Product Design

Building trust in government digital services

Credential Sharing – ServiceNSW

As a Senior Product Designer, I led the end-to-end design of ServiceNSW’s digital credential sharing experience, enabling citizens to securely share government-issued credentials (e.g., licences) with employers and service providers.

The challenge: Citizens needed transparency and control over what data they shared, while employers required a fast, reliable verification process.

My contribution:

  • Conducted user research to identify pain points around trust, privacy, and consent.

  • Designed and prototyped clear, accessible user flows across web and mobile.

  • Introduced trust markers, credential previews, and progress indicators to reduce anxiety and drop-offs.

  • Facilitated cross-disciplinary collaboration with policy, engineering, and service design teams.

  • Ensured designs met WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and were tested with diverse user groups.

Impact:

  • Increased user trust: 80% of participants reported feeling “in control” of their data (up from 45%).

  • Significant reduction in help-desk calls.

  • Adopted across industries requiring rapid credential verification (childcare, security, hospitality).

NSW Driver's Licence

My role included redesigning key verification and presentation flows, simplifying consent interactions, and ensuring seamless integration with third-party verifiers.

NSW Digital ID

Through extensive user research and testing, I introduced trust markers, plain-English consent, and mobile-first patterns that made Digital ID adoption smoother and more transparent.

NSW Photo Card

My focus was on creating an inclusive, mobile-first experience that addressed diverse user needs, including older citizens and CALD communities.

Overview

ServiceNSW provides citizens with digital access to their government-issued credentials (e.g., driver’s license, Working with Children Check, occupational licenses). A critical part of this ecosystem is enabling people to securely share their credentials with third parties (such as employers, service providers, or authorities) in a way that is easy, trustworthy, and privacy-conscious.

As a Senior Product Designer at ServiceNSW, I led the design of a secure and seamless credential sharing experience that allowed citizens to digitally share government-issued credentials with trusted third parties such as employers, childcare providers, and regulators; compliance with government policy, and usability at scale..

This work was critical to building trust in government digital services, ensuring that citizens remained in control of their data, while organizations could rely on a fast, compliant, and user-friendly process for verification.

The Challenge

Citizens and organizations needed a way to share and verify credentials quickly, but existing methods were often manual, confusing, and lacked transparency.

Through discovery research, we identified three key pain points:

  • Citizens are forced to overshare personal details (e.g., revealing full address just to prove age).

  • Many people lacked trust in digital identity systems due to fears of surveillance or misuse.

  • Complexity: Employers needed a streamlined process that was quick and reliable, without adding extra admin work.

The challenge was to design a flow that was secure, accessible, and built trust — while also meeting government compliance and policy requirements.

My Role

  • As Senior Product Designer, I was responsible for:

    • Leading end-to-end design across discovery, definition, and delivery.

    • Designing journeys, wireframes, and high-fidelity prototypes in Sigma.

    • Facilitating workshops to align policy, engineering, and service design teams and journey mapping in Miro.

    • Conducted usability testing (moderated, guerrilla testing, and A/B testing) to validate design decisions.

    • Ensuring the design adhered to WCAG accessibility standards and inclusive design principles.

Design Approach​

1. Discovery & Research

  • Conducted interviews and contextual inquiries with both citizens and employers.

  • Identified user anxieties around privacy and control, with one participant saying:
    “I just need to know what they will see, and that I can stop it later if I want.”

2. User Journey & Flows
I mapped the credential-sharing journey to ensure clarity at every step:

  1. Receive request via SMS, email, or ServiceNSW app link.

  2. Log in or register.

  3. Review consent screen with plain-English explanation of what will be shared.

  4. Complete proof of identity (if required).

  5. Success confirmation with option to manage or revoke access.

To support trust, I incorporated:

  • Government branding and visual trust markers.

  • A credential preview showing exactly what data would be shared.

  • Progress indicators to reassure users and reduce drop-off.

3. Accessibility & Inclusivity

  • Applied WCAG 2.1 AA standards, ensuring high contrast and screen reader support.

  • Simplified language to a Year 7 reading level for broader comprehension.

  • Designed for mobile-first access, given the high proportion of users accessing government services on their phones.

4. Testing & Iteration

    • Ran usability sessions with diverse citizens, including seniors and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups.

    • Iterated on button hierarchy and plain-language content to improve consent comprehension.

    • Added visual previews and confirmation screens after testing showed confusion about “what happens after I click share.”

Outcome & Impact

  • The new design delivered a frictionless and trustworthy credential-sharing experience.

    Impact highlights:

    • 80% of participants in testing reported feeling “in control” of their data (compared to 45% before design improvements).

    • Reduced help-desk calls related to credential sharing.

    • Adoption by industries where credential verification is critical, such as childcare, security, and hospitality.