Making government services accessible to every citizen in Buenos Aires

Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires

2022 - 2023

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The challenge

The Buenos Aires City Government offered an online process for citizens to request birth, marriage, and death certificates. In theory, it was all available digitally. In practice, a large portion of citizens couldn't complete it — and ended up visiting local government offices in person, creating frustration for users and unnecessary workload for staff.

The goal was clear: redesign the experience so citizens could actually finish the process online, independently, without needing help.

"The process existed online — but it wasn't truly accessible. We needed to understand why people were giving up and going in person instead."

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Research & findings

I was responsible for prototyping the initial and improved flows, planning the usability tests (brief, script, and scenarios), observing in-person moderated sessions with real citizens, and documenting findings to inform design decisions. We also ran tree testing to evaluate the existing information architecture.


Three critical issues emerged:


  • No clear starting point. Without a visible call to action, users didn't know how or where to begin the process.


  • Confusing "free or paid" wording. The language implied users had a choice, when in reality the certificate type depended on the requesting institution — not a personal preference.


  • Uncertainty after payment selection. Users didn't understand the difference between in-person and electronic payment, or what they were supposed to do next.

We conducted a thorough analysis of the current website, identifying pain points in the process. Through in-person user testing and tree testing, we pinpointed areas where the website's organization and critical information were unclear. With these insights, we undertook a comprehensive redesign aimed at streamlining the process for Buenos Aires residents, making it faster and more intuitive.

We began by conducting a heuristic analysis of the current website, supplemented with a user journey map. This thorough examination uncovered several pain points in the existing procedure. To gain deeper insights, we also conducted moderated in-person user testing to observe how people completed the process and to identify the issues they encountered.


Additionally, we conducted a tree testing to evaluate the website's information architecture, aiming to understand whether users could easily navigate through the site's

structure and find key information without confusion. This approach helped us identify areas where the website's organization was unclear or where critical information was

hard to locate, further informing our design and restructuring strategies.


Using the insights from this research, we proceeded with a comprehensive redesign to address the identified areas for improvement. Given that many residents of Buenos Aires

City use this process, our goal was to streamline it, making it faster and more intuitive for users to understand each step from start to finish.

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The solution

All design decisions were directly backed by insights from testing, no assumptions, no guesswork.

The first change we implemented based on our findings was to create a one-page questionnaire to simplify the process of gathering information. Rather than having multiple sections spread across different pages, this single-page approach allows users to visualize all the fields at a glance. As they progress through the questionnaire, additional fields expand in response to their selections, providing a streamlined and intuitive experience. This design minimizes the need for excessive clicking and reduces confusion, ultimately making it easier for users to complete the questionnaire in a shorter amount of time.

Guided onboarding

An initial flow that oriented citizens from the very start, reducing friction before they even reached the form.

Reframed certificate wording

Reframed certificate wording

Replaced "free or paid" with language centered on the requesting institution — matching how citizens actually think about the process.

Clear next steps per payment method

Clear next steps per payment method

Contextual instructions adapted to each payment choice, including confirmation emails with step-by-step guidance.

Prominent call to action

A visible entry point on the information page so citizens could start the process directly without getting lost.

Impact

  • Higher online completion

Significant increase in citizens completing the full process digitally


  • Fewer in-person visits

Reduction in unnecessary office visits for a process that should be fully online


  • More accessible service

Clearer, simpler experience for citizens regardless of their digital literacy


  • Reduced operational load

Less pressure on government staff handling avoidable in-person requests


Due to contractual agreements, I am unable to display all screens and design processes. Therefore, only a limited selection is presented in this project. If you’re curious to dive deeper, feel free to reach out!

  • Higher online completion

Significant increase in citizens completing the full process digitally


  • Fewer in-person visits

Reduction in unnecessary office visits for a process that should be fully online


  • More accessible service

Clearer, simpler experience for citizens regardless of their digital literacy


  • Reduced operational load

Less pressure on government staff handling avoidable in-person requests


Due to contractual agreements, I am unable to display all screens and design processes. Therefore, only a limited selection is presented in this project. If you’re curious to dive deeper, feel free to reach out!

Name

Thanks for reading!

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Agustina Casale

Agustina Casale

Agustina Casale

PRODUCT DESIGNER

PRODUCT DESIGNER

LINKS

LinkedIn

Resume

CONTACT

hello.aguscasale@gmail.com