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Improving inclusion, continuously: how we iterated on our bot to promote more inclusive and thoughtful language
on November 14, 2022
In 2015, TTS created a Slack bot to help us use more inclusive language. Over time, we found this bot could use some improvements. So starting in 2019, we began conducting research and iterating on our bot to further our goal of a welcoming, inclusive culture.
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Creating a culture of innovation at your agency
on September 12, 2022
When we talk about "innovation" in government tech, what do we mean? 18F surveyed multiple digital innovation groups in cultural heritage institutions and federal agencies on this very question. As an innovation group ourselves, the results both challenged us and strengthened our confidence in the importance of trying new approaches in the government space.
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Tech talks with One OHS
on January 25, 2022
Building cross-system interoperability is long-term work, but the tech talks became an early step in establishing shared understandings and contexts for OHS.
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Architecture Decision Records: Helpful now, invaluable later
on July 6, 2021
An Architecture Decision Record is like a journal entry for the life of your software
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Building product management capacity in government part 3: A day in the life of a new product owner
on May 3, 2021
This is part four in a series of posts about building product management capacity in government agencies. For this post, we chatted with [Yellow Ray]* from DOJ’s Civil Rights Division about his experience as a product owner on Civil Rights reporting portal.
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Long-term teams, not sudden handoffs
on December 3, 2019
Don’t let your agency waste knowledge and opportunity. Instead of planning for a handoff to operations and maintenance, plan for a long-term team. Instead of launching your project and then keeping it running, plan for ongoing development.
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Building product management capacity in government part 2 – Interview with a product manager
on November 19, 2019
This is part two in a series of posts about building product management capacity in government agencies. For this post, we chatted with [Jovial Chipmunk]* of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services about his experience as a product manager on our current project
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Building product management capacity in government part 1 – Our coaching philosophy
on August 22, 2019
This is the kick-off post in a series about building product management capacity in government agencies. The series explores the process of helping agency staff transition into product management roles, from both an 18F and partner agency perspective
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Getting stakeholder buy in for agile development
on December 14, 2017
Transitioning to agile development doesn’t need to be a big, sweeping, organizational change. Here are some tips to make it more approachable and less scary by introducing it in small chunks.
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How to run an efficient meeting
on December 14, 2016
Many people spend a significant percentage of working time in meetings. This blog post digs into how to make that time productive and useful (which sometimes means cancelling a meeting that doesn’t need to happen). We cover time management, room management, presentation style, note taking, preparation, next step management, and more.
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Connecting culture change at 18F and PBS
on December 12, 2016
Designing the workplace is one of many services offered by GSA's Public Buildings Service. In Lakewood, Colorado, the team approaches the task as consultants working with agencies to change their space and the culture to go with it.
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Kanban for government
on August 31, 2016
Some months ago, 18F started playing with kanban as a way to manage and improve our processes. For the 18F Agreements team, adopting kanban has caused a dramatic positive change in how they manage their work.
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In conversation with CFPB’s [Sweet Thrush]*
on November 6, 2015
Last month, content strategist and UX designer [Sweet Thrush]* from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau presented at 18F. Prior to her presentation, we had the chance to chat with [Thrush]* via email about her experience working with different types of content, her predictions for the field, and the collaborative approaches she recommends.
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Content strategy for all: insights from CFPB’s [Sweet Thrush]*
on November 3, 2015
[Sweet Thrush]*, a content strategist at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, recently spoke at 18F about some best practices for creating and promoting digestible, user-friendly content.
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How a two-day sprint moved an agency twenty years forward
on September 9, 2015
At 18F Consulting, we experiment with ways to empower agencies to build cost-efficient, excellent digital solutions. Recently we partnered with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to run a two day “Design/Dev Agile Sprint” to help them modernize their Field Operations Handbook.
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Does 18F pass the Bechdel test for tech?
on March 17, 2015
How does the Bechdel test, originally designed for evaluating works for fiction, apply to technology projects? To pass, a function written by a woman dev must call a function written by another woman dev.
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A story of an agile workshop
on February 11, 2015
The clock was ticking as I stated the single solitary rule: We will have a demo at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 no matter what else happens. No matter if we have to stand up and say we got nothing done this sprint!
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Snippets
on December 17, 2014
18F has begun collecting and publishing team member "snippets," short lists summarizing what you worked on the previous week and what you plan to work on during the upcoming week. Team members submit their snippets each Monday, and they are published internally for all to peruse. Snippets foster transparency and team cohesion, spark productive interactions, and can be cultivated right away using tools already at-hand.
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Large scale development culture change: Google and the U.S. government
on December 11, 2014
18F exists to demonstrate how Open Source and Agile-inspired methodologies are critical to an effective, efficient, modern delivery process. However, driving adoption of these tools and practices throughout the federal government will require more than setting a good example. My recent talk at the GSA, available on YouTube, connects the dots between grassroots automated testing adoption at Google and the challenges facing similar culture change across Federal IT development.
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18F: an open source team
on July 29, 2014
At 18F, we place a premium on developing digital tools and services in the open. This means contributing our source code back to the community, actively repurposing our code across projects, and contributing back to the open source tools we use. For a variety of reasons, we believe that doing so improves the final product we create.
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Hacking bureaucracy: improving hiring and software deployment
on May 14, 2014
When asked what it is we do, one quick answer is, "we’re hacking bureaucracy." While it may sound provocative, it isn’t.
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29 minutes
on March 21, 2014
I want to relate a great little thing that happened here at 18th and F yesterday. At 11am yesterday morning, members of the GSA.gov team, Sarah Hyder and Patrick Son, met with [Nutty Prawn]*, [Endearing Marlin]*, and me to talk about how to integrate FBOpen into GSA's mobile website, m.gsa.gov, on its How To Sell to the Government" page.
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Hello, world! We are 18F
on March 19, 2014
18F is a startup within GSA, encompassing the Presidential Innovation Fellows program and a cutting edge digital delivery team. We’re doers, recruited from the most innovative corners of industry and the public sector, who are passionate about “hacking” bureaucracy to drive efficiency, transparency, and savings for government agencies and the American people.
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