SSA.gov Contextual FAQ

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Challenge

The challenge was to clear up clutter on pages so that they can be dedicated to a focused task-forward approach to help users accomplish distinct goals. We needed to support wayfinding and content clarity without overwhelming users or derailing them from their goals.

example disability page with FAQ

example disability page with FAQ

 

Solution

To streamline the development process we leveraged the burger menu component to provide a dismissible on-screen container for contextual content. Unlike the burger menu this container would be available at all screen breakpoints.

example landing page with faq

Example landing page with faq.png

Example FAQ

Example FAQ

Example FAQ with accordion

Example FAQ with accordion

 

Learnings

While it has not yet been implemented for it’s original purpose, the design on the site has been leveraged in other contexts because it is so useful. Overall, the contextual FAQ is a critical tool for complicated interactions such as the login page and field office locator.

The big takeaway from this project is that sometimes a solution that you make for one problem is an even better solution for a problem you didn’t realize you had.

Example Pension page with FAQ


Functional specifications

Below are the functional specifications for the SSA FAQ drawer modal

 

Figma component

Below is the figma component for the SSA FAQ drawer modal

Figma library FAQ component