Designing for the Public Sector

Government services impact a great many aspects of our daily lives — from healthcare to employment to transportation — and more often than we’d like, we the people struggle through outdated and convoluted processes to access them.

Design for the public sector can ensure that government services are user-friendly and accessible to all, regardless of technological proficiency. Optimizing experiences can help people get the services they need, increasing satisfaction, engagement, and trust in government institutions. The return on investment for design in the public sector is significant. Every dollar invested in design results in savings for the government — from faster, more accessible service delivery with less friction for the resident.

Designing for the public sector involves a set of unique challenges.

There’s a long road between what exists now and such optimal services. So what stands in the way? The software landscape for government often consists of complex systems, diverse user needs, daunting regulatory requirements, and limited resources.

Journey map on the future state for CMS's Medicaid Marketplace.

GoInvo’s experience in public sector design spans 15 years.

In our work for government clients, GoInvo has tackled these challenges with a user-centered design philosophy that emphasizes collaboration, adaptability, and a long-term commitment to improving civic engagement and public sector services.

The GoInvo studio has worked on numerous projects for government agencies, including:

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) for MA
• The Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) for MA

Our team takes a comprehensive approach to service improvement, helping to shape public sector digital solutions always with the US resident in mind. Well-considered and executed public sector design can help bridge the gap between government policy and the real world needs of the people.

Digitized SNAP application process increased accessibility for more residents to be able to apply for food benefits.

One of GoInvo’s notable public sector projects for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts involved redesigning the application interface for Mass SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), the food benefits program for low-income Massachusetts residents. The goal was to improve user experience while ensuring compliance with regulations. GoInvo created an intuitive interface that simplified the application process, increasing engagement and satisfaction, and helped more residents access their benefits.

Understanding user needs is the crux of user-centered design.

One of the primary challenges was capturing the needs of a diverse user base. The SNAP program serves a wide demographic, including low-income individuals and families who face barriers like language differences and varying levels of digital literacy. GoInvo interviewed users and shadowed caseworkers to gain insights into the emotional and practical hurdles applicants experienced, such as stress and confusion due to complex questions and lengthy forms.

Navigating policy constraints is unavoidable.

Existing policies dictated phrasing of certain application questions; for example, accusatory wording and two-in-one combination inquiries could deter or confuse applicants. Although the policy team at the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) collaborated with GoInvo to improve these issues, rigid policy requirements limited what changes could be implemented. Ongoing collaboration with the DTA was necessary to continue to strive for more user-friendly design.

Balancing diverse stakeholder perspectives requires collaboration.

Multiple diverse stakeholders and regulatory requirements can slow down decision-making and impede innovation. Different teams had distinct priorities — ranging from technical constraints to policy requirements — which sometimes led to misalignment in project goals. GoInvo engaged stakeholders early in the process, involving key contributors and decision-makers at the beginning and on a regular basis throughout. Our team facilitated small group discussions and hands-on prototyping sessions to gather feedback and ensure that user experience remained a priority throughout the design process. This focus on collaboration built a better understanding of needs and encouraged buy-in.

GoInvo designers getting feedback from a stakeholder and user group on our designs for the SNAP application process.

Ensuring that the application met accessibility standards was a critical challenge.

GoInvo committed to making the application compliant with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and Section 508 standards, which required careful consideration of design elements such as color contrast, screen reader compatibility, and overall usability for people with disabilities. Focusing on accessibility improves user experience and aligns with broader public sector mandates for inclusivity.

Limited resources impede innovation.

Public sector agencies often operate under tight budgets, leading to the prioritization of immediate operational needs over long-term digital improvements. Over time, a lack of investment in design results in a poor, inefficient user experience, which in turn causes frustration, low trust, a low adoption rate of digital services and lack of further investment, in a seemingly endless cycle. While historically, many government entities have undervalued design efforts, changing this mindset requires advocacy for the importance of design within agency leadership, partners, and even citizens as well.

GoInvo’s iterative design process.

Continuous testing and feedback loops are essential for refining designs. However, inconsistent stakeholder feedback or tight project timelines can lead to complications. Our team adapted by creating prototypes that allowed stakeholders to interact with designs early on, clarifying expectations and gathering actionable insights more efficiently.

GoInvo designs for SMART Health Cards for the CommonHealth application as a response for post-pandemic needs to be able to verify vaccination records.

Core principles for public sector design

Through these challenges, the GoInvo team demonstrated a commitment to user-centered design principles while navigating the complexities of public sector work. Our experience highlights the importance of understanding user needs, collaborating across diverse stakeholder groups, and adhering to regulatory standards — all while striving for an accessible and intuitive design solution that ultimately enhances service delivery for Massachusetts residents in need.

Based on our experiences designing software for a dozen state and federal services, we recommend these foundational principles for effective public sector design:

Focus on the resident… and the administration.

Design with inclusivity in mind by considering the diverse backgrounds of users. Use accessibility standards to ensure that all individuals can interact with public services effectively. It’s also easy to overlook what happens to enable the services to operate smoothly. The running of each program is often where applications go to purgatory, and without greasing that engine (aka designing for program management), the queues, wait times, and efficiency continue to lag.

Embrace standards and open source.

Advocate for open standards and create open source components. We believe that data standardization and reusability of elements can ripple across projects and sectors, significantly reducing inefficiencies and costs associated with fragmented systems.

Early stakeholders buy-in.

Collaborate with diverse stakeholders. Iterative feedback from a variety of stakeholders and policymakers ensures that solutions are compliant, practical, and effective. This collaborative approach not only helps in refining designs but also builds trust among partners, facilitating broader acceptance and implementation of new systems.

Prototype like crazy.

Develop fast prototypes early in the design process to test concepts. This allows teams to gather feedback without investing significant resources upfront.

Design based on evidence.

Establish a culture of continuous improvement by regularly testing designs with real users and making adjustments based on their feedback. Use data to inform your design decisions.

The MITRE Health Lab needed a large-scale, national healthcare storytelling service, to show public health officials, researchers, and policy makers the the data on the ground.

Design can play an important role in transforming government services into more accessible, efficient, and user-friendly experiences. By addressing challenges such as limited resources and policy complexities through strategic approaches and advocacy, public sector agencies can enhance their interactions with citizens, improve service delivery and foster greater trust in government institutions.