Our blog January 2018

Select year and/or month to see the blog entries from the selected year/month.

Using Journey Mapping to Streamline Processes Across Agencies

A group of people standing around a table and a whiteboard in a meeting room, discussing with sticky notes and markers. The table has notebooks, a coffee cup, and a phone, while the whiteboard displays a project timeline with colored notes.

Some people experience challenges navigating government services -- especially if they need to work with more than one agency. Based on this premise, we set out to find out how agencies could share information with one another to improve the customer experience.

To narrow the scope of our research, we decided to focus on one specific task that touched multiple agencies. So we set out to understand and map the path of a newly naturalized citizen attempting to travel abroad.

📅 January 31, 2018

Introducing the Marketing Lab

A row of laboratory flasks containing colored liquids, including blue, green, and yellow, set against a blurred background.

In government, the word “marketing” often carries a negative connotation. But whether you call it outreach or communications or marketing, government often has a need to get key information to the public.

Today, government communicators have more channels than ever to try to reach their audiences. On the digital side, there are websites, social media, email newsletters, and blog posts. And there are of course non-digital avenues like public service advertisements, print publications, media relations and direct mailings.

📅 January 25, 2018

Five Communication Tactics We Used During the 2017 Hurricane Season

A flooded street lined with palm trees and houses, with a stop sign visible, reflecting the water. The image is credited to USA.gov.

In 2017, it was nearly impossible to turn on the news or go on social media without hearing stories about hurricanes across Texas, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

Because the timing of these storms overlapped, new information was constantly coming out about seeking shelter, volunteer opportunities, and other response and recovery efforts.

📅 January 11, 2018