- Our guiding principles and general approach to user research, especially related to the discovery phase, and including planned deliverables.
- Comprehensive plan of initial discovery research with all court user groups.
UX Discovery Research Findings
- We conducted several days of onsite user research with approx. 24 court users. It consisted of a focus group that helped map out the end-to-end journey of a case that's filed, as well as one-on-one interviews with court users about their daily tasks, how they use the system, and future needs.
Deep dive interviews with 2 IRS attorneys and 2 administrative staff probing on their interactions with the Tax Court, internal and shared business processes, and their needs from the new CMS
IRS Attorney User Interviews - Findings
Judge User Interviews (June 2019) - Findings
PR 65 Research Interviews - Recommendations
Post-launch, the team continues with research and testing activities.
These document the user flow of the new system we are building. It's a work-in-progress, that's updated to include the new workflows that we developed.
Create a New Case (Paper Petition)
Add Docket Entry and Serve - Court-Issued Documents
Add Docket Entry - Externally Filed Paper Documents
- Create New Message
- Reply/Forward/Complete Message
- Create Order from Message
- Take Action on Document from Message
- Complete and Send Message from QC
Conducting usability testing with pro se petitioners (public) on the Start a Case form design and user flow.
Case Form Usability Test - Petitioner - Test Plan
Case Form Usability Test - Petitioner - Findings
In this study, Flexion UX Designers tested the Petitions QC Workflow in a development environment for the first time. Previously, the team conducted several iterative design studies with Petitions Clerks using Figma wireframes.
Petitions Workflow Usability Study Findings
In this study, Flexion UX Designers interviewed current practitioners to understand their use of the existing Tax Court system. The Flexion UX Team then tested the new Case Form with the practitioners, as well as the file document functionality for the first time.
Case Form Interview and Usability Test - Practitioner - Test Plan
Case Form Usability Test - Practitioner - Findings
In this comprehensive study, Flexion UX Designers performed a usability study with several user groups to test the core system functionality implemented to date. This study included all major user roles, including both internal and external users.
Core System Usability Testing - Findings
In this study, Flexion UX Designers performed a usability study with potential petitioners to test the petitioner dashboard and file a petition flow.
File a Petition Usability Test - Plan
File a Petition Usability Test - Findings
In this study, Flexion UX Designers observed Docket Clerks performing their normal job functions to test end-to-end processes using the new CMS.
Docket Clerk Usability Testing - Findings
In this study, Flexion UX Designers performed an end-to-end testing of a U.S. Tax Court case workflow in order to validate system features and handoffs between roles at the Court.
A modified methodology for cooperative usability testing was used to meet our unique needs. Users performed their daily tasks and then reflected with the entire group on the experience.
Roundtable Cooperative Usability Testing - Findings
In this study, Flexion UX Designers performed usability testing for creating a case as a pro-se petitioner. Goals focused on validating iterative design choices from the previous usability study and testing specifically on a mobile device.
File a Petition Usability Test - Petitioner - Plan
File a Petition Usability Test - Petitioner - Findings
Order Search Findings March 2021
Order Search Recommendations July 2021
UX Sealing/Unsealing Research Plan October 2021
UX Sealing/Unsealing Research Findings Report November 2021
UX Consolidation Research Plan - Docket Clerks March 2022
Docket Clerk Process Flow - November 2022 Deliverable
UX Consolidation Research Plan - Judges/CAs/Other Chambers July 2022
UX Consolidation Findings Report - Judges/CAs/Other Chambers August 2022
UX Consolidation Research Plan - Trial Clerks October 2022
UX Consolidation Findings Report - Trial Clerk November 2022
User Interview Mural Board - All user types
UX Petition's QC Research Plan - Petition's Clerks February 2023
UX Petition's QC Findings Report - Petition's Clerks March 2023
User Interview Mural Board - Petition's Clerks
QC Process Flow Chart - Petition's Clerks
Minutes Sheet Research Plan - Trial Clerks April 2023
Calendaring Trial Sessions Research Plan - April & May 2024
Calendaring Trial Sessions Prototype Testing Research Plan - May 2024
The complete USTC UI Design Kit is available as a Figma file
Generally follows the UI patterns and components established in the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) version 3 with some exceptions and additions
When communicating to the public, we want to maintain a friendly, direct tone. Break things down into pieces and steps as much as possible. Simplify legalese into more plain language and known terminology, except when law or Court policies dictate specific language must be used.
Use plain language for error messages, alerts, and instructions so users can clearly understand what is happening.
- Generally follows AP style
- Use Title case for headers (all)
- (Exception) - Use sentence case for headers in page-level success/alert/error messages.
- Use sentence case for field labels and any other body copy content (all)
- (Exception) - Use title case for document type and document titles
- Use Title case for buttons
- Use MM/DD/YY for dates
- (Exception) - If date is part of concatenated document title, date is MM-DD-YYYY
- Use contractions whenever possible
- Spell out "number" or use "No" as abbreviation
- Use serial/Oxford commas
- Display dollar amounts with decimals ($60.00)
- Time displayed as 3:45 pm ET
- Error messages should be clear directions/verb phrases of what the user needs to do e.g., "Enter state" or "Select trial city" without periods at the end
- for content, use one space after a period punctuation
- Always appear at the top of the screen, under the Case detail page header (docket number) with user always scrolled back to the top
- Include summary of what's happened as well as instructions or messages about what to do next
- All success and error messages have the manual "dismiss" action EXCEPT validation errors, which disappear after the action has been re-tried and no more errors exist