Working hypotheses

Assumptions

• Transformation is not as risky as government agencies may perceive it to be.

• Transformation doesn’t have an end point; you work on it continually. The process varies, but nobody is starting at zero.

• Changing culture to be more open and agile makes government services more user-centered and builds trust.

• There’s not one right way to do this work.

Barriers

• People / relationships / communication

• Conflicting priorities (e.g., not a clear direction, internal pressure to take action without planning first)

• Cultural barriers to user-centered design (e.g., solutioneering, unclear audience, unclear user needs)

• Budget

• Legal concerns, risk aversion

• Fear of more work

• Fear of failure, doing the wrong thing, or not knowing enough

• Technology can’t solve everything (i.e., need to look at the process and deeper issues)

Potential outputs

• Teams need practical advice with specific takeaways, and a clear picture of organizational change since this is a big, messy problem.

• Teams need examples and a practical framework for making a plan.

• Teams need some access to a community of practice to ask questions and share what they’ve learned.