Reimagining Tax Policy Analysis with PolicyEngine

PolicyEngine is on an open-source mission to provide comprehensive tools for analyzing and modeling the effects of tax and benefit policies. Those familiar with PolicyEngine's power have incorporated it into their weekly workflow, gaining vital insights into the constantly evolving tax policy landscape.  With an ambitious 2025 ahead and plans to expand beyond US markets, their team was eager to reimagine their product for new and broader users. How might we unlock the platform's full potential for a new demographic?

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Services Provided

• UX Research
• Product Design
• Strategic Platform Development

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The Challenge

The complex nature of tax policy analysis and the current UI design meant many potential users couldn't intuitively access or leverage PolicyEngine's full capabilities.

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The challenge wasn't just about improving an existing web interface; it was about reimagining PolicyEngine as a multi-tiered platform architecture that could serve everyone from policy novices seeking fundamental insights to researchers conducting complex multi-scenario analyses, while maintaining the analytical depth.

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Our Strategy

‍Discovery Through Deep Research: We coordinated user interviews and usability testing and hosted exploratory workshops with PolicyEngine's team. Using those findings, we identified many opportunities to improve the experience for current and future users.

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Widening the Aperture on What's Possible: As we determined our strategy, it became clear that we needed to think bigger. We worked directly with the company's CEO to understand his team's vision and began designing a product that considers long-term user needs—transforming the platform from a simulator into a comprehensive policy analysis tool.

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The Results

The redesigned platform framework enables PolicyEngine to scale its impact. It makes complex policy analysis accessible to a broader range of stakeholders while preserving the robust functionality its expert users depend on.

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