Integrity Portal

Context & Challenge

The Integrity Portal serves as UNOPS' confidential whistleblowing platform, enabling individuals to report misconduct while maintaining complete anonymity. This project required designing for users in potentially distressed emotional states who needed to access the platform discreetly, often in public or shared spaces.

The challenge was to create a platform that prioritizes user safety and anonymity while maintaining accessibility, usability, and alignment with UNOPS digital ecosystem. The design needed to be "deliberately unremarkable"—visually neutral enough to protect users accessing it in public settings, yet functional enough to guide them through sensitive reporting processes.

Design Philosophy: Safety & Dignity

I approached this project with a "design for safety and dignity" philosophy. Every design decision was evaluated through the lens of user protection and respect for individuals in vulnerable situations. This meant prioritizing user anonymity by designing a visually neutral interface that blended seamlessly with other UNOPS sites, reducing the risk of identification for users accessing the platform in public or shared spaces.

Throughout the project, I balanced aesthetics with discretion, ensuring the platform was visually aligned with UNOPS standards while reinforcing anonymity. This required leveraging innovative UI techniques to create interfaces that were both accessible and aesthetically refined without drawing attention.

Stakeholder Collaboration

I worked closely with stakeholders across legal, compliance, communications, and technical teams to structure content and improve information architecture. This cross-functional collaboration ensured the platform met regulatory requirements and organizational policies while maintaining a clear, empathetic content structure that guides distressed users through reporting processes.

Successfully balancing competing requirements from diverse stakeholder groups required translating complex requirements into clear design decisions that prioritized user safety above all else.

Developer Coordination & Workflow

I structured Jira tickets using Atomic Design principles, making it easier to plan sprints and manage development tasks efficiently. This approach served as a project management framework for coordinating with development teams, creating reusable components that maintained consistency while enabling efficient development.

I also used Lucidchart to visually break down design components and illustrate their implementation to technical teams, bridging understanding between design intent and technical execution.

Accessibility Integration

I embedded accessibility testing at every stage of the design process throughout the project, collaborating closely with developers to implement necessary improvements. I created and shared reusable accessibility templates and components, streamlining the adoption of inclusive design and ensuring the platform was usable for all potential reporters regardless of their abilities.

Key Deliverables

• Deliberately unremarkable interface design that protects user anonymity in public settings
• Information architecture structured to reduce cognitive load during stressful interactions
• Accessibility templates and components for inclusive design adoption
• Jira ticket structure using Atomic Design principles for efficient sprint planning
• Lucidchart documentation bridging design and technical implementation
• Content structure designed for users in distressed emotional states

Impact & Outcomes

The project delivered a platform that protects user anonymity through deliberately unremarkable design, creating an interface accessible to users in various emotional states and physical contexts. The project successfully balanced competing requirements from legal, compliance, communications, and technical teams while maintaining a user-first approach.

The workflow innovations—particularly the use of Atomic Design principles for Jira ticketing—improved team coordination and created visual documentation practices that enhanced developer understanding, establishing patterns that benefited subsequent projects.