U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Forms Digitization Guide

Digitizing paper forms at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is one of the most nuanced, specialized, and time-consuming initiatives a team can take on. Even with a robust design system and accessible forms library, it was taking dedicated forms teams 3–9 months to digitize a form. Processes were inconsistent, and knowledge-sharing was limited across teams.

To help teams across the VA digitize a backlog of over 260 paper forms in compliance with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA), the researchers on my team conducted a foundational study to inform a best practices guide for digitizing forms.  I joined the project during the research synthesis phase to assist with co-authoring the guide. The study's findings served as the basis for the Forms Digitization Guide.

The challenge

Over time, the form digitization efforts up to the point of the study had revealed gaps in knowledge across teams:

  • What does the full digitization process look like?

  • Why do teams often reinvent solutions instead of following standards?

  • How can recurring pain points and blockers be avoided?

  • Can a playbook address known issues and others revealed in a study?

Our team suspected that siloed knowledge, misaligned stakeholders, and inconsistent tools were hindering team productivity.

My role

UX and Content Designer

Tools used

  • Mural

  • Confluence

  • VA.gov Design System and Forms Library

Skills applied

  • Qualitative Research Synthesis

  • Accessibility-centered Strategy

  • Cross-functional Collaboration

  • Service Design Thinking

  • Content Strategy

  • Instructional Writing

  • Technical Documentation

Goals

  • Untangle the often murky and inconsistent process of form digitization

  • Evaluate, refine, and document best practices that are shared across teams

  • Establish guidelines not previously documented to drive consistent adoption

  • Direct forms digitization teams at VA toward this single source of actionable guidance

Process

Research and synthesis phase

  • The research team conducted 7 cross-functional workshops (one workshop for each Veteran-facing and platform team) with 33 participants

  • Participants included designers, engineers, product managers, and other delivery team members working directly on digitizing VA forms

  • Over 500+ insights were captured and synthesized

  • During synthesis, I collaborated with researchers to identify recurring themes, systemic barriers, and successful strategies employed by teams that had managed to navigate the process more efficiently

Collaborative authoring phase

  • Using the study's findings, we co-authored a best practices guide targeting both new and existing teams, as well as team members who needed to be onboarded quickly

  • Working in Confluence, we tackled one section at a time, starting with an outline, evolving it into a template to create consistency and structure for each phase

  • We researched, fact-checked, revised, and invited the participants from the study to review our guide for accuracy

  • We invited members of the Content and Accessibility teams to review, and eventually made our way through the Governance process for publishing to the Platform Developer website

Result

What we learned in the research study

The study uncovered critical insights, including:

  • Inconsistent Processes: Every team had its own way of digitizing forms. There was no single path or shared playbook.

  • Siloed Communication: Teams often lacked direct contact with stakeholders or downstream processors, leading to rework and unclear requirements.

  • Tooling & Library Gaps: Many teams struggled with the Forms Library, either due to outdated patterns or unclear implementation guidance.

  • Lack of Institutional Memory: Teams knew others had tackled similar challenges—but past efforts were poorly documented and hard to access.

We also learned that, despite these challenges, teams placed strong trust in the VA Design System and were eager for resources that could help them standardize and streamline their work.

Completion and Publication of the Guide

The finished product, “A Guide to Digitizing VA Forms,” offers:

  • Clear process phases and milestones

  • Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

  • Centralized tools, resources, and real-world examples

  • Resources to help teams start faster and stay aligned with VA’s digital standards

By connecting fragmented institutional knowledge into one cohesive narrative, we equipped teams to approach digitization more confidently and consistently, ultimately helping the VA deliver services to Veterans faster and more efficiently. 

“A Guide to Digitizing VA Forms” was published and has been handed over to new owners to maintain and build upon. It can be found in the VA Platform developer documentation site, as well as referenced in the VA Design System form components overview.

  • "This is so great. Thank you to everyone that worked on this. This work helps level-set new teams as they come on board and helps move form digitization faster."

    - VA Forms Accessibility Expert