Overview
A 2-month modernization pitch
powered by 2+ years of real user research.
FEMA GO is the federal government's primary grants management platform, the system through which FEMA administers billions of dollars in disaster relief, preparedness, and mitigation funding to state and local governments. It is used daily by program officers, grant managers, and external applicants navigating complex, high-stakes workflows.
This project was a 2-month initiative to pitch a comprehensive platform modernization to leadership. But it wasn't built from scratch, it was built on two-plus years of accumulated user research, usability testing, and design work from my time on the FOC engagement. The goal: take everything we'd learned and make the case for where FEMA GO needed to go next.
What this project was
"A modernization pitch grounded in 2+ years of user research, a comprehensive design audit, and USWDS-aligned component design. Six major surfaces. Eight feature areas. Every decision traced back to something a real user told us, and it got leadership onboard with the future."
Context & Approach
Beyond FOC, designing what
the contract didn't require.
The initial phase of FEMA GO work was contracted through Karsun Solutions for 2.5+ years to bring the platform to Full Operating Capability (FOC). My role through that period encompassed generative research, usability testing, and iterative design across the platform's core surfaces, building a detailed picture of how grant managers and program officers actually used the system day to day.
After FOC, I collaborated with the Karsun Innovation Center to take that accumulated research and do something with it: a comprehensive design audit and full modernization redesign that went beyond what the contract required. Not because it was mandated, but because years of watching users struggle with navigation, data presentation, and task management had made the case for what the platform could become undeniable. This pitch got leadership onboard.
This initiative was guided by four foundations: previous user research and feedback gathered over two-plus years, a new design audit identifying current usability challenges, USWDS components and accessibility guidelines, and enterprise design best practices for scalability.
Research Foundation
Two years of signals.
Four critical themes.
The modernization effort wasn't based on assumptions, it was built on two years of accumulated user research. Interviews, usability testing sessions, stakeholder reviews, and behavioral observation across multiple user types (internal program officers, external grant applicants, supervisors) had surfaced the same pain points repeatedly.
🧭 Navigation & Orientation
Users struggled to identify what needed attention first and how to move efficiently through complex multi-step workflows. Task prioritization was a constant challenge across all user types.
📊 Inefficient Data Presentation
Dashboards and tables were information-dense but not decision-enabling. Users had the data, they just couldn't quickly extract what they needed to act on it.
🔍 Limited Search & Filtering
Finding relevant grants, tasks, or team members required too many clicks and returned results that weren't scoped to what users actually needed in context.
✅ Task & Grants Management Gaps
Processes lacked clarity around task ownership, deadlines, and status, leading to missed items, duplicated effort, and high support volume.
Design Audit
A systematic review of
every critical surface.
I audited every major surface against heuristics, USWDS guidelines, and two years of user research, producing prioritized recommendations cross-referenced against active backlog items to ensure feasibility.
Internal Dashboard
High-level data without interactivity. Metrics visible but not actionable. No real-time task tracking.
Dynamic dashboard with task counts, status tracking, and sortable views. Real-time performance metrics.
Tasks Summary
No advanced sorting or filtering. Hard to identify overdue or high-priority tasks at a glance.
Sortable by due date, priority, status. Visual overdue indicators. Clear workload distribution view.
Award Tracker
Fragmented progress tracking. Limited visualizations. Difficult to understand funding status distribution.
Interactive charts for accepted/pending funds. Toggle between chart and list view. Real-time status updates.
My Team
Flat list without role visibility, status indicators, or advanced filtering. Hard to manage large teams.
Role categories, active/inactive status, filtering by role and program. Clear team composition at a glance.
External Dashboard
Static overview. Limited visual hierarchy. Required multiple navigation steps to reach actionable data.
Interactive layout with key data surfaced prominently. Visual indicators for pending tasks and grant statuses.
Global Search
Broad results without precise filtering. No auto-suggestions. Search by name/email only.
Auto-suggestions, search across grant IDs/roles/programs. Scoped results that reduce cognitive load.
Before & After, Key Surfaces
Every redesign traced back
to a specific user complaint.
Each surface change was grounded in documented user feedback, heuristic findings, and active backlog items, not speculation.
Internal Dashboard
Before
Static overview with limited interactivity, no task tracking, and metrics that were visible but not actionable.
After
Dynamic dashboard with task counts, status tracking, team visibility, and sortable views surfaced upfront.
Award Tracker
Before
Fragmented progress tracking, limited visualizations, and no quick way to understand funding status at a glance.
After — List View
List view surfaces each award's status, funding amount, and distribution at a glance, with real-time updates and clear visual hierarchy across all grant categories.
After — Chart View
Chart view translates the same funding data into an interactive visualization, making distribution patterns and status breakdowns immediately scannable without reading a single row.
Tasks
What used to be three separate interfaces, Tasks List, Tasks Overview, and Current Workload, have been unified into one. Each served overlapping but distinct purposes, and the fragmentation meant items fell through the cracks and users duplicated effort across views. The modernized Tasks surface consolidates all of that context upfront, so nothing gets missed and tracking work requires far less effort.
Before
One of three fragmented task interfaces, no advanced sorting or filtering, and no way to see workload or priority at a glance.
After
Unified task management: sortable by due date, priority, and status, with visual overdue indicators and clear workload distribution in a single view.
My Team
Before
Flat list with no role visibility, no status indicators, and no filtering, making it difficult to manage larger teams.
After
Role-categorized, filterable team view with active/inactive status and program filtering, clear team composition at a glance.
Live Prototype
Explore the full FEMA GO redesign in Figma
All 6 redesigned surfaces: Internal Dashboard, Award Tracker, Tasks Summary, My Team, External Dashboard, and Global Search, linked and interactive.
ROI & Expected Outcomes
Designed to reduce defects,
training time, and user frustration.
The modernization was presented with a clear ROI framework outlining expected benefits for both the development team and end users.
Internal / Development Benefits
- Decreased O&M defects, fewer UI edge cases to debug
- Decreased MTTR, consistent design system reduces time to resolve UI issues
- Accelerated definition & development time, design system library speeds implementation
- Increased design consistency, standardized components across the platform
User-Facing Benefits
- Decreased time to complete tasks
- Increased user satisfaction across all surface areas
- Decreased training time for new users
- Decreased support requests from unclear UX
Reflection
What two years on one platform
teaches you.
Takeaway
"The best thing about spending two years on one platform is that you run out of assumptions. Every design decision had a user behind it, a specific quote, a specific moment of watching someone struggle. Initiative, not just delivery, is what turns research into a shipped redesign."
