IRS (Internal Revenue Service)

Enhancing Taxpayer Experience: Redesigning In-App Notifications for taxpayer’s Online Account

Overview
Taxpayers using an IRS online account (OLA) are seeking personalized, transparent, and informative interactions, including better education on tax obligations, greater control over notifications, and clearer account status updates. Recognizing these unmet needs, our vision is to revamp the in-app notifications with user-centric front-end UX updates. These enhancements will focus on improving visibility, readability, control, and preparedness, ultimately delivering a more dynamic and responsive taxpayer experience.

Role: UX Designer
Tools: Sketch, Invision, Miro
Duration: July-Sept 2024

Research goals

Identify opportunities to improve the usability and comprehension of the notification section in OLA. Users were confronted with an overwhelming amount of information, making it difficult to focus on key actions or content.

Approach Moderated interviews with 9 taxpayers. Participants were asked about their thoughts, expectations, and interaction patterns with the notifications section.

Research questions

How do people think about homepage notifications?

What are taxpayers’ reactions to the In-App Notification flow starting from the home page?
Does the location align with expectations? Are there other places they would expect to find notifications?
What type of notifications would taxpayers anticipate seeing?
How do taxpayers react to the new, proposed design elements within the Notifications section of the home page?
Do users see a distinction between the different types of notifications present on OLA?

How do people interact with homepage notifications?

How do taxpayers expect to opt in to receive email notifications?
What are taxpayer expectations when interacting with notifications?
What modes, forms, and level of information do they expect with notifications?

What do people expect when navigating the profile page?

How do taxpayers react to the structure of the information on the Profile page?
Do taxpayers expect to be able to enter more than one e-mail address on the profile page?
How do taxpayers navigate the website when completing notifications?
How do taxpayers navigate the website then completing tasks that don't have notifications?
What do taxpayers expect when clicking notifications?

Key findings

Three types of notifications were expected—tasks needed to complete, confirmations that a task was completed and notifications that aren’t tasks
People prioritized notifications based on when a notification was due, and the time it takes to complete a task
Taxpayers come to IRS.gov to find tax forms, documents, and asking questions about tax codes/laws in addition to filing taxes
Participants expect to be brought directly to the area a notification tells them needs updating when clicking a notification link

Current design

A/B testing

Design A

Design B

Design A findings

Participants prefer Design A, though both are intuitive
Participants find that the design is easy to scroll through, not cluttered, new messages appeared on top and everything was in one place on the dashboard
Participants found that the badge number by the word "Notices and letters" was confusing
One participant would have liked the option to clear important notifications

Design B findings

Participants generally liked that (1) badge numbers show the amount of new notifications, (2) notifications are not only emails, but in multiple locations (3) having updates of actions being taken/changed..
Participants disliked (1) the menu dot and (2) the possibility that deleting a notification from their notification list may delete it forever

Overall findings

Participants generally liked the visibility of Design A on the dashboard more than just notifications on the top navigation menu.
Participants were split between expecting notifications to disappear or be deleted from list after it pressing on it or it remaining after, but appearing read.
One participant would like two access points to notifications (visible from top menu and dashboard).
Most participants expected there to be another inbox location or page to a complete list of notifications (new, old & deleted).
Most participants expected a time limit to how long their notifications are kept, responses varying between 2 weeks to 7 years.
One participant found it inconsistent to have a bell icon, but a written word like menu instead of a hamburger menu.

Final Design

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