Recapping InState/AWS GovTech Summit and The Future of User Experience

All right, we're back for another In Case You Missed It TGIF, and welcome back. It's been another wild week in the world of GovTech, more in-person events, but today we're gonna be diving into the world of UX and looking at kind of this government experience dynamic. So in our second part, we're gonna bring in Kim Sermitsky, who is a UX extraordinaire and has some really interesting kind of viewpoints on how critical this UX is in government and what agencies should take away as a part of it. But let's break down some of the news that was. I was at an event this week in Austin. It was a conference put on by In-State Partners and AWS and Advantage Capital. Capital called the GovTech Summit, and it mirrored a lot of the takeaways that Joe had from NACIO the week before. It was a conference that brought together investors, it brought together government startups, larger companies, just to talk about this world of GovTech and what was happening. And it was amazing to see, you know, over 100 people there focused on what's happening in this market and kind of this app store explosion dynamic that we're starting to see with new companies and new entrepreneurs and new funding that's all kind of coming into the space. So an exciting conference. You make sure to check out the GovTech recaps of it at govtech.com. Thad was there covering in person, so you don't want to miss any of that. But I want to make sure that we have plenty of time to talk to Kim, so I'm going to go ahead and bring Kim in from our backstage. So Kim, thanks again so much for joining us today. I mean, you have incredible work that you've been doing over the past few years, and, you know, user experiences at the center of all of it. So maybe to start, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

Yeah.

Hi, thank you for having me. So I'm a product designer and I recently graduated a UX design program from DesignLab, and I'm actually a career changer from fashion design. And I got into UX because I liked that it had the design aspect, but also combined problem solving with that and that I could have the chance to work on meaningful projects. And so I got interested in civic and govtech because I have friends and family who work in the New York court system. And so anecdotally, I had heard about challenges that they and users had in the courts. So as I was studying UX, I realized how the new skills I was learning could be used to create digital solutions and make some of these tasks easier for people. And so that was really inspiring to me that This was meaningful work I could do.

So thanks for joining us first, but why is UX so critical now for government agencies and why should they be focusing on it today?

Yes. So first let's take a look at some examples of what bad UX looks like. And we can see the consequences here. So I'm sure, I'm sure we've all done this before. You've gone to grab a door that had handles and you try to pull it until someone tells you, hey, you have to push it. So this, this is an example of bad UX. And then this one, how many of us read don't be happy, worry? So this is another, another UX fail because order and proximity of words matter. And now looking at this, this example, which, which way would you go if you wanted to find a room? So that, that's just some examples of what happens when design that is intuitive, it's harder to understand the message. And so UX is critical because good UX can make products easier to understand as well as more enjoyable to use. So it could be, it could be something like making forms easier to use. It could be having information in a logical order. And making it clear which buttons a user needs to press. It can make finding information on a website easier by matching people's expectations for how to use something, and good UX is more enjoyable to use. So government agencies definitely have great potential to utilize UX design to engage constituents, improve efficiency, and make their services easier to use. And also UX can save time and money by testing designs So big problems like the ones that we saw are fixed before you go into development.

Kim, first of all, I have to say thank you very much for doing the thing about the door because that happened to me the other day and people were looking at me when it happened and so I was extremely irritated. So seeing that image just vindicated me. Next, I'm just curious, what is the UX design process that you use exactly?

Yeah, so the process that I use is the design, the design thinking method for identifying, defining, and solving problems and evaluating solutions. So it starts with understanding the problem first. For example, that could mean talking to users or constituents to understand their needs. And so what was really important for me to do in my projects was to keep an open mind when I was researching. And so it's like, rather than starting out with a solution in mind, you look for problems and needs to solve. That way it ensures that you're building the right thing, and then you will have so many relevant ideas because you defined the problem. And then you go and you design solutions and you create a paper or digital prototype. And a prototype can be a sketch or a mockup of what the interface looks like, but it's not coded yet, so it can be done quicker. And then the purpose of this is to rapidly test it and get user feedback before launching. And it's an iterative process, so you can retest your pro— or even launch, continue to improve it and add new features.

So I think, you know, it's an amazing process that you use. It's one that, you know, the private sector has embraced for a number of years, and we're starting to see government agencies get into it. But I think where this really comes to a head is how you've applied it. And so, you know, when you think about this in government, you typically think about, you know, big companies that come in and kind of go through this whole exercise with them. But you took, you know, kind of this process and went through it yourself with a couple different use cases.

Yeah.

And so I'd love for you to break down your thoughts on the New York State Unified Court System design process And I'm gonna queue up your slides here and just kind of get your thinking on how you approach this so the agencies that are listening in can kind of understand what this looks like when you apply it, right? It's not just doing a survey, it's not just, you know, doing some slick branding and kind of starting with a shiny object or a great UI, but really this whole process, this whole methodology that you kind of outlined for Jed, you applied that in a very, very real way, and so this is kind of what came out of that.

Yes, that's right. So this was a design that I did on the New York State Courts for a project here. And so what you mentioned, most important part is really understanding the needs. And so I'll take you through how I did that. And so as we saw, the pandemic and the reduction of in-person services highlighted the need for easy-to-use online court services. And then also, this is a need that's going to persist after the, after the pandemic to deal with the backlog of cases, and also because courts like housing and criminal court, as you can see in this picture, this, this is a picture showing people lining up for housing court pre-COVID. So these courts were overcrowded to begin with. And this also disproportionately affects people of color. who are the majority of litigants in these high-volume courts. So I wanted to design a user-centered website and online services to increase access to justice and reduce the need for in-person visits. And so I— for this, I followed the design thinking process that we talked about, and I'll take you through the main steps. So I began with research, and I conducted research online, read reports put out by the courts like their annual report, and other— and then I also interviewed attorneys and court users about their experience using the current website as well as virtual and in-person court appearances. So some of my learnings were that, were what the courts did to add virtual services, like adding e-filing capabilities, adding virtual conferences with Microsoft Teams. And then some of the challenges are the lack of digital equity because not everyone has access to the internet. And so in this photo here, you can see the courts, they created virtual kiosks So people could come in and have access to the equipment and actual conferences. And then of course the user interviews were really interesting. And so, and so I have some key insights from the 10 interviews that I conducted. And so from, from users was that navigating the website is frustrating and it takes many clicks. And then also people like the convenience of virtual conferences. And also users want to be heard and tell their side of the story. So I summarized all of these insights with a user persona, and the needs are the really important part here, so we'll talk more about that. And the needs really help us define the problems that we're going to solve. So here I took each need one at a time, like not wasting Erica's time, and then I framed it as an actionable question. Problem solving. So that, that turns into, how might we help Erica's time not be wasted waiting for court cases to start? And how might we help Erica get the information she needs with less clicks? And how might we ensure Erica feels heard? So now that I had those problems defined, I was able to come up with features and prioritize them. So the ones I prioritized were a new home page and a user dashboard for the whole court system, as well as an online dispute resolution feature for housing court. And I read about a small claims online dispute resolution pilot that was successful in New York. So I thought there was an opportunity to create one for housing court. And so this became my project scope that I would focus on and finish first before going back and adding other features. So the task flows The task flows that I had were to define the key tasks users would do. For example, a user goes to the homepage and finds the status of their case. And then the others log into the dashboard and see their next virtual visit and register for online dispute resolution. So I designed a layout of each page corresponding to the task flows. And to get here, I looked at other court websites for inspiration and did quick sketches by hand before designing digitally. This way, I created lo-fi prototypes of all the screens so I could test the navigation and usability of each task flow. All right, and so, and so with this, I was able to get ready for usability testing. And create a prototype. And so I did testing with 5 users, and that's because 5 users are going to find 90% of your problems. It doesn't have to be big and complicated. So some of the key— I had were that, were that users were expecting to see case status at the top of their page when I gave them the task to find the case status. And so this was a problem because only 2 out of 5 people were, were able to complete the task. So clearly I was going to have to rework this a little bit. And then the overall comments on this page were that it was busy and there was a lot of information. And that was kind of the comments that I got on the other pages. So I knew I was going to have to go back and work on that layout. And so, um, so in order to do that, I looked at other, other websites for inspirations. And, you know, it's like you can't be afraid to kind of start over and go back and find something new if things don't work. So this is a beautiful website, um, the utah.gov site, as well as the next slide is boston.gov. And so with this, I have an inspiration for, for making the site look more modern and clean. And I worked on branding as well before I went back to revise my screens. And so as one user had said, the website looks like it was stuck in the '90s to early 2000s. So I really wanted to create a modern and approachable design. And so I came up with this layout and I made sure that important, that important information like finding your court, and the new online court services were prominently featured. So now users can quickly search for a case. And then also the dashboard layout, you can see how it got simpler. And I revised it so it had only the most important information on the main page so the user can really focus on it. And, and now with the dashboard, users can also manage their case online. And then the new online dispute resolution feature— this allows landlords and tenants to come to an agreement online prior to appearing before the judge. So by digitizing this kind of uncontested resolution, um, it frees up the court's time. And then also Because tenants need, they frequently need to show a resolution in order to receive financial aid in many cases. So this can help them get assistance sooner. So you can click through some of these pages. This is the form, and I had a little help from my lawyer friends and some subject matter experts to help me understand this part of the process. And so my next steps, if I were to keep working on this project, would be to go back and retest this new design with users as well as the new high-fidelity prototype screens. So after making any priority fixes to the designs, then they would get handed off to developers.

That's great. I mean, A, I mean, so thoughtful and complete and I was taken aback by the 5 users and the statistic that you shared as well. So that was new information for me. But, you know, as you dug into this project, What did you learn about government in the process of doing it?

Yeah, so that's a great question. So I learned a lot about the challenges when designing for government. For example, legislature might be required to use certain online services, and government systems might be stuck in legacy hardware, meaning that I would have to design within certain constraints or figure out how historical data might be uploaded into a new system. And then if you do have new software, staff is going to have to be trained. And then another example too, when I was working on the City of Hoboken project, I saw how, how fixes and new apps were added with good intention to address problems, but then you wind up having parking permits on a link from a website And then another app for parking and another app for 311, and it starts to become a fractured user experience because it's not intentionally designed to work together. So it gets complicated for sure.

You know, in technology, and government technology is no different, we're always anticipating what's going to be coming around the corner. So that kind of brings me to this next question, Kim. Where do you see government UX evolving in the next few years?

Yeah, so good question. I see municipal and government services becoming as intuitive and easy to use as our favorite apps. I think as UX continues to expand in the private industry, it will become more adopted in the government as well. And users already expect to be able to do everything online, so I think that users will expect more from government sites. And I also think that startups and private companies who can move quickly and don't have the same challenges as the government will offer exciting solutions to problems. And also because the government must be usable for everyone, um, therefore designing for accessibility is critical. So government really has the opportunity to be a leader in accessibility design.

Absolutely.

And so for those agencies that are listening in right now and watching this and, you know, they're new to design thinking, they're new to human-centered design, they hear all these phrases and they're like, you know, what does that mean? How would you advise that they get more familiar with these concepts and kind of the process that you went through?

Yeah, sure. Um, so they can start by learning from a variety of perspectives and having more women, young people, and underrepresented populations involved in government as a way to be more inclusive. So it's like, think about whose voice is missing and bring those people you want to empathize with into the process and give them a voice. And then there's also a few That are good reads. Mismatch by Kat and Building for Everyone by Annie Jean Baptiste are good information, a resource about inclusive design. And then there's Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug, which is a good short read about making interfaces more intuitive.

And Kim, How about you? Are there any other projects that you can mention right now that you might be working on soon?

Yeah, so I'm continuing to learn more about inclusive design and accessibility, and I'm also working with a mission-driven startup called Pride Places, and we're developing digital solutions focused on building community for LGBTQ people and connecting them with community and LGBTQ-friendly businesses. So that's been a great experience for learning about inclusive design for that community. And so I look forward to applying this learning and advocating for inclusive design of underrepresented populations in future GovTech and civic tech projects.

So where can our audience go to learn more about your work?

Please check out my website at kimcerbinski.com. You can see the full New York Courts case study there, as well as others, and read more about my process and findings there, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Awesome. Well, thanks, Kim, and we would thank you very much for taking time out of your day to join us on this week's episode of In Case You Missed It. Join us next Friday for another weekly episode of In Case You Missed It in GovTech. Take care.

Thank you so much.