Municipal Services System Modernization

City of San Antonio Customer Portal

The project aimed to fulfill the Development Services Department’s (DSD) commitment to providing a modern, intuitive way for its customers to request services, including licensing/permitting applications and renewals, and to deliver a mobile application that allows the City of San Antonio’s building inspectors and code enforcement agents to manage site visits.

Accela Civic Platform

I joined Voyatek (formerly GCOM) as technical writer for Phase 2 of the BuildSA project, where I wrote, edited, and developed comprehensive documentation that enabled internal and external users to easily navigate the new Accela Citizen Portal. To ensure clear, accurate content, I collaborated with product owners, business analysts, technical leads, and subject-matter experts (public works directors and department chiefs).

Challenges 

The Development Services Department (DSD) relied on disparate legacy systems that created significant operational bottlenecks.

  • Systems lacked integration and self-service functionality, forcing customers into inconvenient in-person visits to submit applications, make payments, or track permit statuses.

  • Independently managing requests hindered efficiency and transparency for essential civic services.

  • Building inspectors and code enforcement agents lacked access to real-time data/plans, leading to inconsistent paper-based processes and documentation, increased time at job sites, poor communication with stakeholders, and challenges ensuring data accuracy/security.

Project Goals

Develop and deploy a unified portal to support critical services online, improve customer satisfaction, standardize operations, and reduce support costs through efficient, self-service solutions.

  • Citizen Portal: Customers should be able to apply for permits and licenses, submit service requests, make payments, and interact with DSD staff online.

  • Customizable Dashboards: DSD staff should be able to review, process, and track customer requests throughout the approval process.

  • Mobile App: Inspectors and code enforcement agents should have the ability to perform the following while working onsite:
    1. Securely receive, capture, and submit data
    2. Manage daily planning, schedule site visits, review plans
    3. Conduct inspections, verify code compliance, issue permits and approvals
    4. Document and report violations, prepare cases,

Project Team

CoSA, DSD, GCOM

  • Project Managers

  • Product Owners

  • Business Analysts

  • Subject Matter Experts (Building, Code, Fire Agencies)

  • Solutions Architect

  • Technical Lead

  • Configuration / Data Leads

  • Technical Writer

Timeline

January 2019 – May 2021

My Role

  • Writer / Proofreader / Editor

  • Documentation Designer

  • Quality Assurance Testing

Methods

  • Agile Documentation Lifecycle Management

  • Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

  • Scrum / Kanban

  • Information Design

Responsibilities

  • Technical Writing

  • Content Planning / Strategy

  • Quality Assurance / Editing

My Approach and Process 

I implemented a documentation framework, which ran in parallel with the hybrid agile development lifecycle (SDLC).

Audited existing resources, interviewed subject matter experts (SMEs), and collaborated closely with the development team to reverse-engineer undocumented information

Reviewed requirements from project teams, managing content review cycles, and securing approvals that produced user-centric technical and non-technical content. feedback

I managed content development for project delivery plans, produced iterative system specifications and user training manuals, and directly supported the successful product rollout and user adoption.

Key Deliverables

  • System Specifications

  • Information Design

  • Test Plans

  • Training Guides

  • Installation Manuals

  • Functional Requirements

  • Administration Guides

  • Configuration Guides

Outcomes 

The BuildSA project improved the City of San Antonio’s civic operations. By supporting the documentation efforts, ACA's featured predefined workflows, intuitive citizen-facing interfaces, integrated dashboards, automated fee processing, and an extensible architecture, the implementation eliminated bottlenecks, replacing outdated systems with a streamlined alternative. Implementing the self-service Citizen Portal, the project successfully moved key functions of the Development Services Department (DSD) online. This empowered residents and businesses to independently manage tasks, including submitting building and fire permit requests, completing contractor license applications, and renewing licenses.

A full suite of documentation, including admin guides, functional requirements, and API, was delivered in lockstep with the evolving project, resulting in increased team productivity, reduced errors, and improved code quality.

The City of San Antonio’s legacy licensing and permitting systems operated through disconnected workflows with limited visibility and inefficient service delivery. These issues created delays, reduced transparency, and hindered residents and contractors from managing transactions independently through self-service options. 

Solution

Accela Citizen Access (ACA), an industry-standard for government cloud services, was selected as the best-fit SaaS solution. I adapted traditional methods to align with the hybrid Agile Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and produce structured, comprehensive documentation alongside rapid, user-centric feature delivery.

Reserve

Key Deliverables

  • Project Management Documents

  • System Specification Documents

  • User Guides

  • Administration Guides

  • Configuration Guides

  • Product Design Reports

  • Style Guide

Tools and Tech

  • Jira / Confluence

  • Microsoft Word / Excel

  • Visio / Lucidchart