The Department of Veterans Affairs offers more than 30 distinct benefit programs — education, healthcare, housing, vocational rehabilitation, disability compensation, and more. For veterans trying to navigate these programs after service, the system is functionally inaccessible: siloed portals, inconsistent information, and no single path that accounts for the full picture of a veteran's situation.
This project explores what a unified Veterans Resource Hub could look like — a single, honest, human-centered entry point into VA benefits, designed around how veterans actually think about their transition, not how the VA organizes its departments.
First-hand experience
VA.gov audit
Benefits ecosystem map
Journey mapping
Service blueprint
GI Bill · VR&E (Ch. 31)
VA Healthcare · eBenefits
Housing · Disability (PACT)
U.S. Army, 2018–2021
Air Defense · Germany
This is not an abstract service design exercise. I navigated the VA benefits system as a veteran — the VR&E (Chapter 31 vocational rehabilitation) program specifically. The confusion, the dead ends, and the gaps in this project are ones I encountered directly. That firsthand knowledge is what makes the design problems here specific rather than assumed.
The VA benefit system is not badly intentioned — it is badly organized. Each program was built by a different team, serves different eligibility rules, and lives on a different part of VA.gov. The burden of synthesis falls entirely on the veteran.
Personal navigation of VA.gov, eBenefits, MyHealtheVet, and Vets.gov while applying for VR&E (Chapter 31) post-separation. Documented confusion points, dead ends, and system inconsistencies as an actual user — not a researcher simulating one.
Side-by-side analysis of all four VA portals: content overlap, identity systems, information consistency, and application pathways for the same benefits. Mapped contradictions and redundancies across portals for 12 distinct benefit scenarios.
GAO reports on VA digital transformation (2019–2023). VSO documentation from DAV, VFW, and American Legion. Congressional testimony on VA benefits backlogs. Academic literature on trauma-informed service design for transitioning veterans.
Current-state blueprint mapping all five swim lanes across the six-phase separation-to-benefits journey. Identified six critical failure points concentrated at eligibility check, application, and processing phases. Blueprint is live below.
"The VA organized its digital experience around its own bureaucratic structure. A veteran transitioning out of service does not know — and should not need to know — whether their education benefit is Chapter 33 or Chapter 30."
The Veterans Resource Hub reimagines VA benefits navigation around the veteran's situation — not the VA's org chart. A guided entry experience, plain-language eligibility translation, and a unified status dashboard replace the current fragmented portal landscape.
Replace the program directory with a 5-question intake: service period, discharge status, current situation (employment, education, disability). Output: a personalized benefits summary showing what you likely qualify for.
Every benefit explained in terms of what it does for you — not its statutory name. "Chapter 31" becomes "Vocational Rehabilitation — school and career support for veterans with service-connected disabilities."
All active applications, benefits, and appointments in one view. No logging into three separate portals. No hunting for a status update that may not exist. One source of truth for a veteran's relationship with the VA.
Comprehensive mapping of VA.gov's portal landscape — all benefit programs, their eligibility criteria, application paths, and current digital touchpoints. Identifies 12 structural redundancies.
End-to-end transition journey from active duty to first benefit received — covering the 18-month window where most veterans disengage from VA services due to complexity.
Wireframe-level prototype of the situation-first intake flow, plain-language benefit matching, and unified status dashboard. Covers desktop and mobile experiences.
Full-service blueprint mapping veteran actions, VA frontstage systems, backstage processes, and the policy constraints that shape what a redesign can — and cannot — change.
Full research, journey map, and prototype available on request — contact →