Policy and Practice | June 2022

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By Danielle Barnes

Putting People First: Transforming Agencies with Human-Centered Design

S tate agencies have the opportunity and the funding to make lasting change with human-centered design. In brief: n State agencies have an unprec edented opportunity to revamp processes, remove barriers, and transform how they serve people using human-centered design. n For change to be effective, listen to users and employees when defining the problems and considering solutions. n Start the transformation process with a vision and strategy checkup. As the Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Human Services, one of my strategic goals was revolutionizing the experience of accessing and using services for people. And while we came a long way in the years I served the state, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed serious gaps in service delivery and in the meaningful data needed to properly identify and fill those gaps. For example, we knew that we had to pivot to online services during the pandemic, but we still needed to provide services for those without internet access. What we did not know was howmany people would still need in-person services, so we could appro priately staff our offices. We knew that we had to offer online applications for our child care subsidy recipients, but we did not know the volume to expect so that we could effectively manage the change for our employees. We were simply unable, while managing through a pandemic, to take a breath and deter mine if our short-term services aligned

processes to make resources easily accessible for all users and removing barriers. For instance, services should be accessible in many different ways so that users can interface with the agency the way they want to—not the way we think they should. And while regula tions add layers of requirements to processes, there are ways to shield the user from these complexities. The same philosophy is true for state agency employees—agencies must remove the barriers that prevent efficiency. That requires soliciting and incorporating the experience of the people who use the processes every day. Otherwise, what you think creates efficiency may only lead to greater frustration. One day, after hearing dissat isfaction from my team about the application process, I sat with an

with our long-term goals. We were oper ating in reactionary mode—strategic planning had to wait. Now is the perfect time for state agencies to re-evaluate their trans formational strategies and commit or recommit to human-centered design. It is a cliché, but it bears repeating. The world around us has changed dra matically. Are the strategies for change established years ago still relevant? Now is the perfect time for state agencies to re-evaluate their trans formational strategies and commit or recommit to human-centered design. Use human-centered design to prioritize people’s experience. Human-centered design is an approach to addressing problems in services and processes that prioritizes the experience of the people who use it. For state agencies, this means designing

See Putting People First on page 27

Illustration by Chris Campbell

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