Travis County
Jury Management App

Every year, Travis County summons over 140,000 jurors. The redesigned Jury Management application revolutionized how jury clerks and court executives handle their work, combining three outdated systems into one efficient platform. The app now manages the entire jury process—from summons and trial assignments to juror payments and donations—making the experience easier for both court staff and residents.

In this project, I led the user experience design and research, setting the vision for a tool that simplifies workflows and reduces inefficiencies while addressing the emotional challenges jury clerks and court executives face.

Roles
Lead Product Designer
Lead Researcher

Category
App Design

Audience
Travis County Jury Clerks + Court Executives
Travis County residents eligible for Jury Service  

Time Period
2020 - 2021

A Frustrating Workflow in Need of a Change

Jury clerks and court executives were overwhelmed by inefficiencies in their legacy tools:

• Fragmented Systems: Three outdated apps with overlapping functionalities required repetitive data entry, wasting time and increasing errors.
• User Frustration: The legacy systems hadn’t been updated in over a decade, generating high volumes of support tickets and calls to the App Dev team.
• Emotional Toll: Jury clerks, juggling many responsibilities, were drained by the multitasking demands of managing outdated tools.

Uncovering Daily Pain Points With Research

I conducted in-depth user interviews with 8 jury clerks and 5 court executives to understand their day-to-day workflows, frustrations, needs, and expectations. A big part of my approach was getting to know the emotional and logistical challenges they faced.

Here's what I discovered:

• Their multitasking across the three legacy systems was time-consuming, and error-prone.
• Many clerks expressed emotional exhaustion, balancing logistical challenges with the pressure to meet court deadlines.
• Building rapport with clerks during virtual interviews provided rich insights—some even introduced me to their pets! 

Some more key insights:

• Repeated data entry caused significant inefficiencies.
• Users needed consolidated workflows that reduced complexity and errors.
• Simplicity, clarity, and flexibility in task completion were crucial.

This deeper understanding and empathy shaped my design decisions.

Our Goals: Simplifying Complexity with Design

Through collaborative brainstorming with cross-functional teams, I posed How Might We (HMW) questions to align the team on our shared goals:

• HMW simplify the jury clerks and court executives' day-to-day tasks managing the entire Travis County jury process in this new comprehensive app?
• HMW streamline the jury process, from summons to payments, for greater efficiency and ease-of-use?
• HMW wrangle in insane amounts of complexity about the jury process and break it down gracefully?
• HMW reduce support tickets and user frustrations through improved usability?

Using these questions as my North Star, I created early concepts of the prototype design balancing user needs and technical constraints.

Iterating the Design Through Feedback

Once prototypes were ready, I conducted 10 moderated usability tests to compare the legacy systems with the new design. The goal was to observe participants’ interactions, listen to their feedback, and compare it to the legacy applications.

Tasks Tested:

• Entering trial details, attendance, and payments.
• Editing juror information and processing donations.
  
• Sending checks to SAP and voiding juror checks.
  

Findings:

• Users found the new design significantly easier to use.
  
• Having information about jurors for trial, attendance, donations, payment approval organized in the same spot was positively received and improved task efficiency.
  
• Visual improvements, like alternating row colors, improved readability.
• Users appreciated multiple ways to achieve their goals, increasing flexibility.

Before & After

More High Fidelity Prototype Designs

Delivering a Meaningful Solution

The final design made a measurable difference:

• Reduction in Support Tickets: Improved usability and consolidated functionalities significantly reduced the number of support tickets and calls.
  

• Improved Efficiency: Jury clerks could manage their tasks more efficiently, reducing duplicated efforts and errors.
  

• Positive Feedback: Received positive feedback from jury clerks and court executives on the app's ease of use and improved functionality.

Lessons Learned and Reflections

• Empathy Creates Value: Building relationships with users and understanding their emotional challenges led to a design that truly met their needs.
  
• Asking the Right Questions: By conducting a root cause analysis, we shifted from narrow feature requests to broader solutions that addressed core issues, like the juror payment workflow.
  
• Iterating and Refining: Continuous usability testing ensured the final design provided real-world value.
  

This project reinforced the power of empathy in design. By listening to users and prioritizing their needs, my team created a tool that not only solved logistical challenges but also supported clerks emotionally in their demanding roles. The redesigned Jury Management app is a testament to how thoughtful UX can make a meaningful impact on public services.