Design

Understand how and why design impacts user experience

Guidance, resources, and community to help you use design to create government websites that meet customer needs, work well on any device, and follow federal web requirements.

21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act

21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act

Design: Essential knowledge

  • An introduction to design

    How to design government websites that meet customer needs, work well on any device, and follow federal web requirements.

  • An introduction to design systems

    If your organization needs to ensure compliance with a design standard or align to a brand, a design system can help you achieve those goals more easily than building a site from scratch. Learn how a design system can help you and what you need to know to get started.

  • USWDS design principles

    Earn trust by following consistent design principles.

  • Understanding design in 10 questions

    Learn how the discipline of design can help your agency improve customer experience.

  • Bringing design in-house

    What is design, who are designers, and how can they help your agency? Learn how to build a design team that can help your agency solve “wicked problems” and be more innovative.

Design events

The U.S. Web Design System team will share their exploration of Web Component-based design systems and best practices.
2024
The U.S. Web Design System team will answer community questions and give an update on their work developing web components for the design system.
2024
The U.S. Web Design System team will give an update on their work developing web components for the design system.
Watch Video
2024
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will chat with Center for Civic Design co-founder Whitney Quesenbery about designing accessible civic spaces.
Watch Video
2024
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will go over some basics of Web Components and how they apply to the design system.
Watch Video
2024

Design news

A revised and expanded guide for de-risking government technology projects

18F recently launched an updated version of the 2020 De-risking Government Technology Guide, offering a new section on vendor management, and combining the State Software Budgeting Handbook and Federal Field Guide into one unified resource. The guide offers practical methods for reducing risks in government tech projects, drawing from 18F’s experience and state employee input. This revision reflects the evolving needs of government agencies, providing key insights on custom software development, vendor collaboration, and performance-based contracting.— via 18F

18f logo
Sep 12, 2024

How the Open Data, Design, and Development team implemented state and offshore region navigation pages with hallway testing

User feedback is key to creating great digital products, but limited resources can hinder research efforts. Hallway testing provides a quick, useful solution. By conducting informal interviews, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior gathered insights to improve navigation to state and offshore region pages on the Natural Resources Revenue Data website. After testing prototypes, the best option was implemented, streamlining access white minimizing resource use. The team’s next steps include monitoring performance, evaluating the addition of maps on select pages, and continued hallway testing.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue

doi-revenuedata logo
Sep 03, 2024

A journey of improvement: Creating a self-assessment for digital experience

Memo M-23-22 from the Office of Management and Budget provides guidance to federal agencies on delivering a digital-first public experience. To quantify its compliance with the memo, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior created and conducted a self-assessment of its digital products. The team used a scoring spreadsheet to measure compliance across categories like accessibility, design consistency, and mobile responsiveness. The results helped the team develop a plan to prioritize improvements and engage with leadership for support on other initiatives.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue

doi-revenuedata logo
Aug 20, 2024

Digital front door: Expanding access to VA

More Veterans are turning to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for healthcare and benefits, accessing these services online through tools like the VA Health and Benefits mobile app and VA.gov. With over 2.28 million app downloads and 17.8 million monthly visitors on VA.gov, these digital tools provide faster, easier, and more inclusive access to VA services. Learn more about how these technologies are often Veterans’ first interaction with VA by watching their latest video, Digital Front Door: Expanding Access to VA.— via U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

va logo
Jun 26, 2024

Resources on Design

Tools and Services

  • 18F

    We help government agencies fix technical problems, build products, and improve how government serves the public through technology.

  • Presidential Innovation Fellows

    We help government agencies fix technical problems, build products, and improve how government serves the public through technology.

  • U.S. Digital Service

    We deploy small, responsive groups of designers, engineers, product managers, and bureaucracy specialists to work with and empower civil servants.

  • 10x

    Provides funding for new technology projects or products across government, from the TTS office of investments.

  • DotGov Registry

    We make it easy to register and manage a .gov domain for US-based government organizations.

  • The Lab at OPM

    A team of designers with diverse backgrounds that help agencies address complex challenges and build human-centered design capacity across the federal government.

  • U.S. Web Design System

    A toolkit of principles, guidance, and code that helps agency digital teams build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites for the American public.

  • Directory of services, tools, and teams

    Free and low-cost shared services and tools offered by the GSA and other agencies.

More News and Events on Design

274 posts

The U.S. Web Design System team will share their exploration of Web Component-based design systems and best practices.
2024

A revised and expanded guide for de-risking government technology projects

18F recently launched an updated version of the 2020 De-risking Government Technology Guide, offering a new section on vendor management, and combining the State Software Budgeting Handbook and Federal Field Guide into one unified resource. The guide offers practical methods for reducing risks in government tech projects, drawing from 18F’s experience and state employee input. This revision reflects the evolving needs of government agencies, providing key insights on custom software development, vendor collaboration, and performance-based contracting.— via 18F

18f logo
Sep 12, 2024

How the Open Data, Design, and Development team implemented state and offshore region navigation pages with hallway testing

User feedback is key to creating great digital products, but limited resources can hinder research efforts. Hallway testing provides a quick, useful solution. By conducting informal interviews, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior gathered insights to improve navigation to state and offshore region pages on the Natural Resources Revenue Data website. After testing prototypes, the best option was implemented, streamlining access white minimizing resource use. The team’s next steps include monitoring performance, evaluating the addition of maps on select pages, and continued hallway testing.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue

doi-revenuedata logo
Sep 03, 2024

A journey of improvement: Creating a self-assessment for digital experience

Memo M-23-22 from the Office of Management and Budget provides guidance to federal agencies on delivering a digital-first public experience. To quantify its compliance with the memo, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior created and conducted a self-assessment of its digital products. The team used a scoring spreadsheet to measure compliance across categories like accessibility, design consistency, and mobile responsiveness. The results helped the team develop a plan to prioritize improvements and engage with leadership for support on other initiatives.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue

doi-revenuedata logo
Aug 20, 2024
The U.S. Web Design System team will answer community questions and give an update on their work developing web components for the design system.
2024

Digital front door: Expanding access to VA

More Veterans are turning to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for healthcare and benefits, accessing these services online through tools like the VA Health and Benefits mobile app and VA.gov. With over 2.28 million app downloads and 17.8 million monthly visitors on VA.gov, these digital tools provide faster, easier, and more inclusive access to VA services. Learn more about how these technologies are often Veterans’ first interaction with VA by watching their latest video, Digital Front Door: Expanding Access to VA.— via U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

va logo
Jun 26, 2024
The U.S. Web Design System team will give an update on their work developing web components for the design system.
Watch Video
2024

Case study: Removing barriers to applying for a presidential pardon

At the Department of Justice, Access DOJ and the Office of the Pardon Attorney (PARDON) partnered to simplify and streamline the presidential pardon application process. By conducting usability testing and gathering feedback, they identified key issues with the existing application, such as its complexity and length. See how redesigning the forms to be more accessible and understandable led to a more efficient process for both applicants and staff.— via Department of Justice

doj logo
Jun 06, 2024

Equity study reaches 4,000 participants

Launched last fall, the General Services Administration equity study on remote identity proofing aims to determine if biases exist in the algorithms used for online identity verification. The study has now reached its goal of recruiting 4,000 participants from diverse communities, and experts are ready to begin analysis of the data. Learn how the team at GSA plans to conduct this data analysis, and how their findings will lead to improved equitable services delivery in technology across the government.— via General Services Administration

gsa logo
Jun 05, 2024
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will chat with Center for Civic Design co-founder Whitney Quesenbery about designing accessible civic spaces.
Watch Video
2024

One year with the new USAGov

It has been a year since USA.gov and USAGov en Español were relaunched using human-centered design principles. Using task backlog, the USAGov team has addressed content gaps, improved discoverability, and implemented technical updates. Through usability tests, visitor comments, and click behavior the team was able to unravel and respond to user feedback and unmet needs, leading to noticeable increases in visitor satisfaction and task accomplishment. Moving forward, the focus will shift to enhancing public engagement with the government, improving the search for benefits-related content, and exploring interactive and personalized user experiences.— via USA.gov

usagov logo
May 14, 2024
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will go over some basics of Web Components and how they apply to the design system.
Watch Video
2024

Progress towards delivering a digital-first public experience

Each year, more than 400 million individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and local governments get information and services from about 430 federal agencies and sub-agencies. The Biden-Harris administration is driving a bold vision for how government agencies serve their customers digitally with OMB’s ten-year roadmap for a modern digital experience. Agencies have already made significant strides. Learn about recent successes by the IRS, CDC, NASA, and FEMA, and how OMB will continue to collaborate with agencies to ensure ongoing improvement in digital government services.— via The White House

whitehouse logo
Apr 17, 2024

Justice department to publish final rule to strengthen web and mobile app access for people with disabilities

On April 8, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland signed a final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure the accessibility of web content and mobile applications for people with disabilities. This final rule clarifies the obligations of state and local governments to make their websites and mobile applications accessible. Learn more about this rule and why the Attorney General believes it will “break down barriers that have kept people with disabilities from fully participating in American Life.”— via Department of Justice

doj logo
Apr 08, 2024

18F practices in action (spoiler: this stuff works)

How well do 18F software development practices work? The 18F team reflected on a recent project for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) .gov registry to gauge the effectiveness of six recommendations aligned with what they actually did.— via 18F

18f logo
Apr 03, 2024

How USAGov uses data to improve content

Each month, USAGov’s content designers spend many hours ensuring that the content on USA.gov and USAGov en Español is up-to-date, accurate, and meets user needs. Learn how their team does holistic reviews of each topic section based on a rolling calendar with the goal of updating all content at least every 6 months.— via USA.gov

usagov logo
Apr 01, 2024
Join the U.S. Web Design System team for a lesson on customizing and extending the design system.
Watch Video
2024

Search.gov year in review: 2023 report

Learn what types of information people searched for on federal websites in 2023, see emerging trends the team is exploring to improve customers’ search experience in 2024, and check out three new updates. The data tab provides insightful summaries for 13 popular topic areas—and lists the public’s top 25 search terms, in their own words, for each.— via Search.gov

searchgov logo
Mar 15, 2024
Annual Gathering

Spring 2024 Community Summit

Digital service experts across the federal government will share case studies and best practices on delivering a digital-first public experience.
2024