Taxpayer 360: Designing a Unified IRS Employee Experience

Title and Introduction

Taxpayer 360: Designing a Unified IRS Employee Experience

To support the Inflation Reduction Act's objective to enhance taxpayer services, the IRS initiated the TP360 project—an integrated solution aimed at improving the tools and systems used by taxpayer-facing employees. This assessment focused on understanding employee workflows and identifying opportunities for streamlined, efficient service delivery.

Problem Statement

IRS employees frequently face significant challenges in helping taxpayers due to outdated, disconnected systems and tools. Navigating multiple platforms, redundant data entry, and lack of access to full account information lead to inefficiencies, frustration, and potential errors—negatively impacting both employee performance and taxpayer experience.

Process and Methodology

The project followed a three-phase research approach:

Phase 1 – Discovery: Conducted SME interviews across Business Operating Divisions (BODs) to gather foundational knowledge about roles, responsibilities, tools, and systems.
Phase 2 – Contextual Inquiry: Observed 18 IRS employees at the Philadelphia campus, capturing in-depth qualitative data on day-to-day workflows, tools used, and environmental factors. Follow-up group debriefs helped validate insights.
Phase 3 – Refinement and Validation: Developed 18 task flows and refined two into full service blueprints through sessions with frontline managers and policy analysts to ensure accuracy and feasibility.

Solution and Implementation

Key recommendations and prototypes informed the TP90 (employee-side) portion of the broader TP360 platform. Specific solutions included:

Integrated Tool Access: Consolidation of high-use systems into a single interface.
Simplified Guidance: Use of plain language and improved online reference document search/navigation.
Improved Call Routing and Notes: Requiring account notes across departments.
Enhanced Training: Shadowing and early access to tools for new hires, alongside visual and video learning resources.

Results and Impact

Strategic Impact: Presented UX research findings to IRS Commissioner and key stakeholders which led to green light of Taxpayer 360 project.
Blueprint Foundation: Created two validated service blueprints.
Efficient Insight Capture: 18 contextual sessions provided rich data.
Stakeholder Buy-in: Informed MVP for TP360.
Improved Clarity: Identified inefficiencies and guided user-centered solutions.

Key Deliverables

The research culminated in comprehensive documentation that continues to guide the TP360 initiative:

Personas: Developed detailed personas for both Customer Representatives (CR) and Customer Service Representatives (CSR), based on extensive contextual inquiry sessions. These personas capture the daily realities, pain points, and needs of IRS employees who directly serve taxpayers.
Service Blueprints: Created two comprehensive service blueprints that map the end-to-end journey for both CR and CSR roles. These blueprints detail front-stage interactions, back-stage processes, supporting systems, and critical pain points where improvements can have the most impact.
Task Flows: Documented 18 detailed task flows representing the most common and critical employee workflows, providing a foundation for system redesign.
Journey Maps: Developed journey maps highlighting emotional touchpoints, system interactions, and opportunities for enhancement throughout the employee experience.

Credits and My Role

My Role: Lead UX Researcher

Conducted contextual inquiries and debriefs
Led synthesis and workflow mapping
Designed and validated service blueprints

Collaborators:

IRS Office of Online Services
TP360 Taskforce
SME representatives and policy analysts

Call to Action

If you're looking to modernize service delivery and design better internal tools that empower employees and enhance customer experiences, I'd love to connect. Let's build solutions that make government work better for everyone.