Overview

The IRS serves millions of people every year through its website and digital services. These tools help people access tax credits, file returns, and get their questions answered. But over time, the IRS’s digital systems grew in a piecemeal way, without a shared design or structure. As a result, taxpayers often faced confusing layouts, inconsistent information, and tools that didn’t always work well for everyone. The lack of coordination made it harder to deliver a smooth, accessible online experience for the public.

Challenge

To better serve the public, the IRS needed to modernize its digital tools, but doing so wasn’t easy. Years of building systems without shared standards had led to serious issues that slowed down progress.

Key pain points included:

• The lack of coordination across teams made it hard to scale improvements or launch new tools quickly.
• The IRS had 27 different style guides, which led to siloed teams and slowed down collaboration.
• Without a shared design system, users faced inconsistent experiences and accessibility gaps.
• Teams often repeated work or ran into roadblocks due to unclear or conflicting standards.

Approach

We took a step-by-step approach to bring clarity and consistency to the IRS’s digital tools—starting with research and alignment, and ending with a working, scalable design system.

Researched and aligned stakeholders

• Reviewed all 27 existing IRS style guides to identify inconsistencies and duplication.
• Led workshops with designers, developers, content strategists, and accessibility experts to surface shared challenges and needs.
• Built strong partnerships with IT and CX leaders to prioritize cross-agency standards.

Designed the sytem

• Defined clear design principles focused on accessibility, scalability, and ease of use.
• Created modular, reusable components using atomic design principles, all WCAG-compliant.
• Developed system documentation to support adoption and consistent use across teams.

Led delivery and rollout

• Created and managed a product roadmap focused on the highest-need components.
• Launched the system in phases with supporting materials like training, office hours, and implementation guides.
• Established a governance model to ensure the system stays current and useful across distributed teams.

Key Contributions

• Led the design of GetCTC.org, using iterative, and human-centered methods
• Conducted extensive user research with non-filers and underserved communities to shape a simple, accessible experience
• Collaborated with IRS, Treasury, White House, and community partners to coordinate design, launch, and outreach
• Ensured mobile-friendly design and multilingual support, including full Spanish translation
• Continuously improved the tool to reach more eligible families and increase benefit delivery