User Experience Research Community of Practice

The Digital Service Network empowers governments to use human-centered strategies to deliver government services that reflect the needs and expectations of people who use them – we know that user research practices are essential to supporting this mission. 

The User Experience Research Community of Practice (UX CoP) is an open and safe space for learning and connecting with others in government for support, inspiration, and ideas for bringing and strengthening user research within government. User experience research refers to the research government teams do to learn about the people they serve through activities such as interviews, diary studies, usability tests, site visits, and more to inform how governments develop, design, and deploy government products and services.  

The UX Community of Practice (UX CoP) is a closed group that is made up of members of the broader DSN community who are government professionals specifically interested in UX research. This community is not open to people working for private companies or on government contracts. The UX CoP is comprised of +200 members who work in every level of government and are committed to centering people in their work. 

UX CoP members have a:

  • Range of job titles: have many different roles and titles and work within a variety of departments and teams  
  • Range of team structures: some are the only one on teams interested in UX research and others may have several others interested  
  • Range of experience with UXR: some of us are new to user research, others have some experience, and others have been developing their practice for years  
  • Range of backgrounds: training and experience from various fields and lots of wisdom and practical know-how they bring to the community 

What unites us is a common mission to center people in our work and to support each other along the way. If this sounds like you, we encourage you to express interest in the UX CoP.

Join the UX CoP

Community

The UX CoP was created to provide a friendly and helpful space for people working across government to: 

  • Connect and get to know others committed to centering people in their work
  • Learn with and from one another about user research
  • Share stories, resources, and helpful practices that can support in establishing and growing user research in your setting

Why should I join?

Some reasons people join: 

  • To meet and get to know government professionals who get it –the good, the bad, and the ugly of working on government digital transformation – in order to connect and learn from others doing UXR in government 
  • To share and hear lessons and insights about how to bring UXR practices into a range of government settings, including honest conversations about what has worked well and what hasn’t 
  • To share and hear ideas for helpful tools, resources, templates, processes, and strategies for every stage of the research process that you can bring into your government setting  
  • To give and get support, advice, and peer feedback about UXR projects you are currently working on  
  • To get inspired by sharing and hearing stories about big and small wins and successes that you can draw on and share with your teams 
  • To make new connections and find thought partners to explore paths for  overcoming common challenges and working towards developing sustainable UXR practice in a government context

What to expect when joining:

  • Monthly meetings – we meet as a community to connect, learn from, and support each other
    • When: second Thursday of each month @ 12PM PT/3PM ET
    • Where: Zoom (Calendar invite with Zoom information sent once you register)  
    • What is a meeting like?
      • Community-driven agenda for monthly calls
      • Our meetings include activities and opportunities to get to know others in government, share our experiences, challenges, ideas, and learn about user research topics, and offer practical tips – all in service of helping to develop our user research practice
      • Includes some breakout discussions, larger group discussions, and participatory activities 
  • Listserv – we understand you may not always be able to meet and a members-only listserv provides asynchronous connection opportunities to ask questions and share information with the CoP
  • Community Norms – within our community spaces, we agree to adhere to our community norms.