CRA-Redesign
Streamlining website navigation and page structure to improve user experience.
Image showing CRA-Mobile version
OVERVIEW
For Mary, every decision she makes, every choice she takes, revolves around ensuring her daughter, Emily's health and happiness. In her pursuit of providing the best for her daughter, Mary understands the importance of dental care—a crucial aspect that cannot be overlooked.
When she heard about the Canada Dental Benefit, a beacon of assistance for eligible families like hers, Mary felt a sense of relief. Yet, as she embarked on the journey to navigate the program, a formidable challenge emerged-the complex pathways of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website.
Our case study unravels as a quest to simplify Mary's path—ultimately breathing life into the Canada Dental Benefits program. Join us as we delve into the heart of user experience design, where technology meets empathy, and where Mary's story becomes a catalyst for change.
MY ROLE
Interaction Design, Research, user flows rapid prototyping and usability testing and iterations
TIMELINE
- 3 weeks.
- by Anusha Babu and Divya Kanchanbaras
TOOLS
Figma, Trello, Zoom, Slack, Illustrator, Maze
PROBLEM
Navigating the website and it’s complex page structure was frustrating and confusing for the users.
The current website's navigation system, with its complex structure, poses significant challenges for users, resulting in a frustrating and confusing experience.
In simpler terms, the website's menu, layout and organization make it difficult for users to find what they are looking for easily. Users may get lost or struggle to navigate to their desired sections. As a result, browsing through the website becomes time-consuming and confusing, leaving users dissatisfied with their overall experience.
OUR SOLUTION
Before
After
Now let's get into the research!
RESEARCH AND DEFINING PERSONA
During the initial phase, we conducted interviews with potential users, gaining valuable insights when they were asked about their experiences applying for dental benefits for their children using the current existing website.
Analyzing the data, we identified the frustrations highlighted by the users.
We have created a user persona on Mary Alen (a CRA website user) that focuses on her goals, needs, and motivations. This goal-driven persona will help us better understand her desires and objectives when using the Canada Dental Benefit section, guiding us in crafting a more user-centric experience for her and others like her.
“ I need to get accurate information that would help me utilize benefits effectively for my daughter “
BACKGROUND
MARY ALEN
35 year old, Mother
and Retail Associate
Mary is a busy working professional and a loving single mother. She is a retail associate at an apparel company and often has a demanding work schedule. her top priority is the well-being of her 6-year-old daughter, Emily. Mary is diligent about managing her finances and providing the best care for her child.
PERSONALITY
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Active
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Health conscious
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Creative
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Introvert
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Generous
GOALS
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To become financially independent
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To learn all about Canada tax system
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To ensure good health of her family especially through child health programs
CHALLENGES
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Limited Financial means to manage her child's needs
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Limited time as she is a very busy woman
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Struggles to apply for Benefit due to less knowledge about it
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Finds the CRA website text heavy and confusing
User persona of Mary
HOW MIGHT WE...
Create a website experience for Mary so that she feels confident to apply for Dental benefits without being confused and overwhelmed by the website?
STORYBOARDING
By situating the persona within an ideal context scenario, allows us to understand the Mary's specific needs and goals, enabling us to prioritize and focus on the most critical features to deliver a satisfactory user experience.
story board of Mary alen
USABILITY TEST- ORIGINAL WEBSITE
We conducted Usability testing with 5 potential users to further understand the problems experienced by the users while using Canada Revenue Agency website. They were asked to share their experiences while they were applying for Canada Dental Benefit.
We identified four high-priority, high-impact features using our feature prioritization matrix. This matrix was developed through a voting system and aligned with the pain points identified in our user personas.
In essence, we've identified these four main pain points as significant and high-priority concerns through our analysis of the feature prioritization matrix:
01
“I couldn’t go back to CRA homepage Navigating back took me to the homepage of Canada.ca -was pretty surprised about the navigation.”
-100% users
02
“Menu Bar has all the Canada.ca content rather than focusing on CRA’s own sub-headings and divisions.”
-60% users
03
“They are making me read more whereas I prefer visual cues more.”
-60% users
04
“What if I make a mistake or I do have a doubt, I don’t get to see the bot anymore. I'll have to leave the page to contact CRA.”
-80% users
USER FLOW
This is the existing path Mary takes when navigating through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website.
The results of the earlier interviews , shows that 20% of the users are regulars of CRA, and their average navigation time to reach Canada Dental Benefits is 11.82 seconds. Introducing major changes to the user flow would affect the familiarity, as this website is frequently used by 8,414,412 people in Canada each month.
To cope with the situation, we need to strike a balance between improving the user flow for better efficiency and maintaining familiarity for the large number of frequent users.
WIREFRAMES
WIREFRAMES
Our goal was to address the user’s concerns by incorporating user-driven design changes. We have created desktop and mobile wireframes that aim to strike a balance between a better user flow and preserving the familiarity of the website. These wireframes were crafted based on the feedback received directly from users.
CURRENT WIREFRAMES
Canada.ca menu inside Canada Revenue Agency Website
Tax Credits and Benefits of CRA
Homepage of Canada Revenue Agency
DESKTOP WIREFRAMES
This change was implemented based on user feedback, as 100% of them had experienced difficulty in knowing where to look when both menus were combined. By separating the menus, users can easily distinguish between the CRA-specific options and the broader Canada.ca options, reducing confusion.
02
Users had to leave their current webpage to contact CRA for assistance. 80% expressed their expectation of receiving help without navigating away from their task. In response, we have implemented Charlie the bot, making it available on every page.
03
Based on user feedback, we discovered that 60% users preferred visual cues over extensive text. To address this, we have incorporated relevant images under each section to aid user understanding. By providing visual cues alongside the headings, users can now easily identify and navigate to their target destination without confusion.
01
ITERATIONS AFTER USABILITY TESTS
We conducted user testing with various scenarios, asking participants to complete several tasks. Gathering feedback through multiple rounds, we iteratively improved the wireframes to achieve a seamless user experience.
Before
After
01
Menu Exclusively for CRA
To address user confusion, we made a change by removing "Canada.ca" from the navigation bar and placed it inside the "menu" section. This adjustment was made after users expressed difficulty when "CRA" and "Canada.ca" were placed together, and now Canada Revenue agency has a menu that is exclusively for it. And navigating back to the homepage wouldn’t take the users to Canada.ca anymore!
Before
After
02
Name change for Canada Dental Benefit
Canada Dental Benefit was a new scheme added to “Tax credits and benefits” which is exclusively for children under the age of 12. Users weren’t sure that Canada dental benefit was for kids or for adults. So we changed the name as “Child Dental Benefit”.
Highlighting new Programs
And we added a feature that shows ”new” on top of new schemes so that users don’t miss it, if they are eligible for that.
Project Impact
CONVERSION RATES
Before redesign: 3.2%
After redesign: 4.8%
GOAL COMPLETIONS
100% of the users were able to complete the tasks given
A/B TESTING
100% of the users opted the redesigned version of the website
MOBILE WIREFRAMES
Homepage of Canada Revenue Agency
Menu of Canada Revenue Agency
Credits and Benefits for Individuals
PROJECT TAKEAWAY
This project was meticulously carried out with extensive research, multiple user tests, usability evaluations, and several rounds of iterations.
At every stage of the redesign process, a clear and resounding takeaway emerged: users should always be the top priority. By prioritizing user needs and preferences, we were able to create a website that makes people feel confident and avoids overwhelming them when using it. This takeaway serves as a fundamental guiding principle for any future projects, emphasizing the value of putting users first to achieve successful and impactful outcomes.