News and Updates

When Catastrophe Strikes, Provide Support: SAMHSA’s Disaster Response App

Disasters can strike at anytime, and responders now have another tool in their repertoire to aid survivors. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed the Behavioral Health Disaster Response Mobile App to assist mental health responders with pre-deployment and on-the ground information and resources. SAMHSA has

Jun 11, 2015

How Agencies “Pin” Down Their Audiences

While Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social media platforms (according to some rankings), your agency can and should evaluate the benefits of platforms like Pinterest, which have seen major growth in users and activity. In the last six months of 2014, Pinterest increased its membership by 57%, while Facebook and Twitter only grew by

Edgardo Morales

Jun 10, 2015

The Emulator Dilemma: Can Mobile Device Testing Be Completed Without Mobile Devices?

Government agencies have created a variety of apps to meet the needs of the public. As you join in on the mobile-first trend and begin developing your shiny new mobile application, you will need to test it.

David Fern

Ashley Wichman

Jun 09, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: 7 Key Takeaways From Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends Report

Silicon Valley analyst Mary Meeker’s annual 2015 Internet Trends report has been released and is an exhaustive analysis of the world’s digital evolution (often mobile-first driven) and how it is affecting business, culture, and information.

Will Sullivan

Jun 09, 2015

#SocialGov Round Up 2015

The SocialGov Community is coming up on three years of hard work and pushing the boundaries on using social tools across the federal government. I’d like to start this round up by taking a look at the event we hosted last year, State of the #SocialGov 2014: 2 Years of Smashing Silos + Elevating Citizen

Alycia Piazza

Jun 08, 2015

The Content Corner: Creating a Content Style Guide

One of the more commonly overlooked pieces of any effective content strategy is a content style guide.

Tyrus Manuel

Jun 08, 2015

While examples of government social media content may initially seem like mere fun, the potential of applied social data to build, evaluate and improve diverse citizen services is only increasing.

Ashley Wichman

Justin Herman

Jun 05, 2015

Using Section 508 Guidance to Improve the Accessibility of Government Services

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to use accessible information and communication technology (ICT), whether procured, developed, or maintained.

Jamal Mazrui

Jun 05, 2015

Visualizing BLS Data to Improve Understanding

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what’s the value of a striking, cool chart or map of some BLS data? At the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we’re always thinking of better ways to help our users understand the information we produce.

Erica L. Groshen

Jun 05, 2015

New Coast Guard App Streamlines Boating Safety to Maximize Summer Fun

Just in time for the summer season, the U.S. Coast Guard launched a brand new app to give smartphone users easy, on-demand access to critical boating safety information and resources.

Kevin Downey

Jun 04, 2015

Taking the Pulse of the Federal Government’s Web Presence

The U.S. federal government is launching a new project to monitor how it’s doing at best practices on the Web.

Jun 03, 2015

The API Briefing: Make It an API – the Census Bureau’s Census of Governments

Serendipity can be a wonderful tool for discovery. I was looking through the Census Bureau site for some business census data when I came upon the 2012 Census of Governments.

Bill Brantley

Jun 03, 2015

Trends on Tuesday: Thinking about Your Agency’s “Glanceable” Moment Strategy

Mobile device penetration is growing. Yhe new wave of digital screens on watches and wearables is requiring organizations to consider how to build smaller, faster and simpler interfaces to prepare for glanceable moments.

Will Sullivan

Jun 02, 2015

Finding the Best Mobile Moment Is the First Stepping Stone to Anytime, Anywhere Government

Mobile-friendliness is a must for government. But mobilizing the whole digital enchilada takes time due to various challenges, as experiences from the Department of Education and National Park Service have illustrated.

Jacob Parcell

Jun 01, 2015

The Content Corner: Humanizing Structured Content

Over the past several years, DigitalGov has been extremely focused on structured content, content models, and their role in future-ready content (and rightly so).

Tyrus Manuel

Jun 01, 2015

A Conversation with OMB on Customer Service

We recently sat down with Lisa Danzig, who’s leading work at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the FY15 Cross Agency Priority (CAP) goal on Customer Service (CS). The CS CAP goal aims to help agencies deliver world-class customer service to citizens that’s on par with leading private

Rachel Flagg

May 29, 2015

Getting to Know Your Users: Tips and Tricks from Veterans Affairs

Design research isn’t rocket science. But for many of us in the federal government, it can seem daunting and unfamiliar. We’re here to to help demystify the process of design research for those of you ready to wade into the waters. We’ve both done our fair share of design researching at the Department of Veterans

Sarah Brooks

Mollie Ruskin

May 29, 2015

Three of the Greatest Books for Customer Experience (That Aren’t about Customer Experience)

Dennis Snow and Jeanne Bliss have always been the customer experience (CX) authorities in my mind. Dennis’s Lessons from the Mouse and Jeanne’s Chief Customer Officer were two of the first books I read that described what the practice of customer experience looked like in the halls of Fortune 500 companies like Lands End and Microsoft,

Stephanie Thum

May 28, 2015

ICE Wields Smartphones in Fight Against Child Exploitation

Armed with a smartphone instead of a badge, ordinary Americans are helping law enforcement officers capture child predators. After exhausting all investigative leads, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents turn to the public for help to

Kevin Downey

May 28, 2015

StudentAid.gov: Using Data to Empower Borrowers

It’s been a while, but in previous posts, I described what we’ve learned from operating StudentAid.gov, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid website created to educate students and borrowers about the federal student aid programs and process and help them make informed decisions about financing college and career school. We first

Brenda Wensil

May 27, 2015