My Role
UI Design, visual design, design documentation, design system
Timeframe
October 2021-May 2022
Introduction
In recent years, the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice was commissioned to lead the gemeinsames Fachverfahren (Common specialist procedure) program, in short, GeFa, for all 16 federal states of Germany. The aim was to create unified procedures for ordinary jurisdiction, as well as for public prosecutors and specialized jurisdictions. GeFa was meant to be the tool that connected, and sometimes replaced, the dozens of tools and procedures that were being inconsistently used. We were brought on after the previous development had fallen short of expectations to help guide the platform build through an agile approach.
I worked alongside a team of 3-5 other designers to guide the creation of concepts from a design point of view, visualize the interface, and to create a AAA-accessible UI library.
My primary focus was to create and test the fine-UI elements that needed to be added to the library. Each element was given a thorough and strict inspection for ergonomics and accessibility before going through to development. We collaborated exhaustively with accessibility experts to make sure every item going into the platform was fully accessible to people of all abilities.
Designing within the public sector takes on a design process unlike one you would find in a typical project. Even small design decisions need to go through multiple rounds of approval from stakeholders. Designing within this type of environment was sometimes frustrating, but taught me how to document and to explain my designs in a more concise and detailed way then I have ever had to before.
Such a focus on accessibility also resulted in things getting stuck in seemingly endless loops. But the information that we gained on how to make beautiful interfaces usable for everyone was invaluable.
