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Summary
Join us for a discussion about Michael's path into the federal government, working to solve problems and design better products and services for the American public and attempting to establish design operations at a government agency and across government.
Key Insights
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Design practices in government are still nascent and frequently operate in disconnected pockets without central coordination.
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Most government designers work as contractors with limited voice and little onboarding or guidance.
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A design operations leader with a creative design background is essential for building trust and understanding between management and design teams.
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Government agencies face unique bureaucratic barriers such as the Paperwork Reduction Act that complicate user research and design efforts.
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Hiring for federal design roles is constrained by outdated job classification systems and slow government processes, limiting the candidate pool.
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COVID-19 and remote work have removed opportunities for informal diplomacy and hallway conversations critical to building relationships in government.
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Establishing governance and design systems needs to strike a balance between providing necessary structure and not restricting creative work.
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Building a centralized design team and a federated model of contributors can improve cohesion and sharing across various programs and teams.
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Service design is underutilized in government but is critical for improving complex public services that span digital and physical experiences.
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The US Digital Service model of short-term 'tours of duty' brings fresh perspectives but requires ongoing knowledge transfer between staff cycling in and out.
Notable Quotes
"Government's design is still not well understood broadly and is like the dull butter knife edge compared to industry."
"It's kind of Peace Corps for nerds—people come in for tours of duty, have impact, then move on."
"I saw lots of little mushroom patches of design but they weren’t connecting or sharing ideas across the agency."
"Most of the designers are contractors, and they don’t really have a voice or much onboarding."
"Design operations is part diplomacy—building relationships and navigating bureaucracy is critical."
"You want just enough governance so it helps the process but doesn’t stifle creativity."
"Hiring specs for federal designers don’t exist in a way that matches private sector roles—sometimes designers are classified as public affairs specialists."
"COVID has removed the hallway bumps where you casually chat with stakeholders, which makes advocacy much harder."
"Service design barely exists in government but is essential to think about the whole customer journey beyond just digital."
"This role will always be about maintaining connections across teams and managing stakeholders effectively."
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