Design that drives the mission forward.
A system that passes every technical requirement but that nobody uses has zero mission value. VDS builds design practices into your development process from day one — conducting real user research, testing with real users before code is written, and delivering accessible, Section 508-compliant design systems that your engineers can implement without reinterpretation.
Why This Matters
Government systems are notorious for low adoption — not because users are resistant to change, but because the design process skips the users entirely. Interfaces built to spec but tested against no real users generate costly training requirements, accessibility complaints, and staff workarounds that ultimately undermine mission investment.
Systems built to spec and accepted at delivery but immediately rejected by end users who find workarounds
Section 508 accessibility complaints creating legal exposure and remediation costs post-launch
High training costs due to unintuitive interfaces that require hours of onboarding for basic tasks
Who This Is For
Federal program managers whose deployed systems have lower adoption than the paper process they replaced
CX officers responsible for demonstrating measurable digital service improvement to oversight bodies
Technology leaders facing Section 508 remediation costs on systems already in production
Product managers modernizing portals where abandonment rates need significant improvement
Our Approach
User Research
Interviews, contextual inquiry, and usage analytics to understand real user needs and pain points.
Information Architecture
Define site maps, user flows, and content hierarchy based on how users actually think.
Wireframing
Low-fidelity wireframes iterated rapidly with stakeholder and user feedback before any visual design.
Prototyping
High-fidelity interactive prototypes in Figma validated with real users before engineering begins.
Usability Testing
Moderated and unmoderated testing with real users — including those with accessibility needs.
Design System
Component library and documentation enabling consistent, accessible implementation by any engineer.
Design System Reboot: 92% Adoption on Day One
A federal health portal was experiencing 45% user abandonment on core workflows, generating a backlog of Section 508 accessibility complaints, and requiring a mandatory three-hour training session just to complete basic tasks. The program office was facing a re-compete with the adoption data as evidence the current system was failing the mission.
VDS conducted 30 user interviews across six stakeholder groups, redesigned the information architecture from scratch based on task analysis rather than system structure, and built a reusable Figma component library with full WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility documentation for the engineering team.
Our Capabilities
Service Capabilities
Technology Stack
Delivery Models
Proof, Not Promises
We delivered a federal health portal redesign that achieved 92% user adoption on day one — compared to 47% on the system it replaced. Our design process is not aesthetic preference; it is structured research, validated prototypes, and measurable adoption outcomes. We test with real users — including users with disabilities — before a single line of code is written. We have reduced new-user training time from three hours to 45 minutes on a federal program by redesigning one screen.
Related Services
Agile Delivery
Accelerate delivery with SAFe and Scrum frameworks. Ship faster, iterate smarter, reduce risk.
Data Engineering
Build the data infrastructure your analytics and AI capabilities depend on.
Software Engineering
Custom application development — from microservices to enterprise platforms.
Ready to design something people love?
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