ROLE
Product Designer
TYPE
Web Application, SaaS, B2B
FOCUS
Social Impact
PLATFORM
Web
01
THE CHALLENGE
BestFit is a B2B SaaS platform that helps colleges, workforce organizations, and nonprofits connect people with public benefits like SNAP, WIC, TANF, child care assistance, and energy assistance so they can focus on their education or job training. Instead of expecting staff to memorize hundreds of pages of policy or manually screen every client, the platform helps organizations quickly identify likely eligible programs and guide people through the next steps.
Eligibility rules vary by state, depend on dozens of personal and financial factors, and change regularly. As a result, staff spent valuable time interpreting policy, while many eligible individuals never applied for benefits they qualified for.
Our goal was to reimagine the social safety net into a trusted digital experience that made eligibility easier to understand, reduced administrative burden, and helped more people access the basic needs support they needed.
60%+
of eligible individuals don't access benefits they qualify for
30+
benefit programs across federal, state, and local levels
1 in 3
users abandon benefit applications due to complexity
02
MY ROLE
I was the product designer responsible for turning policy (for SNAP, WIC, TANF, LIHEAP, and CAPS) into product.
From discovery through launch, I partnered with leadership, engineers, and on-staff policy experts to define what we should build, why it mattered, and how to make it approachable for the people who needed it most.
Product Strategy
–Defined MVP scope
–Prioritized roadmap features
–Wrote product requirements
Research
–User interviews
–Usability testing
–Policy & eligibility research
Design & Prototyping
–Wireframes & interactive prototypes
–End-to-end user flows
–Developer handoff
Cross-functional Leadership
–Engineering collaboration
–Stakeholder alignment
–Client onboarding
03
FEATURED COMPONENTS
Five pieces of the platform, each framed by the problem it solves.
Eligibility Screening Tool
Reduced cognitive load
Plain language
Multi-state policy
THE PROBLEM
Existing screening tools are long, confusing, and filled with government terminology. Organizations also spend significant staff time manually determining eligibility, leading to inconsistent results and slower client support.
THE SOLUTION
A guided eligibility experience that translates >95 pages of government forms, across multiple benefits, into a quick, easy-to-understand screener. People see one plain-language question at a time, revealed progressively so nothing feels overwhelming, reducing the burden for both clients and case managers.
PRODUCT IMPACT
- Reduced screening from 95+ pages of government forms to a screener completed in less than 10 minutes
- Standardized eligibility logic across multiple benefits
- Enabled faster intake by replacing manual eligibility interviews by program staff
Personalized Results
Est. monthly benefit
Information hierarchy
Real-time logic
THE PROBLEM
Many eligibility tools stop after telling someone they qualify, leaving users unsure of the actual value of applying or which programs deserve their attention first.
THE SOLUTION
A personalized results page, powered by BestFit's eligibility and benefit-estimation algorithm, is generated in real-time. Users see their potential monthly benefit amount helping them better understand the financial impact of available programs.
PRODUCT IMPACT
- Increased transparency by showing estimated benefit amounts instead of simple eligible/ineligible outcomes
- Helped users prioritize the benefits most likely to improve their financial stability
Support Plans
Personalized steps
Always available
Accessible reading
THE PROBLEM
Even after learning they qualify, people are left to untangle applications across a maze of separate agency sites and needed documents.
THE SOLUTION
Support Plans turn eligibility results into a plain-language task list of the exact next steps for applying, all in one place. Case managers and clients can asynchronously update tasks, allowing organizations to support more people without increasing staff workload.
PRODUCT IMPACT
- Extended the platform beyond screening by helping users take action after receiving their results
- Reduced case manager workload through personalized, asynchronous guidance
Client Dashboard
Personalized home
Saved plans
Progress tracking
THE PROBLEM
Benefits applications rarely finish in one sitting, and people lose momentum — and trust — when they can't find where they left off.
THE SOLUTION
A centralized dashboard where users can revisit their eligibility results, access their Support Plan, track progress, and quickly return to resources whenever they're ready to continue.
PRODUCT IMPACT
- Increased continuity by allowing users to return to their progress instead of starting over
- Supported long-term engagement beyond the initial screening experience
Admin Dashboard
Org-wide reporting
Role-based views
Progress tracking
THE PROBLEM
Organizations lacked visibility into how clients were using the platform and had limited insight into outcomes, making it difficult to measure impact, identify trends, or support grant reporting.
THE SOLUTION
The admin dashboard gives staff access to screening activity, eligibility trends, client engagement, and program insights, helping organizations make data-informed decisions and demonstrate community impact.
PRODUCT IMPACT
- Reduced administrative overhead by consolidating client management into a single workspace
- Created a scalable foundation for reporting, program evaluation, and future analytics
04
THE OUTCOMES
This project wasn't just about launching software.
It helped organizations identify more eligible clients, simplify case management, and connect more people with essential resources.
Just as importantly, it showed how thoughtful product design can transform complicated policy into something that can improve a person's quality of life.
5+
public benefit programs integrated into one screener
81%
of users successfully identified at least one new benefit they qualified for
$401
average monthly benefits identified per user
161
hours in staff time saved completing eligibility interviews
Better Access
More users successfully identified benefits they qualified for.
Better Decisions
Case managers spent less time interpreting eligibility rules and more time supporting people.
Better Experience
Complex government programs became approachable through plain language and thoughtful interaction design.
Better Partnerships
The platform expanded to support universities, nonprofits, and workforce organizations across multiple states.
EXPLORE MORE
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