[Pattern] Help users to... Understand their current benefits and eligibility (AKA "baseball card")

[msbtterswrth]

Background

As part of VA’s commitment to improving the Veteran experience, the "Baseball Card" pattern will empower authenticated users to quickly understand their current benefits and discover additional benefits they may qualify for. This pattern will provide a concise, visually intuitive way to display benefit information through stacked cards or rows within a card. By surfacing personalized and actionable data, the pattern will help users make informed decisions about their benefits with ease.

This may be related to or an extension of an existing pattern, "Check personal information", which had some previous research conducted.

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Wireframes

Ryan Thurwell created some wireframes in his bluesky presentation related to what a baseball card might look like. The card is divided into several sections, each summarizing a specific benefit:

• VA Health Care
• Disability
• Education

Each section includes:

• Title: Clearly labels the benefit type.
• Key Details: Critical information (e.g., dates, percentages, monetary amounts).
• Actions: Links to related actions or resources (e.g., "Go to your benefit letter").

This design promotes these design principles:

• Clarity: Each card focuses on concise, high-value information, reducing cognitive load.
• Personalization: Data is tailored to the user, increasing relevance and trust.
• Action-Oriented: Clear, accessible links enable Veterans to take immediate action.
• Hierarchy and Organization: Information is presented in a stacked format, prioritizing readability and scanability.
• Visual Indicators: Checkmarks signal completion or confirmation, enhancing clarity.

Hypothesis

We believe that creating a design pattern that concisely displays current benefits and eligibility for additional benefits will:

• Enable Veterans to quickly find and understand their benefits information.
• Improve task completion rates for actions related to benefits management and discovery.
• Increase awareness and engagement with VA benefits.

Goals

Veteran Outcomes:

• Provide a clear, personalized summary of current benefits and additional eligibility in a single, easy-to-read format.
• Reduce the time and effort required for users to find relevant benefits information.
• Increase user confidence in understanding their benefits and next steps.

Business Outcomes:

• Increase engagement with VA benefits by surfacing relevant opportunities directly to users.
• Reduce calls and support requests related to benefits information by providing clarity and transparency.
• Enhance consistency and usability across authenticated experiences on VA.gov.

Alignment with OCTO's 2025 OKRs and Key Targets

This pattern supports OCTO’s 2025 OKRs and targets as follows:

O1: VA’s digital experiences are the easiest and most efficient way to access VA health care and benefits.

• O1.1: Enhance satisfaction with web products by providing an intuitive interface to quickly access benefits information.
• O1.2: Reduce time to access benefits details, aligning with the goal of less than 4 seconds per transaction.

O2: OCTO’s platforms are the fastest, most efficient, and most secure way to deliver products at VA.

• O2.4: Create reusable components for the pattern that other VA teams can implement, increasing non-OCTO-built capabilities.

O3: OCTO teammates are empowered with the knowledge and resources they need to make sustained impact.

• O3.3: Equip teams with clear governance guidelines and resources to implement the pattern effectively and confidently.

O4: OCTO positively influences VA's ability to deliver software products and services faster, safer, and with higher quality.

• O4.1: Contribute design and development artifacts, including reusable code and documentation, to enhance delivery practices.
• O4.2: Provide support to cross-functional teams for integrating the pattern across other VA products.

Scope

In-Scope

• Develop a "Baseball Card" pattern that displays:
  • Personalized information on current benefits, including status and summaries.
  • Recommendations for additional benefits users may qualify for, with clear next steps.
  • Links to detailed benefit pages for further exploration.
• Design governance guidelines, including content recommendations and usage examples.
• Deliver example code, aligned with VA Design System (VADS) standards.
• Validate the pattern through usability testing with diverse Veteran personas.
• Provide accessibility compliance adhering to Section 508 and WCAG guidelines.

Out-of-Scope

• Full redesigns of existing benefits pages or workflows outside the "Baseball Card" implementation.
• Complex eligibility determinations requiring significant back-end system integration beyond currently available data.

ACs

• The team has a shared, documented understanding of this pattern:
  • Key assumptions and user needs are identified.
  • Research and validation plans are in place.
• A research plan is submitted, and usability testing is conducted with diverse user groups.
• High-fidelity designs are created and reviewed by stakeholders.
• The pattern is reviewed through Design System Council (DSC) and undergoes a collaboration cycle review.
• A "Baseball Card" pattern exists in VADS, including:
  • Example code for front-end implementation.
  • Design resources and accessibility considerations.
  • Governance guidelines for adoption by other teams.
• The pattern is submitted to USWDS for consideration.

Stretch Goals:

• At least two VA teams successfully implement the pattern.