Overview
The HHS wanted to encourage the use of data sets for research. To alleviate this process, it was requested to design a highly actionable, simple, intuitive interface to assist in the process of sourcing, compiling, and navigating the DUA creation process. HHS already built a platform using Salesforce for other data offerings and wanted to add this as another product offering.
Problem
Few understand the process of DUA creation completely and for the rest, it can be an arduous experience. Properly producing and formatting a DUA can take copious amounts of time. DUAs not formatted properly or missing essential information will be dismissed or denied. This creates bottlenecks in the process and even discourages the pursuit of DUA-gated data.
The DUA builder had to work within the Salesforce platform, but also needed to be unique to the process and function required to achieve the desired outcome. DUAs, at their core, are compiled together with sourced clauses and statements from various resources online. Each piece of text in a unique DUA relates to gated content and the necessary pathway to gain access to said content. A well-drafted DUA alleviates and addresses all the requirements necessary for approval, and nothing more. One of the main problems is there was no repository to source these clauses and no easy way to know how to sequence the clauses per each unique DUA. The icing on the cake would be to also implement an extremely intuitive process to stitch the clauses together for quick and easy output.
The DUA builder provides a repository and a sequence to follow for creating a DUA. It also enables output and tracking to monitor the DUA as it progresses through the review process. This was the first step. Once this product sees traction the expectation is to develop more function and ability to customize as needed, as well as more context awareness embedded in the experience.
Scope / Team
This was a built-out proof of concept that was developed by 580 Strategies for HHS and is currently in use. I was hired by 580 Strategies to work with a small internal HHS team to understand the process of the DUA and the clause types to create an intuitive interface design and interaction model to build a DUA. I also assisted in presenting to gain buy-in for implementation and work with the internal engineering team at 580 Strategies to build the product (answer interaction questions, provide feedback on progress and package assets for production). It was released internally in Q2 2023.
Some feedback from 580 Strategies after the release: "...the UI is holding strong and people love it!" "I think it's a pretty darn neat tool we've built on a platform that had some considerable constraints—it's a standout among the public sector for sure."
