The State of (Public-Sector) UX

It’s been said that we are in a period of “late-stage UX,” which has been compared to late-stage capitalism. The theory is that the market is saturated with user experience (UX) professionals who leverage tried-and-true approaches to design instead of pushing the boundaries of creativity, in an effort to churn out more solutions, more quickly, that a disinterested audience will continue to mindlessly interact with. The rationale is that companies do this in the hopes that they will continue to maintain a market advantage. 

While this might be the case in certain private-sector companies, it couldn’t be further from the truth for all levels of government. In fact, the need for UX across the government is continuing to grow. We can look at each of the 5 key areas in support of “late-stage UX” from UX Trends to understand how government is refuting this notion.

1. Automation: AI is both lifting you up and pushing you out. AI is everywhere right now but as most of us know, the government can often be years behind the private-sector tech curve. AI as a major player in government digital technology is no exception to that delay, so for UX professionals, this means the work you do within public-sector projects is still largely decoupled from AI. Obviously, this may change in time but, for now, there is still high demand for real human involvement in the public sector for UX professionals. AI currently cannot replace this need.
2. Saturation: Shrinking teams, shrinking power. Thankfully, this isn’t the case in the public sector! In 2023, the Dept of Veterans Affairs hired over 1,000 technologists. The Dept of Homeland Security has been on a roll, hiring hundreds of designers, researchers and content strategists since 2022. The Office of Personnel Management is attempting to scoop up more than 23,000 technologists in the current fiscal year. Basically, digital teams aren’t shrinking; they’re expanding at a breathtaking pace. Professionals at all levels and across practice areas within human-centered design (HCD) are needed.
3. Commoditization: Designing the conveyor belt. It’s true that government agencies, just like private companies, value the “predictability and safety that come from a radically commoditized design” and tend to leverage design systems, most specifically, the US Web Design System (USWDS). But it takes more than a design system to make usable, accessible and understandable digital experiences. This is where designers, researchers and content strategists come into play. As I mentioned in my last piece, state and local agencies have less than three years to make all of their public-facing digital content and applications accessible. For the majority of offices, this means leveraging HCD experts, particularly those who have deep knowledge of the USWDS, 508 requirements and public-sector digital policy. I predict there will be a surge in interest in bringing in such experts in the coming months in order to meet DOJ’s deadlines across state, local and federal agencies. 
4. Financialization: From user flow to cash flow. Good online experiences are good for business. And for government, especially when agencies are looking for ways to cut costs and increase efficiencies, for both employees and the broader public. In another article I wrote earlier this year, I shared ways to measure customer experience (CX), which are often synonymous with good user experience (UX). Reducing in-person visits, shrinking processing times and alleviating extraneous help desk support tickets equates to financial savings for agencies, which is good for the broader public. Who creates good CX and UX? HCD technologists.  
5. Disintegration: User trust is a finite resource. Government is working hard to earn the trust of the public through initiatives such as Performance.gov, a dashboard tracking the federal government’s initiatives and the Biden administration’s 2021 Executive Order that prioritized federal customer experience improvements to “Rebuild Trust in Government,” among others. All of these efforts show how the government is putting money behind improving digital services to the public, which can only happen when people who best know how to implement such services are involved in the solution. We’re seeing this happen in real time with the new IRS Direct File system, the (hopefully soon-to-be-released) DHS passport renewal system and other high-profile, high public-touch systems, all of which agencies’ HCD approaches have made possible, leveraged by a myriad of digital technologists. 

Even though we’ve seen large layoffs and reduced hiring in the private tech sector, there are so many new opportunities for HCD professionals in the public-sector space. If the thought of leaving the private sector and joining the government (or one of the tens of thousands of organizations who support local, state and federal government) has been something you’ve been thinking about, the time — and the opportunity — has never been better.

Emily Ryan has worked cross-functionally as a designer, full-stack developer and UX researcher to solve a variety of digital issues for public and private sector spaces, focusing on civic tech. She’s worked across start-ups, federal government and consulting agencies. She holds a BFA in Design, an M.A. in Criminal Law and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Government, focusing on technology’s influences and impacts on global democratic movements and free and open elections. In her free time she runs ultramarathons and travels, preferring locations with traditional European holiday markets, walking food tours and modern art exhibits.

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