18F

News and Events on 18F

123 posts

Kanban for Government

Some months ago, 18F started playing with kanban as a way to manage and improve our processes. (It turns out that “DO ALL THE THINGS!” was maybe not the best motto.) Kanban is a methodology that helps you to remove inefficiencies and reduce waste by visualizing workflow. It’s also used to balance capacity and demand

Posts by Alan Brouilette

Sep 13, 2016

DATA Act Prototype: Simplicity Is Key

Last week we wrote about how we diffuse knowledge through shared interests and sharing best practices on the Micro-purchase Platform. This week, we’ll focus on some of the lessons learned during the (completed) DATA Act prototype. Importantly, though that project has finished, this post is not meant to be a full retrospective or post-mortem; we’ll

Posts by CM Lubinski Posts by Becky Sweger

Sep 09, 2016

Sign up for the Technology Industry Day

On September 8, 2016, the General Services Administration (GSA) is hosting its very first Technology Industry Day. Sign up to hear about how GSA is transforming technology in the federal government, see demos of products and solutions developed by technologists and, last but not least, provide feedback on how we can work better with industry.

Posts by GSA Blog Team

Aug 31, 2016

What Happens When the Whole Team Joins User Interviews

The CALC team is an agile team of four — six if you count the Scrummaster and the Product Owner — building a simple means to load price data into the original CALC tool. They’re an Agile team, which means everybody pitches in on everything to some degree, and here, in their own words, is

Posts by Alan Brouilette

Aug 22, 2016

Live Streamed Demos for Exponential Transparency and Information Sharing

This spring, the eRegulations Notice & Comment team began building out a new feature set for the platform — adding the ability for agencies with proposed regulations to show the public more precisely the changes being proposed and allow agencies to receive more granular, contextual, and better-organized comments.

Posts by Will Sullivan

Aug 09, 2016

Build Empathy With Stakeholder Interviews, Part 1: Preparation

What stakeholder interviews are, why they’re valuable, and how to prepare for them.

Posts by Andrew Maier

Jul 01, 2016

Using Plain Language to Bridge the Gap Between Government and Industry

Much of our work with government partners to deliver better digital services has resulted in full websites, applications, and embarking on large-scale transformation efforts. In addition to those types of projects, we also work on shorter, faster, smaller-scale projects designed to show our partners different points of view and different techniques to approach their most

Posts by Ryan Sibley

Jun 23, 2016

Exciting Additions to Analytics.usa.gov

We’ve expanded analytics.usa.gov to include 15(!) more agency-specific dashboard pages. We now offer agency-specific analytics data pages for a total of 25 major federal agencies, and each one is accessible from the dropdown menu at the top of the site.

Posts by Tim Lowden Posts by Gray Brooks Posts by Eric Mill Posts by Colin Craig

Jun 17, 2016

Taking an Agile Approach to Content

So, you’ve recently joined an agile team — congratulations! Here at 18F, we work in an agile way — in other words, we base our designs on user needs, conduct usability testing, iterate quickly, and release MVPs (minimum viable products) rather than highly finalized releases. We take an agile approach to content too. While there’s

Posts by Kate Garklavs Posts by Nicole Fenton

Jun 10, 2016

The User-Centered Redesign of IdentityTheft.gov

I first came across the redesigned IdentityTheft.gov on Reddit, of all places. Someone had posted a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) newly redesigned site and wrote: I hope this never happens to any of you as the entire thing can be really stressful. The identitytheft.gov website is a true breath of fresh air…You

Posts by Melody Kramer

Jun 01, 2016

Delivering the Next Generation of Digital Government

Today we take another step forward helping government develop the technology that the public and taxpayers deserve. I’m pleased to announce the creation of GSA’s third service, the Technology Transformation Service; the launchpad to set us up for the next big expedition for the federal government in technology.

Posts by Denise Turner Roth

May 04, 2016

An Introduction to Open Data and APIs

The federal workplace is abuzz these days with talk about open data and how agencies can leverage that data through APIs. According to the federal Open Data Policy, data should be managed as an information asset, and making it discoverable and usable (in other words, open).

Posts by John Paul

May 03, 2016

The Teams, They Are a Changin’

Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.—Agile Manifesto My team has experienced a lot of change in the past few weeks. We were a team of seven, and now we’ve been reduced to two. We’re off-boarding two developers, a content specialist, and the product owner, and we’re onboarding a new content

Posts by Michael Torres

Apr 19, 2016

How Agile’s Being Done in Government

The concepts of agile may not be new, but there is a renewed push across government to embrace this customer-feedback driven methodology, in everything from software development to project management. A government community has even sprung up to help feds learn from one another what it takes to incorporate agile into more efficient and effective

Posts by Andrea Sigritz

Apr 08, 2016

Three Teams Using the Draft U.S. Web Design Standards Talk about Their Experiences

In the five months since we launched the Draft U.S. Web Design Standards — the U.S. government’s very own set of common UI components and visual styles for websites — over a dozen websites have used components of the Draft Standards on their sites. Recently, we talked to three federal web designers about their experiences

Posts by Melody Kramer

Apr 06, 2016

How to Integrate the Draft U.S. Web Design Standards into Existing Projects

One of the most common questions we receive is: Should I integrate the Draft U.S. Web Design Standards into my existing project? The answer is: it depends. A lot of design research supports the notion that many people who use government websites or services may benefit from consistency across interactions, user experiences, and behavior across

Posts by Carolyn Dew Posts by Melody Kramer Posts by Maya Benari

Mar 25, 2016

Making the Draft U.S. Web Design Standards Better Through Your Feedback

Since our launch of the Draft U.S. Web Design Standards last September, hundreds of people have provided feedback on the project through GitHub issues and via email. We’ve received dozens of feature requests as well as over 400 contributions from the open source community.

Posts by Carolyn Dew Posts by Melody Kramer

Mar 16, 2016

My Data: Empowering All Americans with Personal Data Access

Summary: Consumers empowered with their own data are in the driver’s seat to make informed choices. In the 21st century economy, Americans rely on online services to access personal bank accounts, pay bills, and shop online, so why don’t we have similar interactions with Federal government through easy-to-use, online tools? The answer is we can—and increasingly

Posts by Kristen Honey, PhD Posts by Phaedra Chrousos Posts by Tom Black

Mar 16, 2016

Leveraging American Ingenuity through Reusable and Open Source Software

Summary: Today, we’re releasing for public comment a draft policy to support improved access to custom software code developed for the Federal Government. America has long been a nation of innovators. American scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs invented the microchip, created the Internet, invented the smartphone, started the revolution in biotechnology, and sent astronauts to the

Posts by Tony Scott

Mar 10, 2016

How People Learn to Navigate Government Services

This is part three of a series detailing the findings of a team of researchers from 18F and the General Services Administration who studied broad trends in people’s perceptions of and interactions with the government. You can find the introduction to the series on our website and a complete pdf of the research findings on

Posts by Colin MacArthur Posts by Carolyn Dew Posts by John Yuda

Mar 03, 2016

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