Code for America

Testing digital tools that make it easier for people to break out of the cycle of government assistance.

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challenge

Some folks simply need government assistance, but it’s not a reality that anyone should have to experience for the long term. In this first partnership, Code for America asked for our collaboration to research how we might ease the experience for public assistance participants to update income changes with the county (for assistance programs such as food stamps and Medicaid).

Code for America

process

Desklight worked with the team from Code for America and partners in county human services to conduct design research with digital prototypes to gain user feedback. We tested their live tool in several county offices around the Denver metropolitan area in order to understand how different users might engage with the tool. This feedback was delivered to the Code for America team. New iterations were re-tested, which resulted in progressively simplified digital solutions users and administrators can use when clients apply for, maintain, or transition out of public assistance.

Inspire progress

Outcome

Assistance participants consistently comment about how easy this new digital tool is to use when compared to the current PEAK website. There are fewer steps, verification documents can be photographed from a program participant’s mobile device, and the overall experience is more intuitive. In addition to this partnership, we also collaborated on an initiative to better understand how people thought about filing their taxes and navigating the earned income tax credit. Through user research, we co-created strategic design opportunities to test and refine tax filing learning opportunities in Colorado. Design in the service of humanity... a beautiful thing.

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