How I helped launch VISANOW’s new online U.S. citizenship application product – interactive & UX to branding to functional copy in one month.

Opportunity

• UX: enhance the experience and interactivity of the application, so users had easy, instant access to answers they needed and didn’t abandon the flow
• Branding: help VISANOW establish brand voice in its B2C-facing messaging
• Business: launch a successful online product that had a distinct competitive advantage over other citizenship application services with its user-friendliness and ease of use
• SEO: improve visibility of the new product via landing page (target keywords, titles, links)

The Way Forward

October 2015: I started contract work with VISANOW in October to help them with their promotions and UX for a new online product they had created for the intimidating Form N-400 application – the path to U.S. citizenship – which they were launching in one month’s time. (!)

Right away, I saw I could help them establish a VISANOW brand voice: they wanted to keep some formality in the tone, but there was room to make it a little more engaging. Also, it was important to keep language direct and simple; our audience was primarily non-native English speakers.

I worked with Marketing to ensure the brand messaging carried across consistently from functional (“how-to”) copy to promotional pieces like reengagement emails for past VISANOW customers.

November: Next, UX: keeping timeline and the development constraints in mind, I concepted interactive elements for the application like tool tips (pictured), using competitive analysis (TurboTax) and delivered engaging copy to keep users in the flow.

On the VISANOW website side, I concepted a new landing page layout that included:

• Product tier comparison chart
• New banner concept, body copy and “Why apply” link
• Helpful Resources quick-links section, which could be reused throughout the application experience
• “Share with a Friend” social media section

It was important that in working with dev, I shoot for as much as possible while knowing we’d realistically have to dial back and save some enhancements for future iterations given the aggressive timeline… and communicate this approach so we were all on the same page.

I was happy with UX elements that made it into launch – like tool-tip functionality that reflects a friendly, trusted resource for the questions users will certainly have filling out the N-400. VISANOW wanted to convey this in its brand.

Now they’ve got a great start as they enhance their product offering and continue to improve competitively!