Uncovering impactful solutions through user research
Get an overview of what user research and user testing are in a federal context. Learn what policies apply and what resources are available.
Research
Resources on Research
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18F Research Guidelines
Covers the basic principles research: informing and getting consent, and managing personally identifiable information (PII)
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Addressing Barriers to User-Centered Design
An overview of the most common barriers and how federal agencies might address them.
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Managing Research Projects Remotely
Best practices for distributed teams.
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The basics of human-centered design in government
How the Lab at OPM drives innovation through design education
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Stakeholder and User Interview Checklist
Key interview moments and how to navigate them.
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Usability Testing with Steve Krug
Get started making usability fixes to your website or product.
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Department of Homeland Security: Usability Testing Kit
A resource with four approaches to help federal employees perform usability testing.
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Guide to the Paperwork Reduction Act
A plain language guide which answers the most common questions to the PRA.
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Tips for Starting Your Customer Experience Journey
Low-cost, low-lift actions that any federal employee can take to improve customer experience.
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Tips for capturing the best data from user interviews
How to ensure the most useful information makes its way back to your team for further analysis
Tools and Services
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Touchpoints
Touchpoints offers a simple, flexible, and convenient way to start collecting customer feedback so you can focus on serving customers rather than managing surveys.
Join a Community of Practice
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Web Analytics and Optimization
Make better decisions using web analytics and other optimization strategies.
News and Events on Research
231 posts
How the Open Data, Design, and Development team implemented state and offshore region navigation pages with hallway testing
User feedback is key to creating great digital products, but limited resources can hinder research efforts. Hallway testing provides a quick, useful solution. By conducting informal interviews, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior gathered insights to improve navigation to state and offshore region pages on the Natural Resources Revenue Data website. After testing prototypes, the best option was implemented, streamlining access white minimizing resource use. The team’s next steps include monitoring performance, evaluating the addition of maps on select pages, and continued hallway testing.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
How multicultural research guides the USA.gov benefit finder
Discover how USA.gov tailors its benefit finder experience for both English and Spanish-speaking users through culturally nuanced content. Through dual-track language research, a bilingual support team, and A/B testing, USA.gov ensures that more users receive relevant, empathetic, and user-friendly content. The USA.gov team also identified and addressed recruitment challenges to interatively improve its ongoing research processes.— via USA.gov
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
Developing an easier way to recruit user research participants
USA.gov and 10x recently partnered to develop a new user research recruitment page. The page launched in February 2024 and has attracted hundreds of sign-ups. It allows participants to assist in testing government websites for compensation, and helps teams find participants that match needed demographics. By simplifying the process and expanding recruitment of diverse populations, the initiative aims to support and streamline user research. It plans to add recruitment opportunities in additional languages and recruit more specific audiences for future studies.— via USA.gov
Case study: Removing barriers to applying for a presidential pardon
At the Department of Justice, Access DOJ and the Office of the Pardon Attorney (PARDON) partnered to simplify and streamline the presidential pardon application process. By conducting usability testing and gathering feedback, they identified key issues with the existing application, such as its complexity and length. See how redesigning the forms to be more accessible and understandable led to a more efficient process for both applicants and staff.— via Department of Justice
Google Analytics 4: Transition strategies for federal websites
Learn how the Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team at the Department of the Interior (DOI) transitioned from Google Analytics - Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4! Discover how the ODDD team coordinated with the Digital Analytics Program, developed explorations (instead of custom reports), and set up their own DOI agency property.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Reconsidering the consent form: the least user-friendly aspect of UX research
The Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team has replaced signed consent forms with a more accessible user research agreement process, offering multiple opt-in points. This ensures informed consent and participant autonomy. Explore why and how the ODDD team implemented this comprehensive participant consent process in their user research.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
How USAGov uses data to improve content
Each month, USAGov’s content designers spend many hours ensuring that the content on USA.gov and USAGov en Español is up-to-date, accurate, and meets user needs. Learn how their team does holistic reviews of each topic section based on a rolling calendar with the goal of updating all content at least every 6 months.— via USA.gov
Search.gov year in review: 2023 report
Learn what types of information people searched for on federal websites in 2023, see emerging trends the team is exploring to improve customers’ search experience in 2024, and check out three new updates. The data tab provides insightful summaries for 13 popular topic areas—and lists the public’s top 25 search terms, in their own words, for each.— via Search.gov
Annual Gathering
Spring 2024 Community Summit
Digital service experts across the federal government will share case studies and best practices on delivering a digital-first public experience.
2024
Equity in action: GSA’s study on remote identity-proofing technologies
The Biden-Harris President’s Management Agenda (PMA) emphasizes an effective, equitable and accountable government. As part of this effort, the General Services Administration (GSA) is conducting a study on the equity of remote identity proofing. The study aims to assess and improve the accessibility and equity of remote identity verification technologies such as facial matching systems. Learn more about the context, purpose, and progress of the study, and how it supports GSA’s goal of enhancing digital government services and prioritizing equitable design practices.— via Performance.gov
Balancing priorities and values
This article summarizes four priorities and values that simply take time: consideration of the public’s time, privacy, accessibility and equity, and scope.
This month the Design System team will talk about the development and rollout of their new accessibility tests for components.
Watch Video
2024
Next steps in the U.S. Web Design System’s inclusive usability research
USWDS Monthly Call - November 2023
The USWDS team will continue sharing our progress to improve ongoing research, publishing results and addressing recent findings.
Watch Video
2023
Speaking your language USAGov outreach approach to bilingual content
As a bilingual program, USAGov aims to give English and Spanish-language audiences the information they want in the cultural context they need. Here are a few main things the team learned when transcreating messaging through the USAGov and USAGov en Español outreach channels.— via USA.gov
Conducting user research with people with disabilities
USWDS Monthly Call - October 2023
This month, we’ll share progress and findings from our recent effort to improve our ongoing research practice.
Watch Video
2023
A website refresh in 3 months
A website redesign doesn’t have to be a big project. By approaching it as a process of iteration, we launched a refreshed site in the span of several weeks.— via 18F
Annual Summit
2023 Government UX Summit
User experience (UX) experts across the federal government will share case studies and best practices during this virtual summit.
2023
Personas: learn how to discover your audience, understand them, and pivot to address their needs
Advice from five federal experts on creating user personas.
