Despite Biden administration reversals to prior policies, Urban Institute data from 2023 shows that many immigrant families, especially those with children or mixed status, continue to avoid benefits amid ongoing economic challenges.
The federal government is working to improve customer experience through human-centered approaches, as seen in the 2021 executive order establishing interagency teams to focus on pivotal life experiences. Lessons learned from these efforts emphasize the importance of embracing risk, fostering partnerships, and keeping end users at the center of the design process to enhance the delivery of government services.
In this brief, they present a definition of HCD that is applicable to the context of human services delivery, differentiate HCD from similar design and problem-solving approaches, and describe how HCD is being used in human services.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
The resource explains how to shift from cultural competence and cultural humility toward cultural responsiveness, by applying the two former approaches to deliver services rooted in respect and appreciation for the role of culture in the individual’s and family’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
DSN Spotlights are short-form project profiles that feature exciting work happening across our network of digital government practitioners. Spotlights celebrate our members’ stories, lift up actionable takeaways for other practitioners, and put the examples we host in the Digital Government Hub in context.
This brief offers a new, anti-racist vision for transforming the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) into a program that actively pushes back against structural racism and advances racial equity and economic prosperity for all families.
The folder for conducting user surveys for the Montgomery County Public Libraries website redesign includes materials such as Homepage Usability Questions and a comprehensive Website Survey. These tools are designed to gather user feedback on the homepage's functionality and overall website experience, helping inform improvements that align with user needs and expectations.
Montgomery County Public Library (MCPL) Digital Strategies Team
This exercise engages participants in selecting the most and least clicked website menu items by marking their choices with stickers, followed by a group review to compare assumptions with actual data. The activity is designed to challenge perceptions about website usage and gather insights to inform future website realignment based on customer needs and strategic priorities.
Montgomery County Public Library (MCPL) Digital Strategies Team
The folder for the Montgomery County Library Website Redesign contains draft materials, including design specifications of the current menu, an audit of menu items, and wireframes for the new homepage layout, providing a foundation for the site's improved structure and navigation.
The Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) website redesign plan outlines how to improve user access to resources through inclusive design and better navigation. It also shares goals of best practices in UX design with the public library community to promote digital equity. The project involves collaboration with the MCPL Digital Strategies Team and other partners, focusing on redesigning content for early literacy, teens, and children.
