As part of the Provinces' COVID-19 emergency response plan, essential organisations needed a way to apply to receive rapid tests on an ongoing basis. This project involved designing a form to accommodate for the different distributors that different ministries needed to support applicants from various sectors. A lot of interface design and content design work was done on this project. I worked on this page as part of my work on the Ontario Together (OT) project, a project designed to provide services to businesses impacted by COVID-19. Some of the other OT projects I was involved with include the Ontario Together Fund and an N95 mask project.

• Developing user flows
• Communicating with stakeholders
• Editing UI components
  
• Assting with content design
  

Ontario received +24,000 submissions through the Ontario Together portal. +16,000 emergency supply submissions have generated more than $211 million in purchases of critical equipment and supplies.

I used the Ontario design system, Figma’s master components, and auto layout features to rapid prototype screens for a form on Ontario.ca. This form was used by businesses in Ontario to order rapid antigen tests so that essential workers could take a test before starting work for the day. My work on the project started after the form had already been developed. I worked with the stakeholders distributing tests through different supply chains, developers, content designers, and project managers to identify business needs and translate them into user needs in our interface. This project was subject to the volatility associated with the political and business changes happening rapidly in a Covid-19 world. Some of the specific tasks I engaged with were:

• developing consistent navigation paths and questions
•  optimising the end to end experience by streaming content design, developing automated emails, drafting error messaging etc.
• updating messaging and adjusting flows when there were unanticipated changes in antigen test supply supply

We made sure to keep the UI page layouts consistent, accessible and clear as we iterated through changes. The prototypes were used to communicate what changes needed to be made on a live Ontario.ca webpage. My work on this project involved working on all UI based changes to be made on the Ontario Together portal. Ontario Together was the name given to the project encompassing business facing covid-19 support service offerings.

Some examples of 🔑 key implementations made when developing these screens were:

• Made call to actions and navigational elements clear and consistent (ex. consistent primary and secondary call to action buttons)  
• Implement UI elements strategically to make user flows accessible (ex. placing hint text above entry fields so that it is easy to find and screen readable)  
• Update microcopy on the page to support users in completing flows and directing them to appropriate calls to action (ex. specifying next steps and linking to any applicable resources)

• Design systems are key
  Design systems are fundamental to having consistent spacing, fonts, colours, visual hierarchy and more. I learned that when it comes to UI design, design systems are the lifeblood of a seamless and usable experience. Appropriate implementation of design systems reduce mental workload, make navigation easier and contribute to more accessible experiences. 
• Prototype for efficiency 
  ‍In terms of designer workflow and making changes to prototypes, I learned that Figma’s auto-layout and master component features are sent down from heaven. Designing prototypes to be fast and easy to change is a must, especially in an always developing high impact project like this one. While taking the time to set up effective workspaces in the beginning of a project takes time, it pays off in the long term.
• Developer limitations are a real influence on interfaces
  ‍One of the major parts of this project was checking whether proposed interface changes could be made with the developer. When implementing changes on Ontario.ca, I had to work with the developers on the project to implement the changes or come up with alternative implementations that did not compromise usability. The impact of developer limitations on interfaces was a real concern and needed to be considered as part of the implementation process.