The agency's international travel management presented multiple interconnected challenges:

• Resource imbalance: A team of fewer than 10 individuals was responsible for processing all international travel for 20,000+ employees

• Process complexity: Each international trip required 15+ checklist items including official passports, country clearances, visas, embassy coordination, and logistics documentation

• Communication gaps: No centralized system existed for tracking progress or communicating between travelers and the travel team

• Documentation management: Physical and digital forms needed to be routed, tracked, and stored efficiently

• Accountability and visibility: Travel team lacked tools to track assignments, workload, and process bottlenecks

These challenges created significant risk for international travelers who might arrive unprepared, while causing tremendous administrative burden on the small travel team.

Discovery & Research

• Conducted in-depth interviews with:

  • International travelers with varying experience levels

  • Managers of frequent international travelers

  • Travel unit staff responsible for processing requests

• Created detailed process maps of the current state

• Developed comprehensive service blueprints showing touchpoints across all stakeholders

• Analyzed existing organizational tools and manual processes

• Identified key pain points and opportunity areas

Design Phase

• Created wireframes for the application and workflow

• Developed user flows that addressed both traveler and administrative needs

• Designed an information architecture that supported dynamic content based on trip requirements

• Mapped automation opportunities to eliminate redundant manual steps

• Iterated on designs based on stakeholder feedback

Development

• Built the application using Microsoft PowerApps platform

• Implemented Microsoft Flow for process automations

• Created custom code elements to handle more complex requirements

• Integrated with existing agency systems where possible

• Documented technical decisions and configurations

Intelligent Travel Management Application

Traveler Interface

• Dynamic Smart Checklist: Automatically adapts required steps based on:

  • Trip destination and purpose

  • Traveler's existing credentials and training status

  • Previous travel experience and documentation

• Document Management: Streamlined submission and tracking of required forms

• Automated Communication: Proactive notifications about pending requirements and deadlines

• Shipping Integration: Automated request system for shipping labels to facilitate physical document transfer

Administrative Interface

• Workload Management: Tools for assigning and tracking cases among team members

• Status Visualization: Dashboard showing the status of all active travel requests

• Performance Analytics: Reporting on processing times and bottlenecks

• Documentation Repository: Centralized storage of all travel-related documents

• Exception Handling: Tools for managing special cases and expedited requests

Technical Implementation

• Leveraged PowerApps for the user interface and data management

• Implemented Microsoft Flow for workflow automation

• Created custom solutions for complex business logic, including:

  • Advanced data modeling for parent-child trip relationships

  • Dynamic filtering and conditional display logic

  • Custom formulas for requirement validation across multiple data sources

• Designed for scalability to handle increasing volume

• Utilized collections and context variables to optimize performance with complex data structures

Technical Hurdles

• Challenge: Implementing complex conditional logic for the dynamic checklist

• Solution: Developed advanced conditional formulas and collections to handle multiple dependencies while maintaining a user-friendly interface

• Challenge: Creating a data structure for multi-country trips (1-to-many relationship)

• Solution: Designed a parent-child data architecture where a single trip record could contain multiple country visits, each with unique requirements

• Challenge: Maintaining data integrity across the parent-child relationship

• Solution: Implemented cascading updates and dependency tracking to ensure changes to the parent trip properly reflected across all child records

Scope Management

• Challenge: Feature requests expanded significantly during development

• Solution: Implemented a phased approach with clear MVP definition and future enhancement roadmap

Integration Complexity

• Challenge: Connecting with existing federal systems and security requirements

• Solution: Collaborated with IT security to ensure compliance while maintaining functionality

Key Learnings

• Low-code platforms like PowerApps can deliver enterprise-level solutions with the right architecture

• Service design principles remain essential even when working with technical constraints

• User research is crucial for identifying automation opportunities that deliver meaningful value

Next Steps

• Full deployment following beta testing period

• Development of additional reporting capabilities

• Integration of feedback mechanisms for continuous improvement

Transferable Insights

• The approach to automation through service design thinking can be applied to numerous government processes

• PowerApps development skills combined with human-centered design create solutions that address both user needs and technical requirements