked with product owners, developers, and federal stakeholders.

WORK

Design System and Compliance

• Brought the platform into compliance with the U.S. Web Design System by auditing existing pages, identifying gaps, and aligning layouts and components with federal standards.
• Applied USWDS components and patterns to new features and pages, ensuring consistency, accessibility, and scalability across the platform.
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UX and Information Architecture

• Designed page structure, user flows, and content hierarchy in Figma to simplify complex workflows and make key tasks easier to complete.
• Created clear navigation models and page templates that supported multiple user types and use cases.
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Prototyping and Testing

• Built interactive prototypes in Figma to support usability testing, internal review, and stakeholder feedback.
• Used testing insights to refine layouts, flows, and content before development began.
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Collaboration and Alignment

• Worked closely with product owners, developers, and stakeholders to align on structure, accessibility, and design system usage.
• Helped teams move from ideas to build-ready designs with shared understanding of patterns and requirements.

IMPACT

• Improved consistency and usability.
• Faster feature development using shared patterns.
• Clearer user flows for agencies and participants.
• Scalable and accessible experiences.