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008

VA.gov MVP

Conceptual Redesign for Veterans Affairs Portal

Role

Full-Stack Developer & Designer

Duration

2025

Team

Solo

Status

Prototype. RFI Bid.

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Overview

Veterans leave billions in unclaimed benefits every year — not because they do not qualify, but because the information is buried across disconnected pages on a portal that was never designed around their actual tasks. I audited the most common veteran workflows on VA.gov and found that four metrics drive the majority of return visits: payment status, claim progress, disability rating, and GI Bill balance. I built a unified dashboard prototype for an RFI bid that puts all four on one screen, added AI-powered benefit discovery to surface entitlements veterans do not know they qualify for, and designed the entire interface within USWDS and WCAG 2.1 AA constraints.

VA.gov MVP. Unified veteran benefits dashboard with smart insights.
VA.gov MVP. Unified veteran benefits dashboard with smart insights.

Problem

VA.gov serves millions of veterans through a portal that reflects the VA's organizational structure, not the veteran's mental model. Checking payment status requires navigating to one section. Filing a claim lives in another. Prescription management in a third. The result: veterans miss filing deadlines because the notification was on a page they never visit. They leave disability rating increases on the table because no one told them they qualify. Every extra click between a veteran and their information is an opportunity for them to give up — and many do.

Approach

  • 01Designed a unified dashboard showing the four metrics veterans check most: monthly benefits ($2,847), active claims (2), disability rating (70%), and GI Bill balance (14 months remaining). All visible without scrolling
  • 02Built an urgent notification system for time-sensitive alerts — payment delays, claim status changes, approaching deadlines. The things that cost veterans money when missed
  • 03Replaced nested navigation with a quick-action grid: Claims, Appeals, Appointments, Prescriptions, Payments, Messages, Travel Pay, Dependents, Direct Deposit, Letters. One click to any service
  • 04Implemented AI-powered Smart Insights that scan a veteran's profile and surface specific actions: potential rating increases, unclaimed benefits, upcoming filing deadlines. Proactive, not passive
  • 05Built guided tour for first-time users — veterans who distrust government technology need a reason to stay past the first screen
  • 06Designed within WCAG 2.1 AA constraints: proper contrast ratios, full keyboard navigation, screen reader support. Accessibility is not a feature for a government portal — it is a requirement

Reflections

What Worked

01Dashboard-first design. Committing to four metrics forced every other element to justify its existence. The constraint produced clarity.
02AI-powered recommendations drew the most engagement in prototype testing. Proactive surfaces outperformed passive data display by a wide margin. Veterans want the system to tell them what to do, not make them figure it out.
03USWDS compliance was a design accelerator, not a constraint. The government design system eliminated visual decisions and kept focus on information architecture — the part that actually matters.

What I Would Do Differently

01Tested with actual veterans from the start. The prototype was validated with general users. Veterans carry institutional distrust that general users do not — the onboarding, tone, and error handling all need to account for someone who expects the system to fail.
02Built the claims filing flow, not just the dashboard. The dashboard shows status. The real pain is in filing and appeals — simplifying that process would have delivered more value than any amount of dashboard polish.
03Scoped the AI module to one use case. Smart Insights tries to do too much. Shipping deadline alerts alone would have proven value faster and built the trust needed to expand scope.

Design Decisions

Technology Stack

Frontend

Next.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSS

Design System

USWDSAccessibilityResponsive Design

AI Features

Smart InsightsProfile AnalysisRecommendations

Deployment

VercelEdge FunctionsAnalytics

Impact

Quick Actions

10

One-click access to the most common veteran services

Key Metrics

4

Benefits, claims, disability, and education status visible at a glance

Accessibility

AA

WCAG 2.1 AA compliant with full keyboard navigation and screen reader support

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