Summary
A large federal agency was interested in improving the experience that individuals have with their digital services, as well as the velocity at which they were able to improve those services. But through our research, we found that they didn't have the design roles, tools, or processes in place to support this goal and make it successful. As a digital services firm that specializes in human-centered design and design ops, we came up with a plan to get them where they needed to be. We started by having a difficult conversation with them about design maturity, what it would take to be successful, and how design ops could help. We then introduced a series of training sessions on human-centered design, which prepared us to have conversations about design roles and processes, as well as tools. And finally, we were able to collaborate with them through a series of engagements to see how these things should work in practice. Through our experience, we learned this is not an uncommon challenge. There are likely many entities (both public and private) that know they need to evolve their design practices, but don’t know how. By sharing how we introduced design ops to a federal client, we hope to inspire others to help promulgate design ops in a wider variety of sectors and client types.
Key Insights
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Human-centered design is vital for improving user experience in government projects.
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The process of introducing design operations in a bureaucratic environment can be slow and challenging.
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Building allyships and identifying design champions within the organization can facilitate change.
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Conducting thorough research to understand stakeholders’ needs is necessary for effective advocacy.
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Training and education can provide a foundation for sustainable design practices.
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Balancing immediate deliverables with long-term goals is crucial for successful project outcomes.
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Documentation and clear communication are key to maintaining progress after project completion.
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Difficult conversations are essential for ensuring stakeholder needs are understood and addressed.
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Incremental change is often the reality in government institutions and should be embraced.
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Fostering a culture of design can bridge gaps between departments and improve overall productivity.
Notable Quotes
"Ad Hoc was born to rescue healthcare.gov after a failed launch."
"Government contracts take a long time to get awarded and involve complex bidding processes."
"Our primary stakeholder decided they’d love a design system instead of the feature we were initially contracted for."
"We had to wrestle with what the team was saying and doing versus what stakeholders had asked us to do."
"We found a lot of inconsistencies within one part of the system."
"Dropping a design system in this environment wasn’t going to magically improve their experience."
"We needed to take our stakeholders on a journey through our research."
"We proposed a phased approach to achieve a more intuitive user experience."
"Documenting and sharing progress is crucial to ensure continuity after project handover."
"Difficult conversations can lead to the most important outcomes."
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