Resources
We’ve collected the following templates, presentations, checklists, etc. as starting points — feel free to contribute to this guide via GitHub and help us keep this list up-to-date!
As indicated below, some of these resources are available only to staff of GSA (General Services Administration) or TTS (Technology Transformation Services).
Research
Research plan. (Google Doc research Plan).
Prompts for planning research. Pairs well with our research planning article.
Research alignment workshop. (Google Doc Research alignment workshop).
A workshop template for publicizing team questions and prioritizing research themes, setting you up to create a research plan that drives maximum value for your team.
Usability test quality heuristics. (Google Docs usability test quality heuristics).
A list of indicators to help you and your team determine if your usability test will produce useful results.
Privacy and informed consent
18F’s Design Research is covered by GSA's Privacy Act Statement for Design Research.
Privacy Act Notice Example. (Privacy Act Notice Example).
Example of a statement to include in your participant agreement.
Please note: you should run substantial customizations by your supervisor, GSA’s Privacy Office, and GSA’s Office of General Counsel.
Design research participant agreement.
Design research participant agreement in Spanish.
Example agreement for people participating in moderated design research.
Note: You can customize this template, but it must include a Privacy Act statement. If the interview is with a Federal employee, or otherwise will not include compensation, the agreement must also include an Anti-deficiency Act clause.
Looking for PRA (Paperwork Reduction Act) information? See the UX Guide Legal page.
Interviews
Interview checklist. (Google Doc interview checklist).
A checklist for planning and conducting in-depth interviews.
Interview guide. (Google Doc interview guide).
An example guide for moderating in-depth interviews with users.
Usability test script. An example guide for moderating usability tests with users.
Interview debrief guide. (Interview debrief guide).
An example guide for teams leading a post-interview debrief.
Findings presentation
Research findings presentation template A starting point for sharing what you learned during a path analysis or discovery sprint. (Report template 1, Report template 2)
Email templates
Stakeholder introduces researcher. (Google Doc: Stakeholder introduces researcher).
An email for stakeholders to introduce and legitimize 18F design researchers to their staff.
Researcher introduces themselves to a participant. (Google Doc: Researcher introduces themselves to a participant).
An email for introducing yourself to potential participants (for example, people who responded to your invitation to participate in the research) and finding a good time for them to participate in a moderated research session.
Researcher sends agreement to participant. (Google Doc: Researcher sends agreement to participant).
An email asking participants to review and sign a participant agreement before they participate in moderated research.
Design
Collaboration
Designers at 18F should work together with other designers or people in our Acquisition, Product Management and Engineering Chapters. Read their pages in the TTS/18F Handbook for more information.
18F/TTS staff can also participate in local communities of practice in by joining (18F/TTS access only):
- Content guild (#g-content in Slack)
- Accessibility guild (#g-accessibility in Slack)
- Research guild (Channel #g-research in Slack)
Requesting help
If you’re in need of a particular skill — help with a presentation or design deliverable; writing and content strategy; or development tasks — 18F staff may be able to provide support. You can request assistance from 18F colleagues for help on non-billable and billable projects in the #18f-help-wanted channel. Each discipline is represented at any time in the channel.
The only limitation is that tasks must typically take fewer than 8 hours of work a week, over no more than 3 weeks, for the person providing the assistance.
Presenting the work
We most commonly share our work via presentations. These presentations can vary widely based on the audience. Here are a few presentation-building tips:
- Utilize our 18F-branded templates found on the 18F brand site to maintain consistency and save time.
- The presentation deck should tell a compelling story and be easy to read. Make sure to include enough content so those not able to attend the presentation can view the deck later and understand what you’re aiming to communicate. Refer to this presentation on How to design a better deck for additional pointers and guidance.
- Check out the Project resources folder for reusable content and templates; browse previous 18F Path Analysis project artifacts [Github] for inspiration; or view the Design wiki [Github] for additional examples.
- Feel free to include references or links to further reading at the end of your presentation.
Tools
General
- GSA TTS Handbook
- 18F Methods
- USDS Playbook
- New Hire README
- Project Start Guide
- List of prior path analyses [Github]
- Project resources folder
- Six weird tips for protecting PII
- Artifacts from design-led projects
- Checklist of requirements for federal government websites
- Quickstart: Intercept (pop-up) research in GSA buildings
Guides
- Project Start Guide
- 18F Content Guide
- TTS Engineering Guide Front-end practices
- 18F Analytics standards [Github]
- 18F Accessibility Guide
- Agile Principles and 18F Practices
- Before You Ship: TTS guide to launching software
- 18F De-risking Government Technology
Presentations
- How to design a better deck
- What is design?
- Introduction to design
- Writing research questions
- Research presentation template
Additional reading
- Digital.gov: Understanding design in 10 questions
- GSA + the Lab@OPM’s Human-Centered Design Discovery Stage Field Guide
- Lab@OPM's HCD Discovery Concept Guide
- Lab@OPM's HCD Discovery Operations Guide
- NYC Civic Service Design: Tools and Tactics
- GOV.UK Service Manual: User Research
- 18F UX Guide References