For four years, many have been eagerly awaiting cross-agency action on President Obama’s 2011 executive order streamlining service delivery and improving customer service. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently launched the pilot of Feedback USA to help agencies meet that goal. But, does Feedback USA look like it’s going to be worth the wait? Feedback USA is adding customerRead… Read more »
You have probably heard the concept of human-centered design (HCD) thrown around, but you may be wondering what it’s all about. If you’re like me, you’ve probably searched for ‘human-centered design’ on the internet to learn more. In doing so, you were most likely confronted with a number of results that link to different HCDRead… Read more »
There are far fewer agencies or departments on Instagram than on Facebook or Twitter. And that’s relatively logical if you consider that it is the far more visual platform of the three I’ve looked at so far. But what I love about Instagram is that you don’t have to have amazing pictures (like NASA orRead… Read more »
How technology helps clerks meet public records, agenda and transparency needs
Many Americans are really stressed about one thing right now, and that’s back to school. With about 70 million students expected in kindergarten through college in Fall 2015, everyone’s paying attention to back-to-school messages. Now’s the time to talk to your audiences about how your agency can help them during this hectic period. School administrators and teachers are looking forRead… Read more »
If you somehow haven’t heard of Yelp, it’s a website and app where anyone can review just about anything. People mostly seem to head to Yelp when they’re busting to share their glowing praise or their boiling rage. Now, as announced by DigitalGov, Yelp has a terms of service for official government use. Agencies can claim orRead… Read more »
While we are not in control of the conversation, government workers can still listen and contribute to it. We can seed it with facts and ideas. We can respond to questions. We can be human, even as we maintain a thoughtful and focused public presence. All by leveraging the power of online communications.
Continuing my review of federal agency/department use of social media, this week I’m looking at Twitter (missed the Facebook review last week? Check it out here). After reviewing more than 100 Twitter feeds, I learned a lot. Some agencies tweet too much. I know a lot of that is personal preference, but I find itRead… Read more »
There has been quite a bit of conversation about empathy over the past few years. Studies show its benefits in improving relationships, team dynamics and the social development of our children. At the same time, a body of research reveals that empathy often fails when needed most, like after large scale disasters and with peopleRead… Read more »
New logos are far from easy. Government agencies may feel like they have it easier than global brands are so closely tied with their logos. In our online, social, attention-strapped world, a strong, memorable logo can help an agency connect with constituents, gain credibility, and accomplish its goals. A well-conceived, beautiful logo and a thoughtful process that makesRead… Read more »