Designing (for) 21st-Century Institutions
Photo by Flickr user Ken Lund under CC-BY-SA
Somewhere in America, sometime in the 19th century
Madison, WI, 2011
Photo by Flickr user Peter Gorman under CC-SA
Online, sometime in the 21st century
Photo by Todd Ross Nienkirk, That Other Paper (CC-SA)
Online, sometime in the 21st century
3,144 counties19,354 cities & towns
What do we ask from government?
➔ Public safety➔ Infrastructure➔ Regulations➔ Record-keeping➔ Dispute resolution➔ Assistance
Government websites are usually about the government.
They need to be the government, doing the people’s business online.
Where are the boundaries of government?
What about the civic sphere?
How hard is it to participate?
http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/
2013: Healthcare.gov
This used to happen fairly often
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/23/business/toys-r-us-falls-behind-on-shipping.html
It wasn’t a design problem, exactly
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/obamacare-train-wreck_n_4118041.html
I work at 18F.I’m here in my personal capacity today.
The shiny story, Golden Gate Park, 2011
Photo by Flickr user Michael Fraley
2009: H1N1(the un-shiny story)
Templates for health departments (before)
http://boltpeters.com/blog/designing-the-google-sites-h1n1-emergency-templates/
Templates for health departments (after)
http://boltpeters.com/blog/designing-the-google-sites-h1n1-emergency-templates/
Assistance is deep
Institutions are deeper
Seattle Public Library, Northeast Branch ca. 1983
It’s ok to be a smart girl in the world
Yale University Sterling LibraryFall 1990
2000: Butterfly Ballot
Palm Beach County, FL
2012: Field Guides
Dana Chisnell & the Center for Civic Design
What voters need to know
What voters need to know
“I’m here because I believe government can be simple, beautiful, and easy to use.”
-- Scott Silverman to Jennifer Pahlka, January 2011
Open Data moved fast - and slow➔ July 2008 - Apps for DC - first hackathon with open public
data➔ January 2009 - President Obama signs US Open Data
Policy➔ 2009 - Memphis, Portland, and San Francisco create local
open data policies
The institution, online
Mortgage Disclosures (Before)
Mortgage Disclosures (After)
2013: Coding for America
VP of ResearchUX Evangelist
Asheville, NC, 2014
The CUT Group, Chicago, 2014
2014: SNAP/CalFresh
VP of ResearchUX EvangelistDirector of ProductLead Innovation Specialist
I work for President TrumpI work in the Trump administrationI work for the federal governmentI work for the American public
* has not reviewed or endorsed this talk.
*
FAS
ITC Office of Integrated Technology Category
Federal Acquisition Service
FAS
ITC
EOP
OMB OPM
“Public servants are designers.”-- Dana Chisnell, Civic Design Camp NYC, November 2014
Design Principles for Public Institutions
Simple, beautiful, & easy to use
Respect for people’s time, dignity, and abilities.
Inviting, not just allowing, full participation.
Government & citizens are on the same side - design for unity.
Institutions that...
➔ Honor people’s humanity➔ Break barriers to access➔ Trust and support the people they are made of
Designers who...
➔ Work in long timeframes➔ Follow principles over process➔ Make all the friends they can
Thank you so much for coming!
@cydharrell any time you want to talk about this