Author: U.S. Digital Response (USDR)
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Talent + Hiring 
Talent Toolkit
This resource provides strategies, practical examples, and templates for attracting, developing, and retaining a high-performing digital service workforce.
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User Research 
A Gov How-To Guide For Recruiting User Research Participants
The U.S. Digital Response (USDR) developed a guide for recruiting user research participants for user research in a government setting.
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Delivering a Multilingual User Experience for Retroactive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
A state partner needed to reopen applications to claimants who were previously denied benefits and determine if they are eligible to receive retroactive PUA payments. To help combat these issues, the state agency wanted to create a self-guided experience that was clear for claimants as well as reduce load on their call center. The team focused on providing enough contextual information in order to build trust and provide clarity with claimants, and worked to test content and form design before launching the new service in order to preempt and mitigate support issues.
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Human-Centered Design 
Using human-centered design and low-code tech to inform unemployment insurance policy implementation
U.S. Digital Response partnered with the Department of Labor to design a human-centered, low-code solution for efficient retroactive unemployment benefit determination.
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Human-Centered Design 
Discovery Sprint Guide
This guide explains the U.S. Digital Service’s “discovery sprint,” a process by which teams can quickly build a common understanding of the status of complex organization, system, or service.
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Policy 
Six Recommendations for Implementing the Next Stimulus Package
The US Digital response partnered with dozens of states, counties, and cities to support them in using and tracking CARES Act grants. This article presents six lessons learned from their work to help governments better assist residents, particularly small businesses and low-income communities.
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Procurement 
The TechFAR Handbook
The TechFAR Handbook highlights the flexibilities in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) that can help agencies implement “plays” from the Digital Services Playbook, with a particular focus on how to use contractors to support an iterative, customer-driven software development process.
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8 Tips for Governments to Mitigate Call Center Volume
Overwhelming unemployment rates during the pandemic created significant demand for state-based unemployment benefits. As a result of the increased applications, states are also experiencing an overwhelming volume of calls to their call centers. U.S. Digital Response has been working with states to mitigate problems arising from heavy demand on call centers. This article describes tangible steps state governments can take to manage call volume.