UX/UI and Service Design
We design for humans—quirks, fears, anxieties, and all. At What We Make It, human-centered design means more than just usability. We know that delivering effective public services means designing for the diverse needs, realities, and challenges of your users—citizens, staff, or clients.
Our participatory discovery process is the backbone of every engagement. By immersing ourselves in the experiences of your users, we uncover their true needs, motivations, and limitations. Together, we co-create intuitive, user-centered solutions that prioritize accessibility and function. From prototypes to comprehensive alpha-stage service designs and detailed user stories, we ensure each step sets the foundation for seamless beta-phase development. We work alongside your users to understand their goals, uncover barriers, and co-create digital solutions that truly work.
Our experience spans diverse public sector projects. In Nova Scotia, we’ve worked on the eCourt platform, developed tools to simplify immigration services, and the Province of Nova Scotia’s Procurement Platform to enhance transparency and usability. Additionally, we’ve collaborated with the Government of Yukon and British Columbia’s Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills initiatives to engage in user research and deliver innovative, user-friendly recommendations for their digital products.
SERVICES WE OFFER:
User Research: Surveys, interviews, and meta-analysis of existing research to uncover user needs and behaviors.
One-on-one usability sessions: Virtual sessions with user screen sharing and talk-aloud protocols to provide insightful contextual analysis.
Information Architecture Testing: Card sorting and tree testing to design intuitive, user-friendly navigation systems.
Cross-Jurisdictional Scans: Analyzing similar services across other governments, universities, or organizations to identify best practices.
Path Analysis: Systematically analysing the best approach for a project related to buying a COTS solution vs. building a custom one.
Target Audiences and Persona Development: Creating detailed user personas to guide decision-making.
Journey Mapping and Service Blueprints: Visualizing how users interact with your services to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
Prototyping, Testing, and Iteration: Developing and refining alpha-stage designs to power beta-phase service development.
