Skills Wiki for New Government Hires

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Tech in Government

Design

This section includes a wealth of resources on the design of digital services, from scoping and building products from scratch to improving customer experience with existing products.

Though the resources in this section generally take federal requirements into account, the last 2 subsections focus specifically on compliance and accessibility.

TOP RECOMMENDATIONS:

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18F Methods⁠

(18F) 18F’s best practices for designing services around the human users they hope to help.

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US Web Design System⁠

(General Services Administration) A site dedicated to building accessible, mobile-friendly government websites and digital services, including best practices, guiding principles, design tokens, templates, and code.

Resources on Data and Privacy

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Guide to Protecting the Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)⁠

(National Institute of Standards and Technology) Guidelines for a risk-based approach to protecting personally identifiable information. Intended specifically for federal agencies.

Resources on User Research and Experience

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Doing Research at TTS⁠

(18F) A guide to conducting research for government projects developed for Technology Transformation Services (TTS), a division of GSA that designs digital tools for the federal government. Includes generally applicable guidelines for meeting with stakeholders to learn about a project, investigating tools and systems, and asking members of the public about their experiences with the federal government.

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The Lab at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM)⁠

(Office of Personnel Management) A team of designers that help federal organizations with their design needs. Offer both direct solutions and training for organizations’ existing employees.

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Barriers to Government’s Adoption of User-Centered Design — and How to Address Them⁠

(18F) A blog post on allaying common concerns about user-centered design, such as costs and delays.

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Interview Checklist⁠

(18F) A checklist for conducting stakeholder and user interviews, including preparation, icebreakers, questioning, wrap-up, and follow-up.

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The Basic Building Blocks for Quality Data⁠

(Office of Personnel Management) A recording of an Office of Personnel Management webinar on data collection for research in government.

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Tips for Capturing the Best Data from User Interviews⁠

(18F) A list of best practices and creative methods for note-taking during interviews to maximize the information that comes out of them.

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US Web Design System (USWDS) Maturity Model⁠

(General Services Administration) The framework used by the US Web Design System – an open source group of government engineers, content specialists, and designers – for designing user experiences incrementally.

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The Laws of User Experience (UX)⁠

(Jon Yablonski) [Non-government] A collection of best practices that designers can consider when building user interfaces.

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Usability Testing with Steve Krug⁠

(General Services Administration) A 90-minute demonstration on making usability fixes for a website or product.

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18F User Experience Design Guide⁠

(18F) A repository of 18F’s resources for its designers, made for designers across government.

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A List Apart⁠

(A List Apart) [Non-government] Articles, books, and events to help people make useful, accessible websites. Started as a popular mailing list, now captured online.

Resources on Customer Experience

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Customer Experience Toolkit⁠

(General Services Administration) A comprehensive toolkit for government agencies seeking to improve service and information delivery for the public. Includes guidance on assessing the state of your agency’s customer experience; establishing a customer experience strategy; designating a person to lead customer experience efforts; embedding customer experience-centric values in agency culture; executing design changes in small iterations; and measuring success.

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Customer Experience Services Evaluation and Buying Guide⁠

(General Services Administration) A beginner’s guide to leading customer experience practices in industry and government, including important context about the Office of Management and Budget’s annual budget.

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Veterans Experience Office Customer Experience Cookbook⁠

(Department of Veterans Affairs) A playbook for improving customer experience with federal services. Though created by the Veterans Experience Office, the playbook is applicable to all federal agencies. Especially helpful for High-Impact Service Providers (HISPs), which are required to comply with specific customer experience reporting policies.

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Improving Customer Experience and Transforming Service Delivery⁠

(American Council for Technology–Industry Advisory Council [ACT–IAC]) [Non-government] Recommendations for improving digital customer experience and service delivery across government. Direct link to the full ACT–IAC Customer Experience Playbook

here⁠

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Section 280 – Managing Customer Experience and Improving Service Delivery⁠

(Office of Management and Budget) Government-wide guiding principles for customer experience. Especially helpful for High-Impact Service Providers (HISPs), which are required to comply with specific customer experience reporting policies.

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Federal CX Maturity Self-Assessment⁠

(General Services Administration) A short self-assessment form to help agencies evaluate their customer experience.

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Federal Service Definition Worksheet⁠

(General Services Administration) A worksheet developed by the GSA to help High-Impact Service Providers (HISPs) identify their customer service “occasions” and needs.

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Improving the Customer Experience Government-Wide⁠

(General Services Administration) A blog post summarizing key insights about customer experience from interviews with 25 government High-Impact Service Providers.

Resources on Compliance with Federal Requirements

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Go-Live Checklist for Federal Websites⁠

(General Services Administration) A checklist tool to help agencies track the latest requirements for federal websites and ensure compliance.

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21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act⁠

(General Services Administration) A brief explainer on the 2018 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA), which required executive branch agencies to modernize federal public websites to meet specific requirements for accessibility, appearance, usability, security, and more. Links to modernization resources that remain useful beyond the original timeline of the act.

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Required Web Content and Links⁠

(General Services Administration) A list of required material all federal websites need to have, such as an “about” page, budget and performance reports, and a customer support link.

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Checklist of Requirements for Federal Websites and Digital Services⁠

(General Services Administration) A checklist to help agencies ensure that they are in compliance with federal laws, policies, and regulations.

Resources on Accessibility

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Government-Wide Section 508 Assessment⁠

(General Services Administration) Technical assistance to help federal agencies comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Communications Act, which require services to be usable by individuals with disabilities.

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18F Accessibility Guide⁠

(18F) 18F’s guide to ensuring accessibility throughout software and web development.

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Accessible Digital Content: Tips and Tricks⁠

(General Services Administration) A recording of a webinar tackling some of the common issues that arise in developing accessible content, including presentations, spreadsheets, and documents.

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A Guide to Creating Mobile-Friendly Websites⁠

(General Services Administration) A toolkit for agencies seeking to make their websites accessible by mobile, as required by the 2018 Connected Government Act. (See also:

Eight Principles of Mobile-Friendliness⁠

)

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US Web Design System⁠

(General Services Administration) A website dedicated to building accessible, mobile-friendly government websites and digital services, including best practices, guiding principles, design tokens, templates, and code.

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Tech in Government This section provides resources on tech in government. It includes resources on government design and software development, and miscellaneous readings on civic tech.⁠

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Software Development and Tech Modernization This section includes resources for developing products and modernizing technology.⁠

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