Summary
Moving beyond the service blueprint or user journey map, this case study explores some of the more non-traditional outputs and outcomes driven by service design, particularly through the lens of creating long-term transformational change. Stefanie will overview a variety of recipes for achieving transformative outcomes at three levels within government agencies: the product/service experience, program-wide or platform initiatives, and fundamental agency technology operations. The challenges for each layer are unique, but also offer different opportunities for where service designers can achieve sustainable, real impact. We’ll explore specific examples achieved by a breadth of designers, product managers, and engineers working within government before exploring how this model might be replicated across other partner government agencies to achieve our vision of making more government services become as simple, effective, and accessible as possible.
Key Insights
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Transformation design extends beyond service experience to include programmatic and technical infrastructure layers within government.
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Nava’s dual mission combines running a healthy business with advancing structural change in public services.
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Building better foundations, not just facades, ensures transformational change that outlasts specific projects.
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Injecting agile iteration into government teams helps shift bureaucratic waterfall mindsets prevalent due to procurement rules.
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Programs like the Biden-Harris financial life experience improve access to benefits via plain language and shared principles, influencing future policy forms like income verification.
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Embedding designers on technical teams, such as the VA sandbox project, accelerates application deployment by creating smoother development and incident response workflows.
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At the agency technology and operations layer, designers streamline huge processes like CMS cloud instance onboarding, cutting provisioning time from months to 48 hours.
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Designers tackle administrative burdens by mapping procurement workflows, identifying policy bottlenecks, and proposing changes to prevent burnout of crucial single-role employees.
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Human-centered design helps unify communication, branding, and adoption of shared enterprise services, increasing operational resilience and flexibility.
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Challenges grow deeper into technical infrastructure layers due to unfamiliarity with design value, but proven track records and interagency knowledge sharing help gain buy-in.
Notable Quotes
"Build better foundations, not better facades."
"Service design may start with the product or service experience but can influence policy and infrastructure too."
"Programs that support many product teams act like well-crafted APIs, building once and used by many."
"As much as 140 billion dollars in government benefits goes unclaimed each year partly due to income verification hurdles."
"Giving technical teams a sandbox environment led to apps being built and released in a fraction of the usual time."
"Onboarding originally took months but was reduced to 48 hours through iterative design and automation."
"Contracting officers face severe consequences for deviating from policy, including life in prison, increasing operational risk."
"Designers embedded in these layers can shift enterprise-wide offerings to align with human needs and reduce administrative burden."
"What is done at one agency often becomes the playbook for success at others."
"A human-centered approach is intrinsic to Nava’s DNA and factored into procurement and project planning from the start."
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