e-QIP
About e-QIP
For decades U.S. Government agencies used the dreaded SF-86 form for granting security clearances. Users seeking clearance had, until 2019, to use a PDF form that spanned 127 pages. A government contractor, True Tandem, won the contract to re-create this form into an easy-to-use self-guided form that users could complete and submit online; they then hired us to do all the user experience testing, design the form, test it again, and make improvements.
Users have a friendly, easy-to-use form that does not overwhelm, and security clearance investigators have an online tool that provides user information in a quick and clear format.
Learning + Planning
The paper form, even if submitted online, was difficult, inflexible, and massive. Users have to gather a lot of information for the form (sometimes dating back decades, such as high school diplomas, previous addresses, and contact information for relatives). Finding your place on the form to fill in this information as you gathered it was onerous and frustrating. On the other end, the U.S. agencies and contractors who use this information to conduct the security clearance research have to manage folders of paper and flip through 127 pages to find one piece of information.
Design + Development
Our team designed the form, using the user testing information as well as ongoing testing. The result is a form style that is used as a model for other federal forms. Some of the mobile design features in this case were incorporated into the mobile U.S. Design Standards. Users now have a friendly, easy-to-use form that does not overwhelm, and security clearance investigators have an online tool that provides user information in a quick and clear format.