Showed ops their expertise in working software
What Actually Happened
A government agency had spent 4 years trying to modernize their verification system. Multiple consultants. Nothing shipped. Families waited months with 76% having to resubmit - not because they made errors, but because requirements were unclear. They brought me in to document why nothing worked.
The Discovery
Documentation revealed the real problem: most "requirements" weren't contractual. They were 20 years of accumulated workarounds that nobody designed but everyone lived with.
I found hundreds of data points scattered across broken systems, spreadsheets, and processes that only lived in operations' heads. The original goal was modest: get one family through successfully.
What I Built
Through systematic analysis, I identified what actually mattered versus organizational overhead:
Simplified application 75% through intelligent conditional logic
Reduced complex workflows from 100+ fields to 30-40 guided questions
Built prototypes WITH operations teams during discovery sessions
Created smart flows that skip irrelevant questions based on answers
The Breakthrough Method
Instead of gathering requirements then building, I:
Sat with operations teams
Built working prototypes while they explained their process
Let them touch and fix the software in real-time
Iterated in 30-minute cycles until they said "that's exactly right"
Current Status
Foundation built for 76% → 25% error reduction
Operations teams now champions of the solution
Prototypes validated and ready for implementation
Path clear from months-long process to same-day service
The Real Innovation
Operations teams weren't reviewing my designs - they were building their solution through working prototypes. When the people who hate every system love what you build together, you know it works.
No $5M transformation. No consultant armies. Just rapid prototyping with the people who know what's broken.
