5 things I learned leading UX in the Canadian public service
The importance of creating space in government for UX professionals to thrive
In 2021, I was asked to assemble a centralized User Experience (UX) team to lead the design of intuitive digital learning experiences for the Canada School of Public Service’s new learning platform. At the time, our small but mighty innovation team was experimenting with educational technologies to support our organization’s shift to its digital-first learning delivery model. We had recently onboarded the content authoring tool HTML5 Package (H5P) for our learning designers, our Open Learning platform had just been upgraded to the latest version of Moodle that exceeded GC accessibility requirements and we were in the midst of shipping GCshare, our department’s first open educational resource (OER) repository.
Our mandate was simple: reduce the barriers to education for all by designing open, human-centred and accessible learning experiences. We were gaining traction with each passing month, but unbeknownst to us, it would be how we worked that would catch the eye of my executive director more than what we were working shipping.
Our process, inspired by Lean UX and Design Thinking, focused on delivering human-centred outcomes through co-creation with our users and stakeholders. Seeing the results of our hard work, my executive director asked me to re-organize our team and redirect our efforts to support the implementation of a new learning platform that will support 300,000 public servants. Lucky for me, and intentional by design, our team consisted of e-shaped, or multi-talented, individuals who were more than capable of making the switch from broad educational technology innovation to focused UX. So starting last April, we stood up a new team structure divided into three units: Research, Design and Digital Accessibility.
Here are 5 things I learned since last April.
1. People need time to adjust to the UX process
The role of the public service is straightforward. We are here to serve the public. But often bureaucracies, like businesses, get caught following the decision of the HiPPO (highest paid person’s opinion). Marr claims in his article Data-Driven Decision Making: Beware Of The HIPPO Effect!, when this happens “your organization is most likely not relying on data to inform decision-making.” In my case, the HiPPO analogy is not a perfect fit. I have the pleasure of working with many supportive executives who are open to trying new things and for that I am grateful. But the need to improve the way we made decisions related to the design of our digital experiences remained a gap. I felt I had a solution to bridge this gap that leveraged actionable data to achieve the necessary outcomes of our digital transformation: the UX process.
The UX process offers an organization an opportunity to tangibly inform the decisions of its core business through iterative user research and evidence-driven design. I learned quickly that this process will cause an initial shock to the organizational system. Fear not. Give people time to adjust but do not relent. Start with building allies in organizations that are willing to try something new. By tying your deliverables to their objectives people will stop resisting the change and start reaching out when they have a new problem for you to solve.
Perhaps you have already tried this approach in your organization and still hit cultural roadblocks. Lucky for us public servants, there are dozens of departments trying to solve similar problems and chances are one has been successful. As a personal reflection, this is where the GC Design community helped us move mountains. Drawing insights from fellow UX, Web and Digital professionals across the public service fast-tracked the adoption of our ideas. We were able to highlight the benefits from other organizations that used UX research to drive transformation (Thanks CRA!). Pointing to their processes helped ease concerns about what might happen when we follow the data. Be sure to include your process and key consultations when presenting your UX deliverables to senior management as this helps to build trust. Take the opportunity to tell the story of how your work adds value. It will not take long before they show faith in you and perhaps even ask you to apply your methods to other areas.
2. Give yourself an empathy quota
The UX process prides itself on empathizing with people to offer an intuitive, useful and pleasurable experience to your users. I have read countless blogs that all begin with telling individuals new to UX to lead with empathy. However, few share the importance of self-care or the fact that you can only empathize with a finite number of people in a given week. Empathy takes energy. Sometimes a lot of energy. It is necessary to set expectations and boundaries with who you will focus your energy on. You must ensure whatever empathy energy you expend that you have enough leftover at the end of the day for your team, your friends, your family and yourself. A UX transformation is a long endeavour and your health and wellbeing are essential to ensure its successful and sustainable adoption.
What this quota looks like will vary depending on your context and circumstance. It will also likely evolve over time. I have experienced the rush, energy and motivation to push forward and make a difference after conducting a series of interviews with users filled with key insights. I have also experienced my energy completely depleted after listening to and empathizing with stakeholders who refuse to be flexible or consider the needs of our users. So pay attention to your energy levels and make sure you tailor your quota to meet your needs.
3. The public service needs UX
Employee onboarding is one, if not the most important step in an employee's experience with the organization. As Jelinek puts it, the onboarding experience provides new hires with the tools, resources and information they need to be successful.
Onboarding new employees into the public service is a feat in itself. It provides the greatest example of why the public service needs to embrace UX methods, processes and people. Each time we have an incoming team member, I am forced to present them with a barrage of forms and processes asking them for the same information in multiple, redundant formats. This type of service design is bothersome for your average individual, but for an incoming, excited UX professional, it paints an accurate picture of the need to reform the end-to-end experiences of the public service.
Be intentional and transparent with your new recruits from the outset. Use this early opportunity in their public service career to demonstrate the need and potential of their contributions for creating a better organization. Tell them to use these unavoidable and at times excruciating experiences to build empathy for their new user groups. However, do not dwell on the negative aspects for too long since you want them to stay. Share your vision and optimism of a future when onboarding will be fun, easy and seamless. Ask them to provide feedback on their onboarding experience along the way. Use this feedback to improve the experience of the next person. These small but intentional steps will help improve your onboarding over time. They will also serve as an experiential learning opportunity for understanding how far we must go before we reach a human-centred government.
4. Resist the product management scope creep
This one has been a challenge for me as a result of my experiences leading innovation and product teams. UX is both complex and comprehensive. It takes the complicated and makes it simple, accessible and human. UX is important but it is only one part of a larger system.
Product management and the process of moving from waterfall implementation to agile iterative releases represent other forward leaps the public service is attempting to make. They offer the ability to deliver small wins. They create space for teams to pivot early and often as they gather insights from users. Product managers can be tremendous allies to UX professionals by including time, space and resources in their workflows to conduct research, design experiences and then test them before launch.
Like product managers, UXers develop a necessary and intimate knowledge of their products and services informed by empathy and research. As such, they are well-positioned to know what to prioritize and often take on the additional responsibilities of a product manager when an organization does not provide one. This can be a trap. By demonstrating to your organization that you can lead both UX and product management you invite them to ask you to do both. My advice: resist the urge unless they are intentional about providing you with the time, space and resources to manage both responsibilities.
The public service has a much longer way to go before it can fully adopt a type of product management that can account for its political nature. This is due to the type of product management needed to thrive in this space that must be tailored to the public service’s political and bureaucratic complexities. Leave the hard work of transforming from Waterfall to Agile to another keen individual. You will certainly want to help them make space for product management in your organization as it will be mutually beneficial, but be mindful of your purpose. Focus your time and efforts on making space for UX first.
5. The public service does not know how to create space for UX…yet
Functional communities within the public service like Policy, Finance, Communications and Human Resources have entrenched roles, responsibilities and culture dating back to when my grandfather worked for the GC. UX does not. Well, technically it is split across several functional communities. This has two consequences. First, it means you are most likely stepping into another group’s territory. Second, it means you are responsible for more than just your UX deliverables. You must in fact explain to your colleagues and stakeholders what UX is and how it brings value to them and to your organization. Neither responsibility was asked of me during my learning and staffing careers since they were both well-established practices.
I have seen several departments hire an army of UXers only to see them leave too soon. In my interactions with UXers who joined the GC and then quickly left, they told me their main reason for leaving was an absence of space to integrate their knowledge, skills and abilities in their organization’s workflow. Many departments design and prototype their new digital experiences directly in code, so when a UXer presents a new, better or quicker way to test an idea, they are often met with extreme resistance. And since the development team may ultimately be the implementation team, they need not listen nor adjust their work to incorporate the ideas of the UXer, even if the ideas save time and improve outcomes.
UXers are motivated individuals with optimistic views of the future and a desire to help shape it for the better. UX is typically our second or third career. We left fame, glory and money, to join a good cause in the public service as a way to create space for a better future. Yes, we are dreamers! It is necessary for organizations to take the time and create space for us so that we may become part of a healthy workflow. The private market is constantly looking for motivated UX professionals since we help improve their experiences. For a business, the quality of its products and services has a direct impact on its brand and revenue. The private sector is also willing to compensate at rates that the current public service chooses not to compete with. So if a department’s environment remains unchanged, you can bet UXers will easily find a more enticing opportunity.
But what does it mean to change or create space? For this I draw upon a simple phrase from my colleague Aletheia Delivré: “the public service must be intentional, deliberate and thoughtful about reshaping organizational design, practices, structures and cultures to retain UX. This is necessary to retain UXers driven by a passion to create social impact through our work.”
Parting thoughts
I want to leave you with a bit of optimism. I have really enjoyed my time shaping my team and working with my organization to integrate UX methods, processes and people. We are on the cusp of shipping our first major deliverable and I cannot wait to see people’s reactions. But what we ship pales in comparison to how we ship. The relationships we have made as a team and the changes we have started by (re)introducing UX into the department give me hope for a better GC. I look forward to our launch and sharing those new insights with you in the future.
PS. A few keen individuals have started meeting to discuss our UX work across the GC (and beyond). Please reach out if you are interested in sharing your experiences as a UXer or if you have any questions. You can reach me on LinkedIn.
Take care for now!
Antoine Bedward, Ph.D.
