IRS Process Automation & Modernization
Leading UX strategy and execution in the modernization of the IRS Examination process and tools that empowers examiners and streamlines complex audit workflows.
Project Summary
As Lead UX Designer at Pega, I led the design strategy and UX vision for the IRS Examination Modernization project – one of the agency’s largest digital transformation initiatives funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. The mission was to reimagine and streamline how examiners conduct audits, moving away from legacy systems and siloed workflows toward a modern, user-centered digital experience.
This multi-year effort focused on improving efficiency, ROI, and accessibility for thousands of IRS examination professionals while ensuring compliance and consistency across many types of examination and hundreds of processes.
Responsibilities
Project Team
The Challenge
The legacy IRS Examination processes and tools were burdened by fragmented tools, inconsistent user experiences, and manual, paper-based workflows. Examiners had to “swivel-chair” between multiple applications and paper-based artifacts to complete a single case – leading to inefficiency, user frustration, and unnecessary delayed outcomes.
The goal was to simplify and unify the tax examiners’ workflow and user experience – creating an efficient, scalable and modern interface that increased adoption, reduced training time, and delivered measurable productivity gains, all while meeting strict federal accessibility and compliance standards.
My Role
As Experience Design Lead, I shaped the design process in the SDLC, oversaw the execution of the end-to-end design process, partnering closely with product owners, developers, business analysts, and stakeholders. My responsibilities included:.
- Leading the UX vision, strategy, and execution across multiple workstreams and design teams.
- Conducting stakeholder discovery and user research to uncover goals, objectives, pain points and identify key experience gaps.
- Defining user journeys, task flows, and interaction patterns across the platform.
- Creating high-fidelity prototypes and accessibility-compliant UI components and layouts using the IRS design system.
- Facilitating Design Sprints and Knowledge Transfer workshops to drive consensus across business and technical partners.
- Mentoring designers and advocating for UX maturity within a large enterprise and regulated environment.
The Process
A Design Thinking based process that transforms complex legacy workflows into a streamlined, reusable, and accessible experience.
1
Define UX Strategy
Led the development of a cohesive UX strategy that aligned design principles, UI standards, design thinking methodology and modernization goals across stakeholders from multiple IRS departments. Collaborated closely with leadership, product owners, and technical leads to recommend UX methodologies – including discovery and research frameworks, design system governance, and agile delivery practices. Facilitated workshops to build consensus, gain stakeholder buy-in, and establish a shared vision for how UX is integrated into the SDLC.
2
Discovery & Research
Collaborated with IRS examiners, product owners engineers, and business analysts to document goals, objectives, workflows, identify bottlenecks, and understand legacy behaviors.
3
Define & Prioritize
Synthesized insights into actionable design objectives—focusing on task efficiency, information clarity, and error reduction. Created personas and journey maps to align teams on user goals and success metrics.
4
Design & Prototype
Produced end-to-end user flows and interactive prototypes in Figma. Introduced a modular design system aligned with WCAG 2.2 standards, enabling consistency across future applications with a new Design System and Reuse Studio.
5
Test & Iterate
Conducted usability testing with IRS examiners frequently during the implementation phase to validate design solutions. Iterated based on user feedback, government policy changes, workflow adjustments, and accessibility compliance to improve adoption.
Results
This effort exemplifies the power of design leadership in complex, regulated environments such as the IRS. By combining UX strategy, Design Thinking, accessibility best practices, and collaborative mindset, we helped modernized how federal employees work – creating a platform that’s not only more efficient but also more human-centered.
- Reduced task completion time by improving workflow continuity and streamlining redundant steps.
- Increased adoption and satisfaction among IRS tax examiners through intuitive, curated UI and streamlined workflows.
- Improved development ROI by reducing development rework, accelerating release cycles, and maximizing platform scalability.
- Improved UX ROI by cutting examiner task times and standardizing UX patterns – resulting in measurable efficiency gains and lower long-term maintenance costs.
- Established a standardized and reusable design foundation for future modernization efforts across various IRS departments.
- Elevated UX maturity within the organization – embedding design thinking into product development and decision-making.