Talk description:
Before 18F was dismantled by DOGE, we were responsible for some of the U.S. federal government’s most human-centered products. In this talk, principal product designer Aviva Oskow (she/they) will give attendees a behind the scenes look at the development and launch of civilrights.justice.gov, a product that transformed the way the Department of Justice collects, routes, tracks, and responds to civil rights complaints. As a core member of the product team, Aviva was responsible for the front-facing visual and interaction design of the portal, and helped spearhead empathy-centered practices that defined the project. Taking into account sensitive subject matter and often traumatizing experiences of users, the team focused on designing a service that could communicate in both humane and legally accurate ways, and learned lessons that can be applied far beyond this case study alone.
About the event:
On April 15, FWD50 tackles public sector product delivery—and what might have been at 18FOn April 15, FWD50 tackles public sector product delivery—and what might have been at 18F.
To its users, government is a product. On April 15, you’ll learn how to think like a product manager, starting with a clear understanding of what that user is trying to achieve—and then planning out the roadmap to get there.
Our first quarterly event brings in experts who’ve delivered products at the national level to talk about what they did, the challenges they faced, and the results of their work. All of this year’s online events will run right here on Access.
But that’s not all we’re covering.
Over the years, we’ve welcomed many amazing people from the USDS and 18F—a pioneering digital service lab—to our stage. Late at night on Friday, February 28, 18F was summarily dismantled.
This is the same group that built civilrights.justice.gov, ada.gov, findtreatment.gov, USDA WIC toolkit, foia.gov, wrote a guide to de-risking government technology projects, and defined Federal website standards. It took .gov domain registration from 10 days to 15 minutes, created an FBI Crime Data Explorer, and more.
After years of modernizing government and working with departments to get the most from vendors, 18F’s projects were suddenly halted. The National Weather Service, a Federal Voting Assistance Program to allow Americans overseas to vote, and the widely praised IRS Direct File service were among the projects that came to a standstill.
There’s lots to learn from 18F alumni about what it takes to modernize the public sector. Three of its past directors are on our advisory board.
Given the importance of this topic, we’ve decided to make the April 15 event free to anyone with an approved account on Access.