Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - Personalised Registrations

Note: Due to the confidential nature of this government project, detailed designs and service outputs cannot be shown. Instead, this case study focuses on my approach, research methods and the outcomes delivered.

Overview

The DVLA Personalised Registrations service is the UK's only government ecommerce platform, generating significant revenue through the sale of personalised vehicle registrations. Unlike most government services, it needed to balance the accessibility and usability standards of the GOV.UK Design System with the commercial expectations of a modern ecommerce experience.


Thanks to my track record ecommerce and digital products I was a natural fit for this unique project.

Role & process

I worked within a multidisciplinary agile team in a hybrid environment, collaborating closely with the DVLA's internal interaction design team, product managers, user researchers and engineers.

Midway through the project, the internal design team was reassigned to another programme, with responsibility for interaction design transferring to our consultancy team. I stepped into the role of Lead Interaction Designer, taking ownership of the user experience and representing design in stakeholder discussions through to delivery.

My work spanned the full design lifecycle, including:

• Planning and leading moderated usability testing within the DVLA's dedicated user research facility.

• Facilitating stakeholder workshops to align business objectives, user needs and technical constraints.

• Creating user journeys, wireframes and interactive prototypes.

• Working alongside developers to translate designs into production-ready solutions.

• Using analytics, user research and A/B testing to iteratively improve the experience.

• Ensuring accessibility and usability remained central throughout the design process.

Challenges & solutions

The biggest challenge was balancing commercial optimisation with government governance.
As the UK's only government ecommerce platform, the service needed to compete with polished private-sector experiences while still complying with the standards and assessment criteria of the GOV.UK Design System.

In several areas, the standard design system components weren't sufficient to meet user or business needs. I worked closely with stakeholders to build an evidence-based case for introducing bespoke interaction patterns, supported by user research and moderated usability testing.

By applying progressive enhancement, we were able to deliver richer user experiences while maintaining accessibility and compliance, allowing innovative solutions to coexist with government standards rather than compromise them.

Outcome & reflections

The service successfully passed both Alpha and Private Beta GDS assessments, with the bespoke interaction patterns and progressive enhancement approach retained as part of the approved solution.

For me, the project reinforced that good interaction design is rarely about choosing between user needs, business objectives or governance. The most successful outcomes come from understanding the constraints, building consensus through evidence, and finding solutions that satisfy all three.