A happy compromise between people-first and plain language
Find out how the National Institute of Corrections is using people-first plain language in its communications. See what words and phrases they’re changing.
News and Updates
Innovative work, news, and ideas from people and teams in government
Building Beta: The Foundation
The USAGov program has been developing a new iteration of our bilingual sites, USA.gov and USAGov en Español. In the process of building beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español, we’ve been rethinking our work style and priorities. Follow the “Building Beta” series to learn how we’re reimagining the way we approach product management, usability, accessibility, content creation, analytics, and outreach.— via USA.gov
Understanding design in 10 questions
How the discipline of design can help your agency improve customer experience.
GSA’s Office of Evaluation Sciences shares how five offices worked with the public to improve digital forms.
2023
Challenge.Gov FY22 Year In Review
Challenge.gov is proud to be part of an ecosystem advancing open innovation in the federal government and engaging the public in open ways. Through the collective efforts of federal challenge managers and the ChallengeGov team, Challenge.gov hosted more prize competitions from a greater number of federal agencies than in previous years. Review fiscal year 2022’s accomplishments, and five goals for FY23.— via Challenge.gov
18F Checks In With Emily Read and the USGS Water Resources Mission Area Projects
At 18F, we like to keep in touch with our project partners. 18F partnered with the USGS Water Resources Mission Area from March 2020 to June 2022 on a wide variety of projects together. We caught up with Emily Read, Chief for the Web Communications Branch at USGS Water Resources Mission Area.— via 18F
Digital governance at GSA
A peek into GSA’s internal processes for managing their websites and improving digital experience.
Faster build times on cloud.gov Pages
We’ve made two recent changes to cloud.gov Pages to make website deployment faster so you can focus on your code, design, and content.— via Cloud.gov
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) and onrr.gov
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) includes five design principles that facilitate human-centered design. In this post, we look at the work our team does to make sure we’re meeting each principle.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Three Tips for Using Facebook and Instagram Stories
At USA.gov and USAGov en Español, we’re always looking for better ways to connect people to government information through social media. Using stories has helped us increase our engagement rate and our number of followers as we deliver helpful information to people. Stories may be a good addition to your agency’s social media strategy, too. These three tips can help you get started.— via USA.gov
Join us as we take a deep dive into USWDS design tokens. We’ll cover: what they are, how they’re used, and how you can adapt them to your branding needs.
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2023
Strengthening information accessibility for consumers with limited English proficiency
We listened to feedback from people who use our materials in various languages to make sure people could find the information they need most, in the language they prefer. Now we’re relaunching our pages in multiple languages.— via Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
We asked our design team: What did you learn in 2022, and what are you looking forward to in 2023?
The beginning of the year is a good time to hunker down, reflect on the past, and envision the future. We brought some of that reflection into a design chapter meeting, where we asked the team: “What did you learn in 2022? What are you looking forward to in 2023?” Here’s what some of our team members had to say.— via 18F
USER EXPERIENCE AND WEB MANAGERS
Increasing public participation in user research
Join GSA’s 10x team as they share their report on creative incentives and tools for increased public participation in user research.
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2023
Collaborate with the TTS Public Benefits Studio
The Benefits Studio is seeking feedback and collaboration as it explores texting as a tool to improve the public experience of benefits programs.
#GovLove 2023
We’re spreading the #GovLove with Performance.gov the week of February 13th to celebrate public servants like you! Prepare your hearts to be warmed.— via Performance.gov
How to manage a federal website
Managing government websites is a targeted exercise. Here are 5 steps to help you build and maintain a successful one.
9 web resolutions to jump-start 2023
Nine areas to focus on in the coming year to take your digital sites and services to the next level.
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.
Web Managers & Web Analytics
Continuously improve your website by using customer feedback and web analytics: An IRS case study
Get tips and lessons learned from the Internal Revenue Service on how they collect user feedback and use web analytics to improve applications.
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2023
