18F/18f.gsa.gov

---
title: "Human-centered design for IT centralization, part 5 - Centralization gone right: A case study on the U.S. Web Design System"
date: 2019-05-21
authors:
- erin-strenio
- amy-ashida
tags:
- 10x
- it centralization
- best practices
- web design system
excerpt: "This is part 5 and the last post in a series on the importance
of human-centered design when evaluating IT centralization. Learn
through a case study how The U.S. Web Design System came together to
create a centralized design tool that allows agencies to build
consistent digital experiences quickly and at a reduced cost."
image: /assets/blog/uswds2-launch/interfaces.png
---

*This is part 5 and the last post in a series on the importance of
human-centered design when evaluating IT centralization. As part of a
[10x](https://10x.gsa.gov/) project, we've synthesized 18F's learnings
from agency partners who’ve been through centralization efforts before
and have wisdom to share. The series explores how and why taking the
time to prioritize users will mitigate risks and yield services that
work better for the people they serve.*

In this case study, we’ll explore an example of a centralization
success. To write this case study, we revisited the process the USWDS
team used to create version 1.0 and interviewed them about what has
happened since the original launch.

Federal websites are the front door to government services. They’re
often the first thing you encounter when interacting with the
government. With nearly 30,000 U.S federal websites and almost no
consistency between them, it was crucial to create a centralized system.
This would allow agencies to build consistent, effective, easy-to-use
digital experiences quickly and at a reduced cost.

<figure>
  <img src="{{site.baseurl}}/assets/blog/it-centralization/uswds-centralization-research-meeting.png" alt="A group at USWDS brainstorming using sticky notes to gather ideas"/>
</figure>

-   The challenge: To create visual consistency across the nearly 30,000 U.S. federal websites in order to save the government considerable time and budget on design and development resources
-   The outcome: [U.S. Web Design System](https://designsystem.digital.gov/) - a centralized tool that’s free and accessible for all federal agencies
-   The impact: Agencies save on resources (estimated savings: $100,000 per project that uses USWDS) and the American public has a much better experience interacting with consistent, easy-to-use government services

Since USWDS launched in 2015, **over 180 government projects have adopted
USWDS**. Pretty awesome, right? From the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, government teams are coming
together to set a new bar for federal websites and prioritize user
experiences thanks to this robust shared tool. We can estimate that
agencies are saving around $100,000 per project on design and developer
resources when using USWDS.

Now consider a pre-USWDS world: let’s say a young veteran named Joanne
is applying for federal student loans. Joanne has to wade through
multiple agency websites to access federal programs to help her afford
college. But Joanne is overwhelmed by how hard these tools are to use,
ultimately missing opportunities and feeling frustrated. The system
that’s supposed to help her instead stood in her way. Creating
consistency across federal systems helps people like Joanne access
services they need and increases their trust in the government.

A team of designers and developers from 18F and USDS, along with other agencies
(Department of Education, U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
and USA.gov) went to work unifying a complex web of different
interfaces, navigation tools, colors, fonts, and other visual identities
with the goal of creating one centralized shared tool.

Here are some important lessons the USWDS team learned along the way:

## 1. Empower your team

You’ll need a dedicated group to work on your centralization effort as
well as support from leadership to give you the air cover required to do
this work. It should be as important as any other project.

Start by forming a multidisciplinary team. For many IT centralization efforts, this will mean bringing together expertise from IT, security, operations, and your developers. You’ll also want someone to fulfill the
role of project manager and product owner to guide the project and
prioritize the right goals. When you give people a stake in the system,
they’ll feel invested to use the service and contribute back, increasing
your chances of success in the end.

## 2. Reinvent the experience, not the wheel

Find time for your team to gather together and answer two basic
questions: 1) where are the problems? and 2) are these problems
solvable? Find out if there are common needs and themes across different
teams. Talk to people who will actually be using the centralized service
or system and find out: what aspects of the service are required to do
your job?

For the USWDS team, this meant coming together to build early consensus
on 1) what already existed in the design inventory and 2) what the team
wanted from a new system. Team members wrote down all the parts that
already made up federal websites and brainstormed ideas for new
features, clustering ideas on a wall and grouping them together to find
common patterns.

You may find that some of the simplest themes and patterns will come up
again and again. Make sure you give people the opportunity to come
together and build consensus early on.

## 3. Look for duplication of efforts

Where is your team repeating efforts across different tools and
services? Where are you wasting time? What takes the longest time or is
the most challenging? Where does friction arise?

<figure>
  <img src="{{site.baseurl}}/assets/blog/it-centralization/uswds-buttons.png" alt="Different size and color buttons on a white background"/>
</figure>

For the USWDS team, this meant asking: Do we really need 32 different
shades of blue? And do we need 64 types of buttons? Probably not.
Surfacing and categorizing duplication of efforts across different
components allowed the team to see the inconsistencies among government
websites as well as what they all had in common.

## 4. Prioritize certain areas of focus

There are many methods to help a group prioritize areas of focus. One of
the simplest methods is [dot-voting](https://methods.18f.gov/discover/dot-voting/). Allow the group to vote on different issues or themes that are most important to address first to help you rank priorities.

For the USWDS team, dot-voting helped the team figure out 1) which areas
to start working on first and 2) which design styles they favored most
when developing a new system. They even put their ideas on GitHub to
solicit feedback from a wider range of government employees who weren’t
in the room in order to incorporate outside feedback.

## 5. Start small and iterate fast

Figure out what your core needs are, prototype them, and get to testing!
Bite off small chunks and start iterating right away. That’s how you’ll
find out what’s missing and what needs reshaping before you start
investing too much time and resources — it’ll be a much heavier lift to
rebuild later. Start with a limited set of components that will give you
real answers right away. Guidance will come once you start putting these
out in the world and into people’s hands.

## 6. Don’t work in a vacuum

Once your products are ready to test, find the right people to test them. Who will actually be using the service? Let them guide your decisions as you evolve the project. It’s better to get your work out early even if certain areas are still unfinished or rough around the edges. As you build products and test them with real users, you’ll have more guidance on where to go next, allowing you to make improvements more efficiently and effectively.

## 7. Reuse when it makes sense to, but not all the time

It’s great to see how other agencies have solved problems and reuse when
you can, but know that *their* solutions are solving *their* problems.
Each agency should be mindful of its unique mission and unique needs
across teams. Individual problems may need an individual approach, and
that’s fine. Don’t fall into the trap of “this is what a design library
should look like” or “this is what an HR recruiting system should look
like” just because another agency is doing it a certain way.

## 8. Be your own cheerleader

Get teams excited about the centralization effort! Talk about the value
they’ll get when using the new service of system. In the case of USWDS,
the added value was: consistent, beautiful, user-friendly design with
accessible interfaces that will save agencies time and money. Now that’s
pretty excitement-worthy, right? Be your own cheerleader and users will
be more likely to invest in your service.

## 9. Be centralization-flexible

Nobody likes when new rules and processes are forced upon them. Instead
give people opportunities to access centralized services when it makes
sense to, but also leave some room for customization.

In the case of USWDS, there was some tension between the standardization
and customization of design standards. USWDS was never intended to be
prescriptive — instead it’s a robust resource providing a foundational
design language.

Ultimately the goal of centralization is to create a tool that helps
users get to where they need to go more quickly, and in some cases,
users will need to customize to get there. Leave space for this.

## 10. Offer multiple feedback outlets and stay chatty

Give people a variety of places they can reach out to you, whether on
GitHub, Slack channels, email accounts, a help desk, or other
communication lines.

One way USWDS stays in touch with users? They have a standing monthly
call that serves as an open forum for agency partners to join and hear
more about what’s going on. (How great is that?) This is a chance for
the USWDS team to share updates and allow any community members to speak
up with feedback.

USWDS also shares their roadmap publicly so everyone knows what issues
they’re paying attention to and which ones they’re not paying attention
to (and why).

## Conclusion

The most important bit of advice we can offer? When embarking on a big
centralization effort — and the USWDS was one big beast of a project —
invite your users to participate throughout the process and make it
their own. Only when people have a stake in the system will they feel
invested to use it and contribute back, making it more dynamic,
versatile, and able to stand the test of time.

*Read more about how USWDS was built on the 18F blog [here](https://18f.gsa.gov/2017/10/03/building-a-large-scale-design-system/). Special thanks to Maya Benari and Dan O. Williams for contributing their wisdom to this post!*