Bringing design in-house
What is design, who are designers, and how can they help your agency? Learn how to build a design team that can help your agency solve “wicked problems” and be more innovative.
Blogs
Government teams are improving digital experiences every day. Gain insights from their stories, case studies, and innovations.
Web Managers & Web Analytics
Continuously improve your website by using customer feedback and web analytics: An IRS case study
Get tips and lessons learned from the Internal Revenue Service on how they collect user feedback and use web analytics to improve applications.
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2023
Revisiting who uses ONRR.gov: refining personas
We’ve conducted several studies where we’ve noticed gaps in our onrr.gov personas, so we decided to revisit them. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Join the Design System team as we tackle your most commonly-asked questions.
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2023
A look back at what took place in the Design System in 2022.
2022
To build trust, aim for easy
Trust is earned through consistency and commitment. Build sites that build trust by considering user needs, respecting people’s time, and avoiding customer experience pitfalls.
Nearly 68 Million People Spoke a Language Other Than English at Home in 2019
The number of people in the United States who spoke a language other than English at home nearly tripled from 23.1 million (about 1 in 10) in 1980 to 67.8 million (almost 1 in 5) in 2019, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report.
Making Impact at Scale: Software Engineering in the Federal Government
Engineering fellows with the U.S. Digital Corps share their paths to becoming software engineers and why they decide to use their skills to improve government services.
Accessibility Testing for onrr.gov
How do you make sure a website is accessible? This blog post outlines the four steps the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR - pronounced like ‘honor’) at the U.S. Department of the Interior took to verify accessibility. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Continuing our look at user profile patterns
2022
Sunsetting Go.USA.gov: Final User Statistics
The digital landscape has changed significantly since we launched the Go.USA.gov service in 2009. Over the last two years the team looked carefully at the program holistically, taking into consideration the future of the program, the current landscape related to using shortened URLs and alignment with strategic business goals. In early 2022 we made the difficult decision to initiate steps to sunset the service. — via USA.gov
USER EXPERIENCE AND MULTILINGUAL
USAGov: Usability Test Reports
Join us for an overview of usability test reports on the next version of USA.gov.
2022
The Privileged Identity Playbook Guides Management of Privileged User Accounts
The Privileged Identity Playbook is a practical guide to help federal agencies implement and manage a privileged user management function as part of an overall agency ICAM program.
Tips for communicating about your research with non-scientists
Using plain language to describe your work is not only important, it’s also part of the NIH mission and federal law. Here are some tips for telling the public about your research and why it matters.
Jargon Madness: A Plain Language Exercise
During the 2022 Plain Language Summit, Laura Rabuck of the Veterans Health Administration demonstrated how to promote plain language practices by focusing on jargon, a common enemy of all plain writers.
Putting People at the Center of Digital Government
USAGov and USAGov en Español are working to reimagine the way we provide government information and services to the public. The USAGov team is an example of how GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) is aligning and living up to the challenges outlined in the President’s Management Agenda. The focus in 2022 has been on centering the work around the people we serve. — via General Services Administration
Incorporating Evaluation into Digital Forms
The American public spends approximately 11.5 billion hours per year filling out federal government forms. Form complexity can result in lack of submission or completion, and errors on forms can cause processing delays and affect whether the form is accepted — which can have far-reaching consequences. Learn how Five GSA offices and the American public worked together to improve federal forms. — via General Services Administration
Managing Stakeholder Feedback: Lessons from Experience
During the 2022 Plain Language Summit, Stephanie Morrison from the Department of Health and Human Services provided five tips for managing reviewers when asking for feedback.
We’ll discuss our approach to developing User Profile design patterns, look at some specific guidance, and talk about why it’s so important.
2022
6 Important Factors To Consider for Digital Advertising in Government
The Federal Communicators Network community shares how agencies can approach digital advertising.
