Smile Payee
Redesigning Welfare Finance Management for Efficiency and Empathy
The Goal
Smile Payee is a US government-aided service that manages finances for people receiving benefits such as Social Security or VA funds. Every month, the organization ensures that essential bills like rent, utilities, and healthcare are paid directly to vendors, while also allocating a weekly allowance to clients for their personal needs. In short, Smile Payee takes on the responsibility of handling money so that vulnerable individuals can live with stability and dignity.
The goal of this project was to transform Smile Payee’s outdated portal into a smarter, automated system. By reducing manual work, preventing errors, and ensuring compliance with SSA regulations, the new design aimed to make life easier for employees while creating a transparent, trustworthy experience for clients who depend on these funds.
MY ROLE
UI/UX designer,
UX Researcher
DELIVERABLES
Prototypes
High Fidelity Designs
Web App, Website
TEAM
Product Managers
Content writers
Developers (Web and
Mobile)
YEAR
2024- 2025
The Challenge
How might we create a system that builds trust by giving clients clear visibility into their funds while reducing inefficiencies for employees?
The biggest challenge with Smile Payee’s existing system was that it wasn’t built to handle the scale or sensitivity of the work. The old portal forced employees to manage nearly everything manually like onboarding, budgets, payments, and statements, slowing them down and increasing errors that directly affected clients who depended on every dollar.
Clients had little visibility into their funds, faced delayed updates, and lacked easy ways to track allowances or requests. In a system where accuracy and trust are vital, both employees and clients struggled with inefficiencies a modern solution needed to fix.
Research
Our first step was to closely study the existing portal. We mapped its workflows, identified UX flaws, and listed UI requirements to understand why employees found it so tiring and inefficient. This gave us a baseline of what needed to be fixed and what features could be reimagined.
Overwhelming table with too many columns and no hierarchy → difficult to scan or prioritize tasks.
Status indicators (red/green icons) lack explanation, creating uncertainty about what action is required.
Primary task (“Print checks”) is visually disconnected from the workflow, breaking task continuity.
Filters and search lack clarity on how they impact results, leading to trial-and-error use.
Poor use of space: Right side is nearly empty while the left menu and client/alerts data are cramped.
Outdated UI: Grey striped background, small fonts, and lack of visual hierarchy make it visually fatiguing.
No actionable insights: The dashboard shows data counts but doesn’t surface key tasks or next steps for employees.
Fragmented navigation: Menu options on the left (Dashboard, Activities, Calendar, etc.) are not logically grouped, making it hard to know where to start.
Inefficient navigation: With 1,200+ clients, users must click through pagination without an advanced search or sort feature.
Unclear icons: The small “menu” icon at the end of each row has no visible label, forcing guesswork.
Low visual distinction: No clear grouping between client identity and their financial data; everything blends together.
Next, we conducted qualitative interviews with case managers and staff who used the system daily. Their firsthand insights revealed the pain points of manual processes, compliance tracking, and the lack of automation. These conversations highlighted which tasks drained the most time and where errors were most likely to occur. Following are some important pain points:
Too much manual work
Want automation for routine tasks.
Frequent errors
Expect smart checks and alerts to reduce mistakes.
No client visibility
Need clear statements, updates, and notifications.
Cluttered navigation
Expect simple dashboards and cleaner data views.
Hard compliance tracking
Want built-in audit trails and regulation support.
Outdated UI
Expect a modern, accessible, easy-to-use interface.
Design System & Visual Language
A consistent design system was created with defined colors, typography, icons, and components to ensure scalability, accessibility, and a cohesive experience across the entire application.
Primary (Deep Blue)
#0D42A6
rgb(13, 66, 166)
Pale Blue Gray
#D5DBE8
rgb(213, 219, 232)
Blue
#407DEF
rgb(64, 125, 239)
Blue Gray
#7686A8
rgb(118, 134, 168)
light blue
#E4F2FF
rgb(228, 242, 255)
white
#FFFFFF
rgb(255, 255, 255)
Error
#EF402F
rgb(239, 64, 47)
Success
#297804
rgb(41, 120, 4)
Warning
#FFC048
rgb(255, 192, 72)
Navy Blue (Text)
#062957
rgb(6, 41, 87)
Lato
34 px
28 px
22 px
16 px
14 px
12 px
Lato is an ideal typeface for application design because its clear, humanist letterforms ensure high data readability, and its balance of geometric stability and friendly details creates a professional yet approachable user experience.
Regular
Medium
SemiBold
Bold
ExtraBold
Search .
Page
1
of 10
1
2
3
...
10
Fields
Label
Write name
This field is mandatory
Label_text_input
Placeholder_input
Label_text_input
Placeholder_input
Label_text_input
Placeholder_input
Label_text_input
Placeholder_input
Status & Stats
Approved
Denied
Sent for Approval
Completed
Cancelled
Overdue
Received
Sent to SSA
Rejected
$1200
Stats
$800
Stats
$400
Stats
Button states
Button
Button
Button
Button
Button
Secondary Button
Secondary Button
Secondary Button
Secondary Button
Secondary Button
Final Outcome
Transforming Compliance-Heavy Workflows into an Intuitive, Automated System
The redesigned Smile Payee portal streamlined complex financial management through automation, simplified navigation, and modern UI, enabling employees to work faster with fewer errors while giving clients transparency and trust in their funds.
Intake List
Website ( New user application)
Clear table structure with status tags, balance indicators, and quick filters makes it easy to track and manage multiple client assets in one view.
Task cards, alerts, and financial summaries are visually prioritized, giving employees a clear at-a-glance view of workload, risks, and pending approvals in one unified dashboard.
Stepwise tabs simplify vendor creation by breaking the form into manageable parts.
Consistent master-data layout with actions and quick filters makes managing large lists simple, scalable, and uniform across the application.
Clear sections simplify complex asset entry, making the process easier and more accurate.
Tabbed segregation centralizes client data, grouping budgets, assessments, and records in one view for easier access and seamless management.
Expandable rows reveal detailed account and balance information without leaving the page, helping users manage complex client data quickly and in context.
The side navigation breaks onboarding into clear, progressive sections (Documents, Identifiers, Family, etc.), reducing overwhelm and guiding users step by step through a complex process.
Quick action menu keeps the table clean while offering key options on demand.
The design uses clear sections and a progress tracker to simplify workflows, with clean forms and visible actions for easy data entry.
The new design simplifies intake management with a clean, minimal layout, color-coded statuses, and clear task visibility.
It makes large datasets easier to manage through intuitive navigation, smart filters, and prominent action buttons.
Dashboard
Website ( selection of program)
Intake (user details)
Onboarding List
Onboarding (User details)
Client List
Client Detail (Profile)
Client Detail ( Budget Management)
Add Budget
Asset List
Add new asset
Vendor Master
Add New Master
Alerts
quest completed!
The redesigned Smile Payee portal not only streamlined workflows and boosted efficiency but also proved scalable by migrating over a lakh records, onboarding thousands of new users, and setting a benchmark for other agencies to replicate.
75%
Manual tasks like onboarding, spend-down tracking, and profile updates were fully automated, reducing workload and errors.
65%
Efficiency increased as employees could complete client tasks faster, thanks to streamlined workflows and auto-reconciliation.
1,00,000+
Existing user records migrated seamlessly, with 17,000 new user profiles added to the system.
Successful implementation of bank reconciliation ensured accurate alignment between the portal and financial records.
Thankyou
for visiting!
Grateful you stayed till the final level. Every scroll counts, thank you for exploring my world.
