Reimagining the Wait Times at the DMV — a UX Case Study

The District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) rendered 1.2 million services in 2016, nearly double the number of residents. The DMV also issued 249,680 drivers licenses with the majority of services coming from out of state license conversions, indicating a large group (20%) of first time users in the DC system.

DMV users have continued to vocalize their displeasure in the lack of efficiency and ease of use in DMV services. Our team set out to research what issues the users of the DMV might be facing.

Initially, our team created two surveys on the District of Columbia’s DMV user experience while digging into blogs and online communities for pre-existing complaints.

During this time, we analyzed two other case studies on the DC DMV conducted in 2019.These specific case studies proved useful as we combined all three studies’ surveys narrowing in on overlapping questions to understand the prominent issues users faced.

One of the solutions was implemented by the DC DMV by the time we started our research.

40 users indicated 2 distinguished pain points in their experience.

• 17 thought the physical wait was too long.
• 19 found the website confusing and/or brought the wrong documents.
• 4 had no issues

USER ISSUES:

UX Case Study by Esther Oh: “Thus, we also noted that a lot of residents were expressing the same frustrations regarding the DMV. Many of them griped about the long wait times and being turned away for bringing in the wrong documents. They weren’t always sure on what they needed to bring in and this resulted in multiple visits to the DMV”.

UX Case Study by Amanda Thomas: “A point of confusion, stress and impatience……that is how our users described their experiences at the DMV. Some were unclear what materials they needed to bring with them. Some were simply overwhelmed and frustrated by the arduous process of waiting hours upon hours at the crowded DMV offices. They described these tasks as “time consuming” and overall “unpleasant.”

Our UX Case Study: When surveyed, the biggest issues were long wait times and difficulty with locating correct information on the DMV website as a means to validate what documents to bring in.

PROBLEM STATEMENTS:

1. How might we restructure the website to make it easier to search for information?
2. How might we decrease waiting times at the DMV or alleviate the feeling of a wait?

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS:

Prior case studies noted the resource and time constraints in restructuring the website and pivoted towards the document checker.

Since we did not have a time constraint we proposed restructuring the website navigation.

Other case studies noted costs as an issue for the DC DMV. Therefore kiosks and adding additional employees would not be feasible with the current budget.

The least resource restrictive option was to address the management of wait time strategy.

SOLUTION PART 1:

When designing a solution for the DMV website we found it took minimal edits to reorganize the data in more user centric way.

In addition to reorganizing the site architecture:

SOLUTION PART 2:

When designing a solution for wait time management we found three rules applicable to the DMV experience:

1. Don’t let users watch, instead, distract, entertain or give mission
2. Transparency throughout the process, progress bars or updates
3. Set goals you can meet or beat

Therefore, we built an app and proposed a buzzer system to provide autonomy for users while providing transparency throughout the process. This also gives a user permission to leave the physical confines of the DMV to get more important errands out of the way. They then would be able to come back when the app or buzzer lets them know it would be almost their turn.

RETROSPECTIVE & FINAL THOUGHTS:

In the last 5 years many states have adopted kiosks to address some services not usually available to new users, such as renewing tags and licenses. Studies have claimed that this strategy has decreased wait times, however, cost of installing kiosks and maintenance were not transparent. We can only imagine the cost is much more substantial and resource intensive to implement and maintain over our proposed app and buzzer system.

FUTURE STEPS:

• Though we updated the logo, the next step would be to create a branding guidelines to create design consistency throughout the DMV’s web and app experience.
• Hire a content strategist to remove unnecessary and deprecated pages to refine the DMV’s information as a whole.
• Design designated areas within the DMV where consumers can enjoy their time (ie: coffee shop, eatery, play pen etc).

About the Team:

Ruben Mojica is an award winning graphics, experience, interactive, and package designer. He has worked in the design field for 11+ years. He can be reached at http://www.ruemojica.com or at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubenmojica/.

Michael Abrams is a creative multi-discipline designer. He has worked on a wide range of projects from automotive to esports. He can be reached at http://linkedin.com/in/michael-abrams-2562079a

Kara Barnes has worked in market research for the last decade in roles such as digital strategist and UX researcher. Say hello via LinkedIn!