Understanding design in 10 questions
How the discipline of design can help your agency improve customer experience.
Product and project management
News and Events on Product and project management
453 posts
Digital governance at GSA
A peek into GSA’s internal processes for managing their websites and improving digital experience.
Bringing design in-house
What is design, who are designers, and how can they help your agency? Learn how to build a design team that can help your agency solve “wicked problems” and be more innovative.
18F Checks in With Jerome Lee and the eAPD Project
18F partnered with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from December 2017 to June 2020 on the development of a product called eAPD — a user-friendly, modern product to streamline the creation, submission, review, and approval of the Advance Planning Documents that states use to request IT grant funding from CMS. We caught up with Jerome Lee of CMS, the product owner of eAPD.— via 18F
Senior Executives Part 5: Use Stories as Leading Indicators
Senior Executives Part 5: Use Stories as Leading Indicators—Executives often rely on productivity metrics to measure success, but these measures can obscure whether the software is actually working for users. Stories are a better resource to build a strategy between a senior executive and a product team. This is part five in a series on how senior executive and tech teams can be better allies.— via 18F
Senior Executives Part 4: Initiate More Direct Interaction To Build Rapport
Senior Executives Part 4: Initiate More Direct Interaction To Build Rapport—It’s critical that senior executives and product teams make small decisions over time about important technology initiatives to be able to adjust plans as things change. How does that work? What works well?— via 18F
Senior Executives Part 3: Use Short-term Initiatives To Build Confidence in Long-term Decisions
Senior Executives Part 3: Use Short-term Initiatives To Build Confidence in Long-term Decisions—Deadlines often force executives to make long-term decisions about technology without certainty it’ll be successful. Modern software development strategies help reduce this risk by leveraging a product team to incrementally test software upfront.— via 18F
Senior Executives Part 2: Work Outside the Traditional Hierarchy To Set up an Initiative for Success
Senior Executives Part 2: Work Outside the Traditional Hierarchy To Set up an Initiative for Success—In order to ultimately succeed at delivering human-centered software, two critical groups need to work closely together: the product team and a champions group. This is part two in a series on how senior executives and tech teams can be better allies.— via 18F
Webinar Recap: How to Build Your Digital Dream Team
Highlights from the Web Managers Community of Practice panel that shared how to get the right team in place to create a trusted, seamless online experience for all your customers.
Senior Executives Are the Allies Tech Teams Need, Part 1
Senior Executives Are the Allies Tech Teams Need, Part 1—Successfully delivering software in government requires people to work differently. Without clear answers for how to do this, well-intentioned executives and teams default to existing processes that risk undermining their own success. This is part one in a series on how to evolve that relationship.— via 18F
What Agile Looks Like at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue
What Agile Looks Like at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue—Agile at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) started with 18F. They reflect on where they are today, five years later.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Inclusive Acquisitions
The Basics of Buying Accessible Products and Services
A discussion with members of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. Access Board (USAB) on best practices for buying information and communications technology and services that can be used by anyone.
2022
Finding Post-award Balance With Quality Assurance
Finding Post-award Balance With Quality Assurance—If you’re one of the many federal employees carrying out your mission through contracting, you might have an important question: how do I know if my contractor is doing a good job? Even if you don’t have a strong technical background, there are steps you can take to build your confidence in the project’s maintainability and sustainability.— via 18F
Finding post-award balance with quality assurance
If you’re one of the many federal employees carrying out your mission through contracting, you might have an important question: how do I know if my contractor is doing a good job? Even if you don’t have a strong technical background, there are steps you can take to build your confidence in the project’s maintainability and sustainability.— via 18F
The Weekly Ship: What It Is, Why Useful, and How To Create Your Own
The Weekly Ship: What It Is, Why It’s Useful, and How To Create Your Own—The weekly ship has been a staple of 18F projects for years. It is a way to engage partners, inform teammates, and reflect on our work.— via 18F
Civic Tech
Building a Tech Career in Government
Starting a civic tech career in government is not as unusual as you think. Current GSA employees share how they are building theirs.
Learn what’s next for the U.S. Web Design System and our 2021 Roadmap—what we’re planning to do this year, and why we’re planning to do it.
Watch Video
2021
Agile Assessment Guide - Best Practices for Agile Adoption and Implementation
Agile Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Agile Adoption and Implementation—Agile is an approach to software development in which software is developed incrementally and is continuously evaluated for functionality, quality, and customer satisfaction. Agile can reduce the risks of funding a program that fails or produces outdated technology. This GAO guide released in September 2020 presents federal auditors and others with best practices to assess the adoption and use of Agile in federal agencies and elsewhere. It is available in two files: a 268-page PDF, and a 290-page PDF that is accessible.— via Government Accountability Office
Federal Crowdsourcing
Federal Crowdsourcing Webinar Series, Episode 15 — 10x: Transforming Technology Through Agile Investments
In this webinar, we will discuss GSA’s incremental investment program, 10x, which is modeled after modern venture capital best practices and start up studios.
Watch Video
2020
Acquisition
Discovery BPA Evaluation Process: How to Operationalize this Practice
This guide provides acquisition professionals the steps and resources needed to operationalize the evaluation process developed for the Discovery BPA.
