California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)
• Product Management • Product Strategy • Information Architecture • UX App Design • Product Market Fit • Design System • Product Branding • Prototyping • Stakeholder Presentation •
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) - serves as the state’s leadership hub during all major emergencies and disasters securing resources through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) portal presented a classic case of government digital infrastructure that had evolved without user guidance—nine different application tiles with cryptic acronyms, each built by different vendors with competing interests and no centralized oversight. As one would expect in an organization where "UX" was still considered an unnecessary extravagance rather than a fundamental requirement, users were left to decipher an interface that prioritized departmental structure over human comprehension.
As the Solutions Architect (the deliberately vague title on my business card that allowed me to address user experience issues without alarming the bureaucracy), my role was to single-handedly bridge the gaps between fragmented programs, directorates, and technology teams. With the UX team recently downsized to just two survivors, I took on the challenge of creating coherence from chaos—designing a unified experience across disparate systems while simultaneously educating stakeholders on why this mattered in the first place.
After speaking at length with the client and understanding her needs, our team made a determination focusing on the Driver app so that there would be enough information for potential investors.
Market Reality: Government agencies aren't exactly known for their cutting-edge technology. Legacy systems were creating inefficiencies at critical moments when time and clarity matter most.
Quickly we had realized that the research was inconsistent between teams resulting in prototypes which did not match the approved flow.
After weeks of user interviews and system analysis (and enough coffee to float a small battleship), I identified three critical problems that needed immediate attention:
Being the unicorn product person—part designer, part researcher, part manager, part diplomat, and occasional therapist for frustrated users—I knew that solving this entrenched mess would require more than just pretty buttons and a color palette.
I rolled up my sleeves (metaphorically; it was summer in Sacramento) and dove into the user experience abyss:
Conducted 27 stakeholder interviews, during which I heard variations of "I hate this system" in enough different ways to compile a thesaurus
Conducted a comprehensive analysis using established Laws of UX and design principles to identify specific issues with the portal
Armed with mountains of evidence and a vision for something better, I prepared to champion the voice of users in a system that had forgotten they existed.
With a diagnosis that would make any product doctor prescribe immediate intervention, I developed a strategy that balanced political realities with what users actually needed.
Vision: Create a central platform connecting Californians to state and local municipalities, making grant funding more accessible by modernizing government legacy software with a SaaS CRM.
Speak Human, Not Government - Replace bewildering acronyms with clear, descriptive language that actually tells users what each service does
Phase 1 focused on the grants management portal, targeting the highest-volume user journeys with the most significant pain points. I used a weighted scoring model to prioritize initiatives based on:
As a product unicorn (not the billion-dollar kind, just the "does-everything-because-nobody-else-will" kind), executing this transformation meant wielding influence without authority—my favorite sport in the corporate Olympics.
Helped establish a Center of Excellence, which sounds fancy but really meant "adults in the room making sure things don't go sideways"
Phase 1 focused on the grants management portal, targeting the highest-volume user journeys with the most significant pain points. I used a weighted scoring model to prioritize initiatives based on:
Phase 1 focused on the grants management portal, targeting the highest-volume user journeys with the most significant pain points. I used a weighted scoring model to prioritize initiatives based on:
Beyond the numbers, we transformed how Californians access critical emergency services funding. The simplified interface, intuitive workflows, and modern technology stack created a platform that actually helps people during their time of need—instead of becoming yet another obstacle.
After surviving this project with most of my sanity intact, I walked away with some hard-earned wisdom:
What began as a bewildering maze of government services transformed into an actually usable platform that connects Californians with critical resources when they need them most. And at the end of the day, that's what makes all the bureaucratic battles worthwhile—knowing real people can now access emergency services without first having an emergency of their own trying to navigate the website.
