Summary
Government's digital products and services often impact millions of people. In this session, two team members from Coforma, a digital services firm supporting both commercial and federal government modernization efforts, will discuss how they navigate challenges and foster success in supporting one agency's effort to relieve over-burdened clinicians and improve patient care. At the center of their work is a suite of tools that enable the agency to advance equitable delivery of innovations in cancer treatment. Julie and Laureen will share their strategies for prioritization within a complex ecosystem of business owners, centering patients and clinicians through a strong UX/Product partnership, and leveraging roadmapping and user story mapping to define, focus, and clarify achievable MVP solutions.
Key Insights
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Civic tech serves to improve the lives of US citizens by embedding product teams within federal agencies.
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Challenges include outdated documentation methods and working within legacy systems that hinder efficiency.
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User-centered design is essential for understanding the needs of clinicians and streamlining their workflows.
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Effective project management in federally regulated environments requires deep alignment between UX and product teams.
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User story mapping allows teams to visualize tasks and prioritize features based on user journeys, improving alignment across diverse stakeholders.
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Proactive roadmap iterations can help teams anticipate changes from legislative actions, reducing the response panic when priorities shift.
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Agile methodologies aid in adapting to new requirements and maintaining flexibility within project teams.
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Collaboration across product managers, designers, and researchers is crucial for developing solutions that meet user needs.
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Maintaining stakeholder communication and sharing pertinent information can enhance project outcomes and trust among agencies.
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Building internal tools like user story maps fosters engagement and clarity among developers and product teams.
Notable Quotes
"We are public servants at heart, delivering software solutions that improve U.S. citizens' lives."
"Our work is centered around clinicians who are directly responsible for patient care."
"Prioritizing across a complex ecosystem can be an insurmountable challenge."
"UX and product managers must be aligned for progress to happen."
"We often rely on Google Newsfeeds to stay informed about changes that can impact our roadmap."
"Our MVP goal was to automate the delivery of lab results into the electronic health record."
"User story mapping is a powerful approach to keep focus on user needs and navigating project complexity."
"We decided not to create a new application but stay within the legacy system, much to the clinicians' relief."
"It's essential that we keep our team comfortable with the idea that changes will happen, and we need to be ready to respond."
"Collaboration between product managers and UX researchers is key, with all functions working as one unit."
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