Export Service

Australia's export industry depends on government certification at every step. But the systems exporters used were fragmented across departments — separate logins, separate forms, no shared view of status. For 2,000+ businesses relying on timely approvals, delays meant cargo sitting in port.

A centralised platform was needed, but consolidating protected business data and replacing legacy systems introduced serious security constraints. The core tension throughout was balancing those constraints with usability.

What we built

The Export Service gives exporters a single place to manage documentation and regulatory obligations — onboarding, communication preferences, business verification, staff permissions, account details and application tracking — replacing workflows previously scattered across departments.

Role

I was design lead on a 16-person delivery team for three years, reporting to the Director of Digital Identity and Account. I owned the design process end-to-end — from wireframes tested with exporters through to production specifications built within the Agriculture Design System.

Research shaped the product roadmap — usability findings directly influenced which features were prioritised each quarter. I worked with business analysts to map complex journeys, content designers to translate regulatory language into plain English, and developers to resolve implementation gaps in the Azure B2C authentication layer.

I delivered responsive, WCAG 2.1 conforming interfaces aligned to the Digital Service Standard and contributed new components back to the Agriculture Design System.

This project operated within several layers of government requirements. All interfaces had to conform to WCAG 2.1 AA, the Digital Service Standard, and the Information Security Manual — including Essential Eight security controls.

The authentication UI had to be built in HTML and CSS because Azure B2C (the white-label authentication solution) couldn't use the Design System's React component library. This meant producing detailed design documentation and pairing closely with developers to maintain visual consistency and accessibility without the usual component library.

Business verification required integration with the Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM), a whole-of-government service. The linking process involved multiple redirects between government applications, which could easily disorient users.

Users needed a way to avoid repetitive data entry. Guided by the government principle of 'tell us once', the account enables centralised profile management. Details entered once are reused seamlessly across forms and system integrations.

Before committing to code, I used the department's Agriculture Design System to create Figma prototypes for concept validation and testing. Because business units manage relationships with exporters, we began by validating early concepts with them.

We then developed a research script and ran moderated usability sessions with exporters. Participants were recruited through Askable, giving us direct access to the people who would actually use the service.

Navigation

Users managing a single business didn't need a context switcher cluttering their interface, but users managing five entities needed to change context constantly. The challenge was supporting both without compromising either.

I designed a dropdown component that shows which business the user is acting on behalf of, accessible from persistent navigation across the platform. For single-business users, the switcher stays out of the way. For multi-business users, it's always within reach. Testing confirmed that surfacing the active business context reduced errors and gave users more confidence in their actions.

This component was contributed back to the Agriculture Design System and is now used across other areas of the department.

Sign in with email

We expected most users to choose Digital ID since it offered fuller access to services. In testing, users reached for email sign-in first. It felt more familiar and less risky.

The problem was that both options sat side by side with no indication of what each unlocked. Users assumed they were equal. Rather than pushing users toward Digital ID, we redesigned the sign-in screen with clear callouts explaining what additional access it would unlock. We also worked with content designers on help articles that walked users through the difference.

I translated the multi-factor authentication journey into screen designs, which were implemented using Microsoft Azure B2C (a white-label authentication solution).

Since we couldn't use the Design System's React UI library, the interface had to be built in HTML and CSS. I created detailed design documentation to guide development. The solution initially produced inconsistent layouts and elements, so I worked closely with developers, providing specific feedback to refine visual hierarchy, improve usability and strengthen accessibility.

While onboarding, business managers needed a way to seamlessly verify their business while preventing unauthorised access. We introduced a task overview to set expectations and guide them through the verification process.

Other key user requirements:

• Enter business details once and reuse them across the service.
• Provide managers with simple controls for team permissions and access.
• Enable users to manage multiple businesses or entities from a single account.

Content strategy

Clear guidance was critical. In regulatory environments, security requirements often feel frustrating and opaque. By surfacing the right information at the right moment, we helped users see security controls as tools for protecting their business — not just obstacles to accessing services.

I collaborated with content designers to create 20+ help articles that translated technical requirements into plain language.

Form validation and designing for errors

As a security requirement, invited users had to verify their invitation with an email code rather than a clickable link. Several issues could occur when redeeming a code: it might be expired, cancelled by the sender, or already used.

Error messages needed to strike a careful balance: general enough to avoid exposing system vulnerabilities to bad actors, while still being specific enough to help legitimate users resolve the issue.

Error states fell into two categories: system-generated or user-generated. This classification informed how we wrote and displayed each message, ensuring we balanced security with helpful guidance.

Our front-end developers preferred having error state mockups positioned directly next to the main user flow designs in Figma. We also documented these rules and messages in detailed build tickets to support implementation and testing.

Business impact

The Export Service now serves over 2,000 regulated businesses. Secure onboarding reduced department processing time by over 40%, and registration dropped from weeks to days.

Design influence

Navigation components I designed were adopted platform-wide, and several contributions to the Agriculture Design System are now used by other teams across the department. Accessibility practices I introduced became standard within the development team.

Growth

When the Product Manager left, I stepped into the Experience Lead role — setting priorities and managing workflow across the 16-person delivery team. Over three years I moved from Interaction Designer to leading the experience design function.