Leading the Field: Andrés Polanía Reyes

For our “Leading the Field” Q&A series, we’re speaking with leaders in the civic/gov tech space who are driving important change to make government work by the people, for the people, in the digital age. For Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re lifting up the voices of Hispanic and Latinx leaders who are working to ensure the government can serve everyone equitably, with dignity and respect.  This week, we spoke with Andrés Polanía Reyes (he/him), a Bilingual UX Designer here at Code for America. At Code for America, we welcome a broad diversity of viewpoints—and we strive to let people speak in their own words about their own unique experiences. With that in mind, the following has received only minor edits for length and clarity, and the views expressed here reflect those of the author.

What did your path to becoming a user experience (UX) designer look like? What experiences were most impactful in leading you here?

Becoming a UX designer has been influenced by a lot of experiences along my journey. Growing up bilingual and part of the Hispanic community, I quickly realized how important it is to redesign experiences and services so that they are accessible and meaningful for people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Before joining Code for America, I had the opportunity to work with cross-functional teams around the world and redesign legal service experiences in Colombia, Peru, and Chile. I learned that products are just one piece of a bigger system, and understanding the whole system can improve the overall design approach. This experience pushed me to explore inclusive design more thoroughly, ensuring that people, no matter their language, can access, understand, and use essential touchpoints throughout their experiences.

One of the most impactful projects for me was redesigning banking products for the largest bank in Colombia. Through research and prototyping, I saw how design can help people access essential information and services. Additionally, working with different cultures showed me how design can break barriers by focusing on connecting with and serving underrepresented communities.

It all begins with understanding the client’s needs and challenges. Every touchpoint, from the first interaction to the last step, should be simple, accessible, and impactful. 

How do you define a good end-to-end client experience with a product?

A good end-to-end client experience means solving real issues with the right features at every step of the service. This translates into creating a seamless, intuitive, and inclusive journey for every client. This might sound straightforward, but it requires thoughtful design and a human-centered approach to truly deliver effective end-to-end experiences.

It all begins with understanding the client’s needs and challenges. Every touchpoint, from the first interaction to the last step, should be simple, accessible, and impactful. In the context of civic tech and other essential services, this means making sure that resources are not only easy to find and use but also meet the diverse needs of clients—whether it’s offering support in different languages, addressing varying levels of digital literacy, or ensuring accessibility.

How does being bilingual impact the way you approach problems and source solutions? Does your background show up in your process?

As a bilingual UX designer, I can incorporate different cultural insights and values into my work, enriching both my understanding of the client perspective and the final deliverables. It helps me approach problems from a more inclusive standpoint, ensuring that solutions cater to diverse audiences.

Being bilingual pushes me to think beyond a one-size-fits-all solution and instead focus on creating experiences that are accessible and meaningful for everyone. Additionally, working in cross-cultural environments has taught me the importance of collaboration. Every project is an opportunity to bring my personal skills and background into the mix, and when combined with the skills of others on the team, it leads to solutions that are richer and more impactful. 

Being bilingual pushes me to think beyond a one-size-fits-all solution and instead focus on creating experiences that are accessible and meaningful for everyone.

Language accessibility is just one way to make a digital experience inclusive. As a designer, what other tools do you use to make sure the products you work on are accessible?

While language accessibility is a key element of inclusive design, it’s just one piece of the big picture. Insights from clients and users always guide the design approach, ensuring the final product is accessible to all, regardless of background.

To ensure products and touchpoints are accessible and relevant to the target audience, I use a range of tools and methods. For example, transcreation goes beyond simple translation to make sure the content is culturally appropriate. I also run user testing with the target audience to gather real feedback, offering valuable insights to keep improving the user experience. Additional tools like color contrast checkers and screen reader testing are essential for ensuring compatibility and making the product accessible to all users. These tools help make sure that the products I work on create an inclusive experience.

We’re thinking a lot about what the “new digital age” looks like here at Code for America. Where do you think the field of civic tech has room to evolve and grow?

I think civic tech has a lot of room to grow, especially by learning from other industries in areas like language accessibility and cultural adaptation. In the “new digital age,” one of the biggest opportunities lies in bridging language and cultural gaps in public services.

Civic tech should evolve and adopt new standards to ensure everyone, particularly underserved and non-English-speaking communities, can access and understand essential services. Everyone should advocate for user experience, from policymakers to caseworkers who are on the front lines serving clients every day.

Ultimately, a strong user experience in civic tech is one that reduces unnecessary friction, making it easier for people to access critical services, whether they are applying for benefits, navigating legal processes, receiving notices on time, or seeking public information. The goal is to design with empathy, based on metrics and data, ensuring that the services genuinely meet everyone’s needs.

As a bilingual designer, I’ve learned that UX design is more than just aesthetics or usability; it’s about solving real problems for real people, with empathy and inclusivity at the heart of everything we create.