Ten weeks in civic tech as a design researcher

How I changed my perspective on government work this summer

Prior to this summer, I had very little understanding of how the U.S. government operates. Politics scared me away and I certainly didn’t have any positive experience dealing with the U.S. government.

My social security card got lost in the mail after I applied for it. I tried to find out why by calling the Social Security Administration office and waited on hold for an hour, only to be told that I had to head to the office and reapply all over again. The process was painfully time-consuming and complicated. I had a similar experience when I was renewing my driver’s license, and let’s not start the conversation about tax filing or dealing with visas as an immigrant.

All that to say — I try to avoid interacting with the government to save my time and minimize any unpleasant interactions. And according to this article on the “time tax”, I know I’m not alone. As frustrating as these experiences were, they made me think about how everyday citizens who are entitled to these rights and benefits struggle to access them, and how fundamentally problematic that is because the government is supposed to serve its people and help meet their needs.

I may have sworn during high school that I’d never work for the government, but sometimes life surprises us in ways that we cannot imagine. I applied to Coding it Forward’s internship program out of curiosity, and thankfully they took a chance on me and granted me an amazing opportunity to reconstruct my beliefs in government work.

This summer, I got selected as part of the Civic Innovation Corps and was assigned to Austin Transportation’s Data and Technology Services to serve as a design researcher for 10 weeks. Before this, I had never heard of civic tech and had no clue what it was. For those who are unfamiliar with civic tech, here’s a definition from A Civic Technologist’s Practical Guide, written by Cyd Harrell.

Civic tech is a loosely integrated movement that brings the strengths of the private-sector tech world (its people, methods, or actual technology) to public entities with the aim of making government more responsive, efficient, modern, and more just.

Civic tech is a completely new arena for me. Now that I’ve finished my internship, I want to share my observations and key takeaways with you.

Disclaimer: I’m still extremely new in civic tech and have not been exposed to the full ecosystem. This article expresses my current thoughts and serves as a reference for young technologists who may be interested in learning more about civic tech.

Understanding a complex problem space with fresh eyes

Every workplace has its own acronyms, jargon, and office politics. Newbies often struggle a little bit when they start out at a new place. But honestly, the government space is a next-level game — there are departments, internal teams, external partners, and contractors that you will never stop discovering and learning about.

Navigating bureaucracy and fully understanding the convoluted government space is extremely challenging. The first few weeks working with the Austin Transportation Department were a steep learning curve. I was both overwhelmed by the information overflow and excited to feed my curiosity with hundreds of questions that I got to ask my supervisor. I’m very thankful that my supervisor always encouraged me to speak up and challenge the status quo, patiently listened to my opinions, and answered my questions.

Meeting people where they are

Oftentimes, technologists are eager to come into civic tech and disrupt the space with “innovation.” But not all problems need to be solved by a technical solution. By understanding the people, their work process, and their culture, we are able to ask the right questions and solve the core problem.

Researchers’ powerful quality of listening and talking to stakeholders is handy in this situation. By interviewing different stakeholders, I was able to better understand their practice, concerns, and needs. I kept asking myself these questions as I structured my research plan:

• What are the problems with the highest priority that the team is trying to solve?
• How might we make stakeholders’ lives and decisions easier?
• How can I meet them where they are by using research to get us to a better solution?
• What are the things that product managers desperately need to find out in order to build the product roadmap?

As the only designer/researcher on a team of product managers and developers, it was slightly intimidating to me at first. But I gradually learned to demonstrate the value of user-centered research through sharing useful insights and showing the team how we can work intentionally with the powerful tool of design.

Not only did I learn to speak up, but I also understood the importance of building trust and supporting others’ work by stepping into their shoes. No matter which role you are in, building a good allyship facilitates product buy-in and usage after launch. It will set you and your product up for success in later stages.

Uncovering issues that I’d never thought about

Coding it Forward provided rich programming that widened my horizons. I got a sneak peek into different topics like the history of civic tech, legal justice through tech, surveillance using facial recognition and civil liberties, improving social safety net services through UX, open data practices, and tech policy. I also got to attend the 2021 Government UX Summit and learned about trauma-informed design.

I was impressed by the creativity and perseverance of these public interest technologists. They identified a key problem, worked hard to understand the context, and are determined to use tech to drive systemic change.

One of my key takeaways is that almost all of the speakers emphasized the importance of community engagement. They always started out by talking to users in the community to understand their pain points and needs. You really have to get your feet wet to create relevant products for users who truly need them and depend on them. As someone who advocates for human-centered design, this bottom-up approach clicked with me instantly.

Solving hard problems that truly matter

While a private-sector product usually has its target users, civic tech products aim to serve everyone (think about information delivery and services that affect everyone, for instance, construction projects on a highway, mask mandates, or vaccine information). That changes the entire conversation because everyone wants different things and we need to find a way to cater to everyone’s needs and prioritize them justly. This explains why this problem space is so complicated, but it also brings more meaning to the work that we do.

The private industry gets to recruit some of the brightest minds with their lucrative salary and benefits. The civic tech space may not have as many resources as the industry does, but I got to meet so many smart people who care enough to solve real, hard problems. This community is very supportive — It’s a natural space that attracts civic-minded, empathetic individuals who challenge you professionally while taking care of your personal growth and respecting your voice. This space constantly reminds us that “we need you” and that your work matters.

I learned a lot more than I expected in this summer internship. I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to contribute my skills and put them to good use. If you’re interested in learning more about the work that I’ve done with Austin Transportation, here’s the case study. I hope this article is helpful for those who want to learn more about civic tech. I’d love to hear your thoughts — feel free to leave any comments or questions below.