How Login.gov uses roadmapping to build trust with its partners and the public
To increase transparency, the Login.gov team publishes a program roadmap that lays out their upcoming initiatives.
Blogs
Government teams are improving digital experiences every day. Gain insights from their stories, case studies, and innovations.
User research and the Paperwork Reduction Act
User research is an important part of customer experience transformation. Different types of research require different approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Through seven case studies, the U.S. Digital Service shows how agencies conducted valuable user research that did not require PRA approval and successfully integrated findings into their projects. Their work illustrates how thoughtful user research transforms delivery of services and helps agencies build trust in government. — via U.S. Digital Service
A journey of improvement: Creating a self-assessment for digital experience
Memo M-23-22 from the Office of Management and Budget provides guidance to federal agencies on delivering a digital-first public experience. To quantify its compliance with the memo, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior created and conducted a self-assessment of its digital products. The team used a scoring spreadsheet to measure compliance across categories like accessibility, design consistency, and mobile responsiveness. The results helped the team develop a plan to prioritize improvements and engage with leadership for support on other initiatives. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
The U.S. Web Design System team will answer community questions and give an update on their work developing web components for the design system.
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2024
Department of Justice recognizes anniversary of executive order to improve access for people with limited English proficiency
The Department of Justice recently marked the 24th anniversary of Executive Order 13166, which aims to improve access to federal services for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). Its Civil Rights Division reviewed language access plans across federal agencies, emphasizing progress in hiring and staff training, improving language assistance services, and expanding multilingual content. The department is committed to eliminating language barriers in federal programs, improving communication and access for all communities. — via Department of Justice
Department of Labor, General Services Administration to centralize government benefits information on USA.gov and USAGov en Español
In September 2024, Benefits.gov will be discontinued, with its services and information moved to USA.gov and USAGov en Español. This change, which aligns with Executive Order 14058: Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, aims to create a seamless, user-friendly experience for accessing government benefits in both English and Spanish. The new platform, with a focus on equitable access to information, will feature improved navigation and benefit-finding tools. — via General Services Administration
IT warning banners: How GSA is working to stop unnecessarily frightening users
OMB Memo M-23-22 discourages the use of pop-ups and modals. GSA IT updated security policies so that IT warning banners are presented less intrusively to users.
Supporting innovation through the American Rescue Plan
GSA uses American Rescue Plan funding for over 40 initiatives to foster community, improve user experiences, and empower underserved populations.
With Open Source Artificial Intelligence, Don’t Forget the Lessons of Open Source Software
CISA shares how applying proven open source software security best practices to open foundation AI models will empower developers to innovate responsibly, mitigate harms, and strengthen AI security. — via Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
Reassessing priorities: Adapting to additional work without additional resources
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue’s Open Data, Design, and Development (ODD) team is taking on management of a fourth website, despite being short-staffed. As a result, they have revisited and reprioritized their yearly goals. To do so, they utilized a prioritization matrix, developed a structured impact assessment, and laid out a transition plan. Their process ensured realistic workload adjustments, improved team morale, and highlighted the importance of practical goal-setting, especially when teams are short-staffed. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Designing for people with disabilities
The User Experience (UX) team at USA.gov’s Public Experience Portfolio recently conducted a study to analyze the experiences of individuals who access USA.gov through assistive technology. The team partnered with a local organization to gather insights from a diverse group of participants, many of whom are blind or deaf. The study revealed various habits and challenges faced by these users, such as a preference for mobile sites, difficulty with website carousels, and a reliance on clear headings and action-oriented descriptions. These findings can guide improvements in accessibility, such as clever link labeling and better navigation aids for assistive technology users. — via USA.gov
Introducing the Department of Homeland Security customer experience toolkit
The Department of Homeland Security’s Customer Experience Directorate developed a customer experience (CX) toolkit to help agencies implement CX strategies using a human-centered design approach. The toolkit offers resources to enhance service delivery, processes, and systems, following a “Ready, Set, Grow” framework for planning and implementation. It aims to serve as a reference for organizations bringing CX practices to their own agencies. — via Department of Homeland Security
A small team’s journey through digital maturity
As a small team, Digital.gov adopted user research and customer experience early. That foundation helps develop evidence-based strategies for today.
Evaluating your agency’s accessibility just got a whole lot easier with GSA’s OpenACR Editor
To help agencies evaluate the accessibility of their digital products, GSA is making it easier to create Accessibility Conformance Reports through its new OpenACR Editor.
Bridge the gap between policy and implementation: Impactful solutions and strategies for success from Digital.gov’s spring 2024 summit
The summit highlighted digital transformation, emphasizing the significance of recent OMB memos for improving accessibility and customer experience.
Unsolicited data: A valuable resource for digital customer experience enhancement
Optimizing federal service touchpoints involves analyzing both actively-sought and spontaneous feedback, introducing new metrics and data points.
The U.S. Web Design System team will give an update on their work developing web components for the design system.
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2024
How the U.S. Department of the Navy is delivering IT that just works
The U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Office for Digital and Enterprise Services is working to revolutionize how information technology is acquired.
Federal customer experience: OMB has taken actions to implement cross-agency priority goals
In 2021, the President’s Management Agenda identified federal customer experience as a priority area for improvement. To implement this priority area, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) set two long-term, cross-agency priority (CAP) goals. In this study, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviews OMB and selected federal agencies’ efforts towards these CAP goals. Learn about actions taken by OMB and selected High Impact Service Providers (HISPs), how OMB has facilitated interagency collaboration, and the extent to which OMB has overseen and assessed progress on these CAP goals. — via Government Accountability Office
Three tips for using meta descriptions
At USA.gov and USAGov en Español, the goal is to make content more useful to the public, and meta descriptions are one way to help people quickly find the government information they’re looking for. These brief summaries of web page content appear in search engine results to entice users to click through, attracting visitors to agency websites. Regularly updating these descriptions based on user data can enhance their effectiveness. Read in more detail about their three tips to create effective meta descriptions: identify commonly searched keywords, write engaging and actionable descriptions, and ensure each one is unique. — via USA.gov
