User Research

There is a rising interest in government agencies to conduct user research in order to understand the needs of their constituents. With this human-centered mindset, many agencies are building up their internal research capacity and looking for ways to institutionalize research best practices into policy and legislation.

It is critical in user research to compensate research participants for their time, effort, and insights — especially when conducting research with vulnerable populations from marginalized communities.

Government officials are navigating complex rules and regulations in order to secure the necessary funds and provide incentives to participants.

Here, USDR outlines multiple ways government officials are navigating complex rules and regulations in order to secure the necessary funds and provide incentives to participants.

Before undertaking updates to its unemployment compensation website, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry engaged USDR to better understand the claimant user experience and propose design recommendations.

The USDR team conducted quantitative and qualitative user research, including approximately 2,600 website survey responses and 4,500 call center calls, and in-depth interviews with 10 individual claimants. USDR’s final report, Unemployment Claimant Research Findings Report, shares actionable insights and proposes recommendations for how Pennsylvania can use user-centered design to improve its website. The team also developed Plain Language Guidelines and example wireframes.

Many of USDR’s recommendations were implemented immediately, without significant investment.

The Boston City Council set out to change passed an ordinance in 2020 to ensure gender inclusivity in all City-issued forms, documents, and certificates. As a part of this initiative, The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement, The Department of Innovation and Technology, and The Registry Department came together to make the marriage registration process for LGBTQ+ people more equitable. (Read the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University’s article on how these departments are collaborating to improve Boston’s gender-based data collection practices.)

Their human-centered approach included:

1. Focus group studies with Boston’s transgender and gender non-conforming constituents (see City of Boston’s report)
2. Process mapping of the marriage registration process
3. Qualitative research with Boston’s LGBTQ+ community members

The City of Boston reached out to USDR to conduct user research and better understand the lived experience of LGBTQ+ people as they submit online applications and then visit City Hall to register their marriage.