Forest Service Research & Development (R&D)

Before you read...

Due to multiple NDAs associated with this role, I am limited to sharing high level information only. Specific details and visual assets cannot be shown publicly.

Stepping Into Federal UX Design

Starting my first contract at Dynamo, I was nervous but motivated to prove myself as a designer. This project was with the Research and Development division of the U.S. Forest Service, an organization with an existing web presence that needed modernization. The goal was to improve usability, accessibility, and overall visual consistency while aligning with current federal standards.

The team was small and focused: a Scrum Master, a Business Analyst, two Developers, and me as the sole UX and UI Designer. Being the only designer meant I had to wear many hats, from information architecture and accessibility planning to visual design and stakeholder communication. While daunting at first, this role quickly pushed me to grow and take ownership of the end to end UX process.

Grounding the Work in Federal Standards

My first priority was understanding the design constraints of federal work. The Forest Service relies heavily on the United States Web Design System, which provides guidance on typography, color, layout, components, and accessibility. Alongside USWDS, Section 508 requirements defined the accessibility standards that every design decision needed to meet.

Learning these systems early proved essential. They did not just guide the visual direction of the site, but also gave me a strong foundation to justify design decisions to stakeholders. Referencing established government standards helped build trust and confidence in the work from the very beginning.

Defining Structure Before Visual Design

At the start of the project, the R&D website consisted mostly of basic HTML with minimal styling or interaction, which made it feel outdated and difficult to navigate. Before jumping into visuals, I focused on understanding how the site was actually used.

Working closely with stakeholders, I learned that the audience was entirely internal Forest Service employees. Users came to the site primarily to find information or contribute new content. With that in mind, I designed an information architecture that prioritized clarity, discoverability, and content first workflows. The structure went through several rounds of iteration with stakeholders before we aligned on a direction that balanced usability with organizational needs.

Establishing a Visual Foundation

While Forest Service branding was largely established, there was still room to define how it translated to a modern digital experience. I created a style guide grounded in existing Forest Service colors and logo usage, then expanded it using USWDS guidance for typography, components, iconography, and accent colors.

Because these decisions were rooted in federal standards, stakeholders felt confident that the style guide would scale and remain compliant. This guide became the foundation for all future design work and ensured consistency across the site.

Exploring Ideas

For early design exploration, I focused on speed and variety. Using Adobe XD, I translated the information architecture and style guide into multiple low fidelity landing page concepts within a week. My goal was to explore different layouts and content strategies rather than perfect visuals.

Instead of sending designs over email, I presented them live to stakeholders. Walking through the concepts in real time allowed me to explain my reasoning, gather immediate feedback, and guide the discussion toward usability rather than personal preference. Together, we selected a direction that felt flexible and effective at communicating information.

Bringing the Experience to Life

Once a direction was approved, I moved into high fidelity design and prototyping. This was where the project truly came alive. I built realistic workflows that reflected how users would interact with the site, including navigation menus, keyword search, carousels, hover states, and content exploration.

As workflows expanded, so did the scope of the design. I designed additional pages such as search results, article views, research highlights, products, and about sections. Each followed the same cycle of design, stakeholder review, iteration, and approval. Within a month of starting the project, I had a fully interactive prototype ready for deeper review.

Feedback Without Formal Research

Due to budget constraints, there was no funding allocated for formal UX research. To compensate, I leaned heavily on interactive prototypes and structured feedback loops. I presented the prototype live, then shared access so stakeholders and their teams could explore it independently.

I asked reviewers to document confusion, friction points, or questions they encountered. This approach became our lightweight form of usability testing. The feedback was surprisingly rich and helped uncover issues that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. I iterated quickly, reviewed changes with stakeholders, and repeated this process until everyone felt confident moving into development.

Supporting Development and Launch

Adobe XD’s developer handoff features made collaboration smooth. Developers had access to detailed specifications directly within the design files, which reduced ambiguity and sped up implementation. Once pages were built, they were sent back to me for design review to ensure accuracy and consistency.

After development was complete, content managers began migrating years of legacy content into the new system. It was a long process, but eventually the site was ready.

In May 2022, the Forest Service R&D website launched. It received strong positive feedback from both users and stakeholders. Post launch, we continued improving the site based on feedback submitted through a request form. The project remained active until April 2025, when it was concluded due to shifting federal priorities and budget realignments, not due to performance or outcomes.

Key Learnings

Taking on research, information architecture, visual design, and stakeholder communication taught me how to operate independently while still collaborating effectively across disciplines.
Starting with structure ensured the site solved real user problems before focusing on aesthetics, which reduced rework later in the process.
Grounding decisions in USWDS and Section 508 made stakeholder buy in easier and ensured accessibility was never an afterthought.
Walking stakeholders through designs in real time resulted in more actionable insights than async reviews and helped align everyone faster.
Even without formal testing budgets, realistic prototypes and guided exploration uncovered meaningful usability issues.
Continuous improvement based on user feedback reinforced the idea that public sector products should evolve alongside their users.