A group of user experience (UX) professionals grappled issues surrounding design for civic purposes in a workshop: “When the Audience is Citizens,” conducted at the User Experience Professionals’ Association’s 2012 annual conference this June.
The group gathered to share the common challenges and enablers that are unique to the world of design for government and its citizens. They identified the elements that enable great civic design:
- Our participation in civic projects as professionals, using the methods that we know works in our practice.
- Using our central principle: involve the user. That includes constituents, voters, and government employees – anyone who may be touched by civic systems.
- Providing our leadership. In concert with UxPA’s leadership theme, we recognized that we have the ability to step up and lead the way toward better design.
But jumping in has its hazards. How can UX professionals provide the solutions that enable design? The team identified several best practices that can smooth the way:
- Learn the lay of the civic landscape. Get to know the law, the government that manages it, and the people who are touched by a design project.
- Understand the nature of bureaucracy. Compared to business, the pace can seem glacial and navigating the political hazards can be tricky.
- Overcome resistance to change. There may be a special resistance to new ideas because the law and the structure of government both add a level of resistance that persistence and creativity must overcome.
In an ongoing project, the team is working on a set of guidelines and heuristics for civic design engagements.
– By Josephine Scott
- Ensuring the Usability of Voting Systems – UPA 2004 Workshop report
- Ethics Guidelines
- Get involved, get in touch
Workshop participants included: Organizers Whitney Quesenbery, Josephine Scott, and Christina Melton along with UX pros including: Jennifer Fabrizi, Jean Fox, Lija Hogan, Caroline Jarrett, Karen Lin, Jeff Johnson, Tobias Limbach, Rolf Molich, Emma Rose and Chris Rourke. It built upon previous work conducted by all participants.