Discovering the Impact of Human-Centered Design at the IRS
By: Irene Guo
Tags: Civic Digital Fellowship, User Experience Design, Civictech, Design, Government

Discovering the Impact of Human-Centered Design at the IRS

When people think about design and technology, they usually envision the big tech companies. But how could they not? We are immersed in the incredible digital products these companies have created — they are experts in incentivizing us to experience their appealing platforms.

That was my perception as well when I first switched into the design field — I didn’t realize there was another realm of technology: utilizing human-centered design for social impact in civic tech.

You may be asking, what’s civic tech? I, too, was pretty clueless about it a few months ago. Civic tech uses the power of technology to cultivate and enrich communication between the government and the people they serve. This past summer, I had the privilege of diving into this field as a Civic Digital Fellow. This Fellowship provides opportunities for students interested in using their data science, software engineering, product management, and design skills to solve pressing problems in federal agencies. Each Fellow is assigned to a department within a specific agency, where they can best apply their talents.

The Civic Digital Fellowship 2020 Cohort

A Pleasant Surprise

In my case, this meant coming in as a User Experience (UX) Design Fellow for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Since I had very little knowledge about civic tech and limited interaction with the government, I had no idea what to expect. Mentions of the IRS don’t exactly bring up warm and fuzzy feelings — people just don’t like taxes. However, I was ecstatic for the opportunity to apply my learnings for societal betterment — this is what drew me to this Fellowship in the first place.

Thankfully, the IRS welcomed me with open arms on my first day and reassured me of the benefits of coming in with a fresh, open mind. I also quickly realized that the agency had a division within its Office of Online Services (OLS), dedicated to User Experience and Design (UXD). I knew there were other designers in the office, but an entire department? That blew my mind.

Wait — the IRS has a UXD department?

Yes, you read it right! The IRS has an official User Experience and Design office, whose designers improve taxpayers’ processes by establishing a consistent user experience and enhancing usability across all digital products and services.

Throughout the summer, I was able to discuss the agency’s digital products with product analysts and UX analysts; you may have even used some of these services, like Tax Withholding Estimator (TWE), Free File, and Online Account. It was incredible learning the reasoning behind their design implementations — they were explicitly incorporating taxpayer feedback from usability testing sessions and survey data to drive their product development and modifications!

That’s when I recognized how dedicated the IRS is to serving the people, and how they uphold the human-centered design thinking process so deeply within their agency. These designers are determined to dig out pain points with current products to ensure their user’s needs are met. Let’s not forget — the IRS designers are taxpayers too, which allows them to build even more empathy with end-users. This allowed me to take a big sigh of relief and gratitude.