HM Revenue & Customs · 2019–2021
Making identity verification work across government
A reusable, inclusive identity service adopted by more than 30 government services.
30+government services adopted the solution
122%year-on-year increase in user satisfaction
72%successful identity verifications
The challenge
The existing process was slow, costly and difficult for some people to complete. The new service needed to be secure, accessible and reusable across departments without forcing every team to solve the same problem again.
What I did
- Reviewed existing research, fraud evidence and service constraints with policy, security and operational teams.
- Ran inclusive research across the UK with people who had accessibility needs, low digital confidence and different routes through government services.
- Translated the evidence into cross-service journeys, information architecture, interaction patterns and prototypes aligned with the Government Design System.
- Worked with DWP, DEFRA and other teams to make the service straightforward to integrate and improve through peer review and testing.
What I took from it
Security requirements and accessibility needs were not opposing forces. The work improved when both were treated as design inputs from the start rather than checks at the end.
“Experienced and capable… able to work across multiple stakeholders, mediate conflicting requirements and not afraid to ask questions.”
Simon Da Silva, Digital Business Analyst, HMRC