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va-mobile-header.html
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1" />
<title>Ryan Thurlwell / Projects / Case study: VA Mobile Header</title>
<meta name="description" content="rtwell.com">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
</head>
<body>
<div class="container-fluid">
<div class="container">
<a class="back-link" href="index.html"><img src="./images/left-carat.svg">All projects</a>
<h1>Case study: VA Mobile Header</h1>
<h2>The problem</h2>
<p>The header for VA.gov was never optimized for mobile devices. It took up a lot of real estate on mobile screens, so much so that users could not see the H1 on page load if an alert was present.</p>
<h2>Design process</h2>
<p>In order to know how to improve the mobile header, I had to collect data (by observing user behavior and reviewing analytics) which lead to proposing the following changes:</p>
<ol>
<li>Shrink the "Official government website" banner.</li>
<li>Simplify the Veteran Crisis Line component to consume less space. In addition, remove the "logo" becasue we observed Veterans mistaking it as a hamburger menu.</li>
<li>Minimize the VA logo by removing the VA Seal and typography, as they became illegible on small screens.</li>
<li>Collapse and move search under the main menu. Our analytics indicated search was not heavily used on mobile, and giving it prominance in the main menu might increase search usage. </li>
<li>Remove "Contact" (a duplicative interaction), but leave it in the footer.</li>
<li>Display a persistant sign in or authenticated state.</li>
<li>Eliminate the redundant "Home" link in the exposed menu.</li>
</ol>
</p>
<h2>The solution</h2>
<p>A mobile-optimized, accessibility-first header for VA.gov.</p>
<h2>The impact</h2>
<p>We monitored key interactions to ensure the changes did not have an negative impact, but improved the user experience on mobile:</p>
<ol>
<li>Search usage stays the same or improves.</li>
<li>The Veteran Crisis Line did not receive fewer calls.</li>
<li>Sign in stayed the same or improves.</li>
<li>The main menu usage stays the same or improves.</li>
<li>The call center does not receive more requests.</li>
<li>Home page visits stayed the same or improved </li>
</ol>
<p>Thankfully, all the changes made to the mobile header saw an <strong>increase in all desirable areas</strong>, and <strong>zero negative effects</strong>.</p>
<h2>My role</h2>
<p>This initiative was created, driven, researched, and designed by myself. I iterated on many design variants internally, reviewed by other designers and contract teams at VA built the changes and validated the results.</p>
<div class="row caption">
<div class="column">
<h3>Before</h3>
<p>Previous VA mobile header</p>
<img src="./images/va-mobile-header-before.png" alt="Previous VA mobile header">
</div>
<div class="column">
<h3>After</h3>
<p>Improved VA mobile header</p>
<img src="./images/va-mobile-header-after.png" alt="Improved VA mobile header">
</div>
</div>
<div class="row caption">
<div class="column">
<h3>Before</h3>
<p>Previous VA mobile menu exposed</p>
<img src="./images/va-mobile-header-menu-open-before.jpg" alt="Previous VA mobile menu exposed">
</div>
<div class="column">
<h3>After</h3>
<p>Improved VA mobile menu exposed</p>
<img src="./images/va-mobile-header-menu-open-after.jpg" alt="Improved VA mobile menu exposed">
</div>
</div>
<div class="caption">
<h3>Improved, mobile-optimized, accessible header for VA.gov</h3>
<img src="./images/va-mobile-header-comparison.jpg" alt="Comparison diagram of the mobile header for VA.gov">
</div>
<a class="back-link" href="index.html"><img src="./images/left-carat.svg">All projects</a>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>