Designing (for) 21st-Century Institutions

Photo by Flickr user Ken Lund under CC-BY-SA

Somewhere in America, sometime in the 19th century

Madison, WI, 2011

Photo by Flickr user Peter Gorman under CC-SA

Online, sometime in the 21st century

Photo by Todd Ross Nienkirk, That Other Paper (CC-SA)

Online, sometime in the 21st century

3,144 counties19,354 cities & towns

What do we ask from government?

➔ Public safety➔ Infrastructure➔ Regulations➔ Record-keeping➔ Dispute resolution➔ Assistance

Government websites are usually about the government.

They need to be the government, doing the people’s business online.

Where are the boundaries of government?

What about the civic sphere?

How hard is it to participate?

http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/

2013: Healthcare.gov

This used to happen fairly often

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/23/business/toys-r-us-falls-behind-on-shipping.html

It wasn’t a design problem, exactly

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/obamacare-train-wreck_n_4118041.html

2014: USDS & 18F

Digital Service

I work at 18F.I’m here in my personal capacity today.

The shiny story, Golden Gate Park, 2011

Photo by Flickr user Michael Fraley

2009: H1N1(the un-shiny story)

Templates for health departments (before)

http://boltpeters.com/blog/designing-the-google-sites-h1n1-emergency-templates/

Templates for health departments (after)

http://boltpeters.com/blog/designing-the-google-sites-h1n1-emergency-templates/

Assistance is deep

Institutions are deeper

Seattle Public Library, Northeast Branch ca. 1983

It’s ok to be a smart girl in the world

Yale University Sterling LibraryFall 1990

言語学

2000: Butterfly Ballot

Palm Beach County, FL

2012: Field Guides

Dana Chisnell & the Center for Civic Design

What voters need to know

What voters need to know

2011:

“I’m here because I believe government can be simple, beautiful, and easy to use.”

-- Scott Silverman to Jennifer Pahlka, January 2011

2007: #opendata

Open Data moved fast - and slow➔ July 2008 - Apps for DC - first hackathon with open public

data➔ January 2009 - President Obama signs US Open Data

Policy➔ 2009 - Memphis, Portland, and San Francisco create local

open data policies

2009: #gov20

2011: CityCamp

2011: GDS

The institution, online

2012: CFPB

Mortgage Disclosures (Before)

Mortgage Disclosures (After)

2013: Coding for America

VP of ResearchUX Evangelist

Asheville, NC, 2014

The CUT Group, Chicago, 2014

2014: SNAP/CalFresh

SNAP

2016: 18F

VP of ResearchUX EvangelistDirector of ProductLead Innovation Specialist

I work for President TrumpI work in the Trump administrationI work for the federal governmentI work for the American public

IANAL

* has not reviewed or endorsed this talk.

*

FASPBS TTS

ITC

FAS

ITC Office of Integrated Technology Category

Federal Acquisition Service

Schedules

MOU > IAAITC +

$ = CO W

FAS

ITC

EOP

OMB OPM

“Public servants are designers.”-- Dana Chisnell, Civic Design Camp NYC, November 2014

Design Principles for Public Institutions

GDS, 2012

Simple, beautiful, & easy to use

Respect for people’s time, dignity, and abilities.

Inviting, not just allowing, full participation.

Government & citizens are on the same side - design for unity.

Institutions that...

➔ Honor people’s humanity➔ Break barriers to access➔ Trust and support the people they are made of

Designers who...

➔ Work in long timeframes➔ Follow principles over process➔ Make all the friends they can

Questions?

Thank you so much for coming!

@cydharrell any time you want to talk about this