├── README.md ├── approach.md ├── projects.md ├── sample-agenda └── 90-minute.md └── sample-interview-questions.md /README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Path Analysis Resources 2 | 3 | So you've been assigned to work on a path analysis. Congratulations! These short, eight-week projects are designed to better define a partner's problem, understand the current state, and come up with a path forward. They're different from projects where we're trying to figure out _how_ to build a thing. The purpose of a path analysis is to answer _what's going on_ and _what should the partner do next_. 4 | 5 | We've written up specifics on [how to run a path analysis](https://github.com/18F/path-analysis/blob/master/approach.md). 6 | 7 | Check out the [previous path analysis projects](https://github.com/18F/path-analysis/blob/master/projects.md). 8 | 9 | ## Templates 10 | 11 | _These templates are internal tools, and access is limited to 18F staff._ 12 | 13 | - If the primary goal of your Path Analysis is to help partners address a specific problem, you may prefer to use [Path Analysis Report Template 1](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DBgwnnHuvR2fAojOwjP8gZ3_jA9pEAGRRKOnmH69d0s/) (make a copy first!). This is a flexible template, with space for findings and recommendations. 14 | - If the primary goal is to deliver a complete, holistic strategy to address a broader need, this template may be a better fit: [Path Analysis Report Template 2](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mohw86sAoNrwZ6MnIMlX8420IkFWV2kPkB4a_XwbCm8/) (make a copy first!) This template uses an Objectives and Key Results (OKR) structure to emphasize high-level strategic objectives and key success metrics while complementing them with lower-level tactical activities. It also organizes findings into higher-level and lower-level findings. 15 | 16 | ## Public domain 17 | 18 | This project is in the worldwide [public domain](LICENSE.md). As stated in [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md): 19 | 20 | > This project is in the public domain within the United States, and copyright and related rights in the work worldwide are waived through the [CC0 1.0 Universal public domain dedication](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). 21 | > 22 | > All contributions to this project will be released under the CC0 dedication. By submitting a pull request, you are agreeing to comply with this waiver of copyright interest. 23 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /approach.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Path Analysis Approach 2 | Once the agreement has been signed, you can start billable work on the project. The steps in the project will probably look something like this: 3 | 4 | 1. [Meet with Account Management for the internal handoff](#1-meet-with-account-management-for-the-internal-handoff) 5 | 2. [Draft a problem statement](#2-draft-a-problem-statement) 6 | 3. [Kick off the project](#3-kick-off-the-project) 7 | 4. [Gather data](#4-gather-data) 8 | 5. [Communicate your progress](#5-communicate-your-progress) 9 | 6. [Write the final report](#6-write-the-final-report) 10 | 7. [Identify further work](#7-identify-further-work) 11 | 8. [Conduct a postmortem](#8-conduct-a-postmortem) 12 | 13 | You may notice that this document is not very prescriptive: it doesn't tell you what to do each week or how to do it. If you're working on a Path Analysis, it's up to you to design the project to fit your partner's needs. Path Analyses are **incredibly flexible by design**, because we want teams to have the space to adapt quickly to what they learn. This is both a challenge and an opportunity — and if you need help navigating it, reach out to your account manager or lead/supervisor for support thinking through how to approach your project. 14 | 15 | ## 1. Meet with Account Management for the internal handoff 16 | The account manager (AM) for this project has been involved since the very beginning. They likely attended the initial business development meetings and probably helped draft the interagency agreement (IAA). The first thing that'll happen is the AM will schedule a meeting with the 18F members of the team to go over what they know about the project and hand off any background documents that you should review prior to the partner kickoff meeting. Get familiar with what the partner originally contacted us about and how they described their needs and expectations. Understand what we sold them and how that is articulated in the statement of work. 17 | 18 | Once you've had the internal handoff meeting, start thinking about how you want to use the kickoff meeting. Will it be a 90 minute meeting? A day-long working session? Figure out what's going to be the best use of people's time and what you'll need to get started. Some teams have found it useful to do some stakeholder interviews prior to the kickoff meeting and use the time to talk about what they heard. See this [sample interview script](sample-interview-questions.md) to help get you started. 19 | 20 | It may be happen that you are asked to do work or attend meetings with the partner before you have had an internal handoff or kickoff meeting. Please remember to wait until the internal handoff meeting or kickoff meeting, if you're not doing pre-kickoff stakeholder interviews, before starting work on the project. 21 | 22 | ## 2. Draft a problem statement 23 | The problem statement should be a short, 2-3 sentence description of what problem the partner is trying to solve. You should be able to apply the 5 "W"s (Who, What, Where, When and Why) to the problem statement. It should not suggest a solution. If you need some help creating one, see Dan Brown's article on [How to Build a Problem Statement](https://medium.com/eightshapes-llc/how-to-build-a-problem-statement-d1f21713720b) or this [TTS Problem Statement document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GjzpUHQZGWG8lEzg8ZAMqRG3tZhaw_V010OUnt9yKeI/edit#) with different types of problem statements with examples. 24 | 25 | The problem statement may need to be modified over the course of the project as you learn more, but having it prior to the first meeting with the partner will help make your understanding explicit and will reveal discrepancies between your understanding and the partner's. 26 | 27 | ## 3. Kick off the project 28 | The main purpose of the project kickoff is to make sure everyone involved is aligned on the goals of the project and on what will be delivered at the end of the engagement. Regardless of how long they're scheduled to run, you'll probably feel like there's not enough time to get to everything. Spend as little time as possible, if any, explaining how 18F works so you can focus on getting what you need to start the project such as agreeing to a reasonable scope of the path analysis and identifying stakeholders and user groups to interview. You will likely be able to conduct some of these interviews at the workshop itself by talking to relevant stakeholders and users (if you are on-site with the client.) Set expectations beforehand and make sure that the right people are available, and that you set aside some time to conduct these interviews. 29 | 30 | By the end of the workshop, you should have alignment on a clear, manageably scoped problem, a good start on user and stakeholder interviews, and the beginnings of a strategy for the engagement. You should also have a clearer idea of what specific skills you will need to help you complete the path analysis. Make it a point to request more staff or a different staffing composition if you determine that additional skills are needed. 31 | 32 | See these sample kickoff agendas for different timeframes to get you started: 33 | 34 | - [90-minute agenda](sample-agenda/90-minute.md) 35 | - Half-day agenda 36 | - Full-day agenda 37 | - Multi-day agenda 38 | 39 | Also it may be helpful to articulate the deliverables as goals or objectives rather than pieces of work or solution. That gives you more space to discover what might be the best path forward for the partner. 40 | 41 | ## 4. Gather data 42 | The approach will vary depending on the project, but may look something like this: 43 | 44 | - Week 0 -- Do the internal handoff and any pre-work for the kickoff 45 | - Week 1 -- Kick off project, schedule interviews, revisit staffing if needed 46 | - Week 2-3 -- Conduct interviews, collect data 47 | - Week 4 -- Check in with partner to share initial findings, conduct any remaining interviews, revisit the problem statement if necessary, do a mid-project retro 48 | - Week 5 -- Analyze findings, start writing the report/presentation 49 | - Week 6 -- Present final report/presentation 50 | - Week 7 -- Incorporate partner feedback into the final report, run a project post-mortem 51 | 52 | Remember, you can start the report/presentation at any time or alter this schedule as needed to fit the shape of your engagement. Most projets will have both a slide deck and a paper, consider the slide deck the movie trailer, and the paper the script. 53 | 54 | While this is an 8 week project, you'll likely need to restrict the data collection part of the engagement to two weeks or so. Scheduling participants takes a lot of time. Analyzing interviews takes a lot of time. If you try to do more interviews than you can fit in two weeks, *you'll run out of time and budget very quickly*. Keep in mind that the point of a path analysis is to get a better understanding of the partner's problem. Go broad, not deep. You can (and should!) suggest additional work to delve more deeply into the issues you uncover here. It is not recommended to interview more than 12 folks. 55 | 56 | At the same time, however, there are usually delays in scheduling interviews in the vast majority of projects. So do all you can to encourage your partner to help contact potential interviewees as quickly as possible. Then prepare for the case that scheduling still spills over into week 2, for instance, which may push interviews into week 4. 57 | 58 | It may be important as part of your engagement to determine how ready the partner is to [undertake a procurement](https://handbook.18f.gov/acquisition-engagement-types/) to begin to address some of the problems identified. You can deepen the understanding of how ready the partner is by using some or all of the following questions as part of your data gathering activities: 59 | 60 | * How do they currently buy software? What are their current contract obligations (if any)? 61 | * Is the procurement office open to doing things in a new way? (e.g. Publishing RFPs on Github, using smaller project scopes, requiring open source, engaging new, non-traditional vendors) 62 | * What are the FAS vehicles (if any) that the partner could potentially use? 63 | * What barriers might the partner face around procurement? (e.g. are they required to use a certain contracting vehicle? Are there limitations on contracting vehicles based on the type of buy or funding?) 64 | * What are the procurement office's deadlines? How long does it take to issue a solicitation? How long do solicitations remain open? What is the average time to award a contract? 65 | 66 | As you gather data, make sure to bring the partner along as you synthesize it into findings and recommendations (blog post: [Getting partners on board with research findings](https://18f.gsa.gov/2018/02/06/getting-partners-on-board-with-research-findings/)). 67 | 68 | ## 5. Communicate your progress 69 | Partners will be a lot more invested in what you recommend if they understand and buy into your findings. What you *don't* want to do is keep the partner in the dark about your findings and recommendations until the final presentation. Don't aim for the Big Reveal. You're not a magician. 70 | 71 | There are a few primary ways we do this: 72 | 73 | - **Meet with the partner regularly** (at least weekly) to discuss what you're working on, share insights, and ask questions. Get clear early on about what meeting tools will work for everyone, and use video calls if possible. Include partners in stand-ups. 74 | - **Send a "Weekly Ship:"** a quick report emailed to the partners at the end of each week. Here's the [Weekly Ship template](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ulPzFvBLunXm3MD0xL8nPzlJDOoFJbNLPo0Sl6ph99Q/edit), an example of a [Weekly Ship doc](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uWNqM_2I3i1-UAysYxXt9C3UN_892sJoeeUV0z6wPhM/edit#heading=h.lg378il4ug92), and [the Weekly Ship origin story](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tdbh_rmIsRgMEBQXh5x6fVAAE4ajUHj8eZ2eFF4acO0/edit#). We also share Weekly Ships in #the-shipping-news Slack channel, so we can see what's happening across projects. 75 | - **Plan a mid-project review** with the partner after your research sprint to communicate progress, initial observations, and update the project brief as needed. If you've been meeting weekly, this may be a short check-in, but it's helpful to take stock and make sure you're still aligned on the focus and goals. As you create presentations and begin to share ideas, follow [presentation best practices](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SwWADPsr_rDlHRaga7mFwY-F4vvrU8dfcmL9Sbbd364/edit) to ensure you're being concise and compelling. 76 | 77 | ## 6. Write the final report/presentation 78 | You can start writing your final report/presentation on day one of your path analysis, if you choose. You can start documenting notes and other items that may begin to frame out your paper. 79 | 80 | The [PA report template](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DBgwnnHuvR2fAojOwjP8gZ3_jA9pEAGRRKOnmH69d0s/edit) offers lots of structure and advice to work with, even before you begin the drafing process. You can restructure this report as you see fit to be tailored to what the partner needs. For example, if your partner wants next steps up front, you can move actionable items to the beginning of the paper. 81 | 82 | **Aim to share your report — or at least its content — with partners well before the last week of the engagement, so they have time to react, ask questions, and clarify.** You don't need to wait until the whole report is fully baked before sharing; the more you can share initial recommendations and insights as you go, the better. Work with the partner to come up with recommendations that will work given the agency’s resources, culture, and priorities. 83 | 84 | A couple of tips to consider as you write: 85 | 86 | - **Write for all your potential audiences** - They likely include both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 87 | - **Tie your recommendations to your findings** - Best practices are great. So are your informed opinions. But findings are what you actually observed. It's a good idea to find out whether the partner agrees with your findings before you start working with them on recommendations. If not, is there some context you're missing? Is the way you're articulating the finding not resonating? If you have a finding the client acknowledges but that isn't a priority for them, it's probably better for you to spend your time on recommendations for findings they do care about. 88 | - **Make sure your recommendations address your problem statement** - If they don't, either rewrite them so they do or rewrite your problem statement. 89 | - **If there's more work for 18F, say so** - We want to recommend what we truly believe to be in the partner's best interest, not what's in our own self-interest. But if there's further work to be done, and 18F is in a position to do it, we need to connect those dots for the partner by saying so explicitly in the Next Steps section of the report. If the next steps for the project include a procurement, call this out and talk about potential options for the partner to procure a digital solution. 90 | - **Ask for help from the Writing Lab** - The Writing Lab can help you write, organize, and edit final reports and slide decks. They'll meet with you to go over expectations and the type of help you're looking for, and you don't need a full draft in order to get help. [Submit an issue](https://github.com/18F/writing-lab/issues/new) to get started, or ask in the #writing-lab Slack channel. 91 | 92 | ## 7. Identify further work 93 | If you've waited until after delivering the final report to talk about further work, you've waited too long. Although the further work *happens* after the report, you'll want to raise the issue of potential work much earlier in the process. 94 | 95 | Does the partner need to build a prototype to validate assumptions with their end users? Do they need to better understand a particular workflow before moving on? Do they need to undertake a procurement? Talk to a user group we didn't cover during the PA? And is 18F in a position to help them? Then start talking about this at the mid-point of the project. Explicitly call these out in Next Steps. 96 | 97 | Here's a resource for you to understand [what services TTS offers](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mnckFQsZQfC4WLjvqbYtMM-6DCWqhaCuUSOkpwjtJIY/edit#heading=h.rulyhvfb83pn). 98 | 99 | ## 8. Conduct a postmortem 100 | We want to make sure we get better at this with each project we do. Once the path analysis is over, find someone outside the project to facilitate a postmortem. This could be your account manager if they are accustomed to doing it. What went well, what didn’t and why, and what needs to change next time? Drop a summary of your findings in the #postmortems channel in Slack. Check out the [postmortem template and instructions](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bW-EBOZeEWJAIlcJdEEilzF4RmEzwezEBvIOZkzlHxI/edit?pli=1) 101 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /projects.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Path Analysis Projects 2 | 3 | _Please note: many project deliverables are links to internal documents, and access may be limited to 18F and partner agency staff._ 4 | 5 | ## Template 6 | 7 | #### Name of Path Analysis [Tock code] 8 | - Date: 9 | - Team: 10 | - Summary: 11 | - Theme: 12 | - Deliverables: [readme], [final report], [project folder] 13 | 14 | ------ 15 | 16 | ## Past Path Analysis projects 17 | 18 | - [Cabinet-level agencies](#cabinet-level-agencies) 19 | + [Department of Agriculture](#department-of-agriculture-usda) 20 | + [Department of Commerce](#department-of-commerce-commerce) 21 | + [Department of Defense](#department-of-defense-dod) 22 | + [Department of Health and Human Services](#department-of-health-and-human-services-hhs) 23 | + [Department of Homeland Security](#department-of-homeland-security-dhs) 24 | + [Department of the Interior](#department-of-the-interior-doi) 25 | + [Department of Justice](#department-of-justice-doj) 26 | + [Department of State](#department-of-state-state) 27 | + [Department of Veterans Affairs](#veterans-affairs-va) 28 | - [Independent agencies](#independent-agencies) 29 | + [General Services Administration](#general-services-administration-gsa) 30 | + [National Science Foundation](#national-science-foundation-nsf) 31 | + [National Institutes of Health](#national-institutes-of-health-nih) 32 | + [Social Security](#social-security-administration-ssa) 33 | + [Environmental Protection Agency](#environmental-protection-agency-epa) 34 | 35 | ## Cabinet-level agencies 36 | 37 | ### Department of Agriculture (USDA) 38 | 39 | #### USDA / Food & Nutrition Service (FNS) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Path Analysis [#782](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/782/) 40 | - June 2018 41 | - Team: Nikki Zeichner, Roger Ruiz 42 | - The Food and Nutrition Service within USDA is working on building a workflow and information management system to streamline SNAP key business processes related to State waiver and policy questions processing. Understanding how to best move forward with the workflow information management system will help FNS support State modernization efforts to provide efficient customer service, targeted benefit delivery to those most in need of food assistance, and application of consistent program requirements that reduce improper payments. 43 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1XyQ-wQompkiZBGm93X_UY7xiRmOG7mL7), [final code evaluation](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1XyQ-wQompkiZBGm93X_UY7xiRmOG7mL7), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/15z2JFJG2Ygt8AxyAZaIXxFeZrg8JmaCH) 44 | 45 | ### Department of Commerce (Commerce) 46 | 47 | #### Commerce / GEMS Path Analysis [#875](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/875/) 48 | - July 2018 49 | - Team: Mike Gintz, Fureigh, Olesya Minina, Mark Hopson 50 | - Help the Department of Commerce move successfully towards the build or acquisition of a Commerce-wide grants system that will replace their current system, which is not an effective tool for all of their grant-making bureaus and which has technical flaws that would be impractical to fix. In the process, introduce DOC to agile working methods and help them utilize the GEMS project as a catalyst for building an agile culture. 51 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kooL7aORn5-dkhCu7-SS1IdpWYVr8q86ha2NBY9yQQA), [supporting documents](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cGaWUWfoe2Gdr0PIF1tEvU9SDRXGiYw9), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mIUXK5Ki3K3_8yevTjpZlzip27OELn0R) 52 | 53 | ### Department of Defense (DOD) 54 | 55 | #### Army Research Laboratory Path Analysis 56 | - March 2019 57 | - Team: Kathryn Connolly, Andrew Dunkman, Eleni Gesch-Karamanlidis 58 | - Help the ARL make a plan to efficiently and transparently share open source software within legal requirements, that doesn't feels top-heavy to researchers. This will likely move to an E&I. 59 | - Deliverables: [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1Zo17ROlhuShs7JO0NbMIA29frsFqEbP2), [final presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Xvy0XHopTqUbRcSxUmf5bQySDQXhYV4d8qQRMeWpOuU/edit#slide=id.g4eb21fd7af_0_178) 60 | 61 | #### National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), GEOINT Services Path Analysis [#1059](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1059/) 62 | - March 2019 63 | - Team: Waldo Jaquith, Stephanie Rivera, Mark Hopson, Vicki McFadden 64 | - Analyze product management and procurement practices and provide recommendations. 65 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1No7v3Fz7abcWILu4HnAq6OH4hocuHRk3cYusQhSMjyU/edit#) 66 | 67 | #### Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) Center Operations Online platform (COOL) Path Analysis [#950](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/950/) 68 | - September 2018 69 | - Team: Uchenna Moka-Solana, Julia Lindpainter, Stephanie Rivera 70 | - COOL is nearly 20 year old, custom-built application that Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) uses to manage flight operations and store information related to line scheduling, flights, and individual pilot training. We assessed the current system and delived a high-level roadmap for modernization. 71 | - Next: In June 2019, we began an E&I project to build the first step of this roadmap on cloud.gov. 72 | - Deliverables: [final process/practice presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17lCbMelZO0in3eTurIRkhUaMqWvf2_9s7pCIclvsExg/edit#slide=id.g453eaf8ac7_1_862), [final roadmap presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Z01NMTCdvJ_MDx9hBZWHi6zMmVrsfU1m227BtneB_UI/edit?usp=sharing), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gTYYTFy1P8TNBmKX0sgcGe0q7TAEiGRa) 73 | 74 | #### Air Force, Business and Enterprise Systems Path Analysis [#1125](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1125/) 75 | - November 2019 76 | - Team: Peter Rowland, Miatta Myers, Waldo Jaquith, Ron Bronson, Olesya Minina, Vicki McFadden 77 | - Provide leadership with advice on how to adopt and strengthen modern information technology (IT) practices – such as agile development, user-centered design, product management, DevSecOps, and complementary acquisition strategies – to deliver value to end-users more rapidly. 78 | - Deliverables: [path analysis report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jcmq0enajuKKITAPBXkApC_eCNFvdcGfrJMc-lAyLiM/edit?ts=5dcc7e40#) 79 | 80 | #### Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Cyber Training Ranges Foundation Engagement [#778](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/778/) 81 | - May 2018 82 | - Team: David Kane-Perry, Eddie Tejeda 83 | - The Cyber Missions Forces have reported difficulty accessing training resources provided by cyber ranges. Timely access to cyber ranges and required training are crucial for ensuring that cyber teams are prepared to respond to increasing cyber threats. 84 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/18SXu6SxUqmOJ07reaavpMI4tnPSNhc1jMu34M9SLuTI/edit?ts=5afb3077#), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1LMnwXL3voTPsTlGLOX4VJxrV1QN-S4Ht) 85 | 86 | #### Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) Path Analysis [#915](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/915/) 87 | - August-September 2018 88 | - Team: Eddie Tejeda, Cordelia Yu, Kathryn Connolly 89 | - The Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) provides travel support and information to Department of Defense (DoD) Service members and civilian staff. We helped develop a strategy for their main website based on key user needs. 90 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AmdPUki2t33t5PZjLZQ4do-YOUloEISAFjQfqOY2tGg/edit#), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-BeA3L0JpS45uOVeA673UddOBlXGMznh) 91 | 92 | #### U.S. Air Force Recruiting Services Path Analysis [#784](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/784/) 93 | - June 2018 94 | - Team: Andrew Suprenant, James Hupp 95 | - Assess the current state of the Air Force Recruiting Information Support System-Total Force (AFRISS-TF) and develop a high-level vision for a more modular and mobile-friendly system. 96 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W7sAvftbq7mKltg_et_hfEDpZSAs74kwqyzS4-INrzI/edit), [final presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11EGm1abVPiR2HAYAu7FHmMw6_ya20bq-FWDepQTBBaQ/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/15_hzcako6YoYnSl_0apZHuLhLVpLTLkS) 97 | 98 | #### U.S. Air Force Kessel Run Enterprise Path Analysis - [#973](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/973/) 99 | - March - June, 2019 100 | - Team: Brian Fox, Abbey Kos, Ryan Hofschneider, Michael Cata, Mark Hopson, Miatta Myers, Stephanie Rivera 101 | - The US Air Force (USAF) is embarking on an ambitious initiative to transform the way it builds and delivers software for its military operations. It has created an organization to focus specifically on this transformation, called Kessel Run, and is rapidly growing its efforts here to deliver value in a user-centered agile fashion. Outside of the agile workshops, this is the first of at least 3 PAs with the Kessel Run team. The main focuses will be: Operating and scaling the multi-region cloud infrastructure platform (based on Cloud Foundry), Paving the path to production for applications, Migrating applications at scale, and Product and project management. 102 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Mz1PV9iF_8Qi9zBVCw5lSA5usq6seGSWv3Uxv6ctDOY/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0AKfEVr3wzXS5Uk9PVA) 103 | 104 | #### U.S. Air Force / Center-Ops Online (COOL) PA [#950](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/950/) 105 | - September-November 2018 106 | - Team: Stephanie Rivera, Mark Headd, Uchenna Moka-Solana, Julia Lindpaintner 107 | - COOL is a custom built application initially developed for a particular office at the Air Force. With the increased platform use, there is a need to make improvements to ensure scalability across the Air Force. In preparation for evolving COOL, AFMC requires a better understanding of the current state of the system, its supporting processes, and user needs, in order to develop a vision for an improved flight operations management system. 108 | - Deliverables: [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1alIU3h0Ayrv2kZ2f7nQYTIrXA7tWVhRw), [final presentation](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bUsCU9WNxpf5hhXllV8s2pQi21_7PBOU) 109 | 110 | #### U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) - Logistics and Planning PAs [#940](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/940/) 111 | - underway 112 | - Team: Michael Antiporta, Mark Headd, Sarah Eckert, Ryan Aheard, Torey Vanek 113 | - The Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics (DC I&L) is looking to improve its logistics operations, plans, policies, concepts, exercising staff supervision over joint and Marine Corps logistics matters, logistics manpower matters, logistics analysis, mobility, lift requirements, sustainability productivity, material readiness, logistics information systems, security assistance, fiscal matters for appropriate division sponsored programs, and coordinating the logistics aspects of prepositioning programs. 114 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iOOaNU0MXnZsNiW1Nl539g3_wSWceSnc1mVHWcP9_xY/edit?usp=sharing), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q3fxPn2rbe0v2-uhzfxfnVgbIySOqiGB) 115 | 116 | #### U.S. Navy Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Path Analysis [#903](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/903/) 117 | - July-September 2018 118 | - Team: Andrew Suprenant, TC Baxter, Kathryn Connolly 119 | - Improve the quality of the data NAVAIR HR collects and manages through better data modeling to inform the use of predictive analytics, allowing the command to better identify past trends and better plan for the future, ultimately strengthening hiring and retention forecasting to better serve Navy and Marine fleets. 120 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UGNp-ue8GsFXwZ5VGjNiIkUtvtxttoAi9UdXjKtDOo4/edit#), [final presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MO_lrPBIa0mYc8dfQJrpXy_IYNTRf1RTAAIy3M8YzSY/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1Zi8TiYQBV21oXyCYRQf2eXoKE0mXHEqQ) 121 | 122 | #### National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), GEOINT Services Path Analysis [#1059](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1059/) 123 | - March 2019 124 | - Team: Waldo Jaquith, Stephanie Rivera, Mark Hopson, Vicki McFadden 125 | - Analyze product management and procurement practices and provide recommendations. 126 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1No7v3Fz7abcWILu4HnAq6OH4hocuHRk3cYusQhSMjyU/edit#) 127 | 128 | #### U.S. Army Research Lab Path Analysis [#1076](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1076/) 129 | - April - May, 2019 130 | - Team: Andrew Dunkman, Kathryn Connolly, Eleni Gesch-Karamanlidis 131 | - US Army is looking for help in establishing a better process for releasing software as Open Source across the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). ARL is hoping to re-engineer the current process in way that satisfies legal and regulatory policies while not being too much of a burden to follow for users and stakeholders. In addition to the process itself, ARL is interested in the identification of some tools and technology that could best support the new process. 132 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tceAboGCsFFMy-Xp6XyDgnVJvNwoWtJaRr1ZIxC3gTQ/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1SRYo9DZ1JzZxlWjimuFk5PV-tvUN6e0p) 133 | 134 | ### Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 135 | 136 | #### HHS / Medicare Appeals Path Analysis [#953](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/953/) 137 | - October-December 2018 138 | - Team: Tiffany Andrews, Jennifer Damis, Andrew Burnes, Randy Hart,Hannah Kane 139 | - HHS lacks adequate visibility into, and control over the state of individual Medicare appeals claims and the backlog as a whole due to the fact that multiple agencies are involved throughout the process. 140 | - Deliverables: [final presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14WqYBsL8M_yf-S3xlu0XYBGUdSoVh-oWEl42-ZwAluY/edit?) 141 | 142 | ### Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 143 | 144 | #### FEMA Office of CIO 145 | - October 2018 146 | - Team: Lalitha Jonnalagadda, Mike Gintz, Mathew Caughron, Ben Peterson, Mark Hopson 147 | - The initial request was to explore ways to improve cybersecurity performance, but the PA unvieled several obstacles to a head-on approach and switched focus on strategy for cloud migration. 148 | - Next: E&I engagement for cloud migration 149 | - Deliverables: [PA report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/192P69ZMAsFwxf6bFmZdzZAR5QVJRmmIcoevjshAcofM/edit#slide=id.g49f50ed019_0_0), [PA project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13UvbQNqVHDf4FPmsisn04C4Em-umllqj) 150 | 151 | #### DHS / TSA U.S. Air Marshals Foundation Engagement [#597](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/597/) 152 | - October 2017 153 | - Team: Melissa Braxton, Jacob Harris 154 | - Analyze the current state of the Mission Scheduler Notification System and create a strategy and roadmap around how TSA should move forward. 155 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dhQJZHwXlEe6IRly_jgkx2__HHiMLBwZiAsyd8wuN6Y/edit?ts=59dee222#heading%3Dh.htsst8wozsne), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B5C7q7Z6FNh9MjItRFE5RnhUWWM) 156 | 157 | #### DHS / Federal Protective Service (FPS) Financial Revenue System Foundation Engagement [#590](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/590/) 158 | - September 2017 159 | - Team: Brandon Kirby, Jon Carmack 160 | - Identify a strategic roadmap that will clarify and align the revenue management systems’ various user and stakeholder needs. 161 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oT8K8lHb786GuWEix8G_7CrqUWTxnJM12XgLtUajaE8/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B7HrEbLy1aMQbjA2OEtfM0trYWM) 162 | 163 | #### DHS / FEMA Foundation Engagement [#578](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/578/) 164 | - August 2017 165 | - Team: Michael Cata, Laura Ponce 166 | - Conduct user research and assess their workload forecasting challenges; make the Workforce Analysis Tool more user friendly. 167 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mQOFi1P3MzTzIYOJ4iyBjNi-H0OWdi_AkbJs9qMxLXc/edit#slide=id.g24b041f5be_0_233), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B1iVxB_cv5hZR0FkMHRKY1QzVFk) 168 | 169 | #### FEMA OCIO Modernization - [#951](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/951/) 170 | - September - December, 2018 171 | - Team: Mat Caughron, Mike Gintz, Mark Hopson, Lalitha Jonnalagadda, Ben Peterson 172 | - FEMA is responsible for coordinating responses to a disaster that has occurred in the United States that overwhelms the resources of state and local authorities. To better fulfill that mission, FEMA has created a strategic plan that provides a framework for supporting the United States before, during and after disasters. Part of the strategic plan is for the FEMA OCIO to create a program roadmap for modernizing FEMA’s cybersecurity program and producing an analysis that would determine the acquisition requirements for the FEMA IT Risk Management Program. As a result, FEMA intends to procure a solution through FAS in order to more effectively plan and modernize their cybersecurity and IT Risk Management program, with the ultimate aim of delivering a federally compliant Risk Management program. 173 | - Deliverables: [Final Presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/192P69ZMAsFwxf6bFmZdzZAR5QVJRmmIcoevjshAcofM/edit), [Project Folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13UvbQNqVHDf4FPmsisn04C4Em-umllqj) 174 | 175 | ### Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 176 | 177 | #### Centers of Excellence (CoE) + HUD Path Analysis [#967](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/967) 178 | - September 2018 179 | - Team: Olesya Minina, Victor Udoewa, Brian Fox, Eleni Gesch-Karamanlidis, Andrew Dunkman, Ashley Owens, Rebecca Refoy-Sidibe, 180 | Miatta Myers, Peter Burkholder 181 | - This was an atypical PA. Initially, CoE asked 18F to help kickoff their new partnership with HUD and lay a strategy for how to best approach positioning five different CoE teams. The team and objectives split multiple times. One sub-team worked to create a plan to modernize the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Insurance Origination Network of Applications (FIONA) application but encountered blockers. 182 | - Next: The Acquisition Team is supporting the HUD team through some purchases. 183 | - Deliverables: [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1hEqSZcoLVFgPNz1BNcS-ftKhwyzBeUWZ) 184 | 185 | ### Department of the Interior (DOI) 186 | 187 | #### Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) / Harvest Surveys Foundation Engagement [#587](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/587/) 188 | - September 2017 189 | - Team: Alex Pandel, Ric Miller 190 | - The paper surveys of the annual activities of licensed migratory bird hunters are inefficient, tedious and often contain errors. FWS wants to automate this process to make it easier for their staff to collect information, enable hunters to report better data and decrease errors. 191 | - Deliverables: [readme](https://docs.google.com/document/d/195j01IFUkzQ34d3HAiD-VdnA1Fn_rrqR2VtUVLZ_4rM/edit), [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wfJn0Svbn189D4wmBquYt35alqi1awlNni0wHrhoZFk/edit#), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B66nw3kJR0r8TTJtSTVKcTRTNm8) 192 | 193 | #### DOI / Office of Natural Resources Revenue Data Services Foundation Engagement [#564](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/564/) 194 | - July 2017 195 | - Team: Corey Mahoney, Jeremy Canfield 196 | - Prepare DOI for full ownership of the Natural Resource Revenue Data website by providing documentation, knowledge transfer, infrastructure transfer, transformative activities, and ongoing support and feature development via pairing in order to help facilitate the ownership transition. 197 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t-c80p7jnvf74srNqbEi00gJ7UbkKsjLJU7DuIvsFwU/edit#slide=id.g1f9751b7dd_0_203), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B_FgIWl2WPMEMDF5ZzN5UWE3aUk) 198 | 199 | ### Department of Justice (DOJ) 200 | 201 | #### DOJ 9/11 VCF Claims Review Path Analysis [#1170] 202 | - Date: December 2019 - March 2020 203 | - Team: Ann Morey, Joe Krzystan , Mark Hopson, Olesya Minina 204 | - summary: 18F worked with the DOJ VCF team and leadership make better decisions through better data and building sustainable, flexible, and easy to use processes and tools that empower staff and claimants so VCF staff and claimants can get what they need out of the program. 205 | - Theme: Legacy system transformaiton, encapsulation, claims processing 206 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SiCuPnE2ZeShnn3K4rHYBr9OrA8Hhg4LkGOz7r4wk5Y/edit#slide=id.p), [Running weekly ship](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y-Vx5R8PIVcmMoVGwYYtEy34IjBi8E_3D9LWQetWptI/edit), [post mortem](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aZVuYSY4coyClQE0bNL1GN1H7fImOSNrFCh0VOKbE8s/edit?pli=1#heading=h.z4ro83s8fm92) 207 | 208 | 209 | #### DOJ-CRT Knowledge Management Path Analysis [#1182] 210 | - Date: January 2020 – March 2020 211 | - Team: Colin Murphy, Amanda Costello, Olesya Minina 212 | - Summary: 18F partnered with the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (DOJ-CRT) to understand how CRT employees can better access and navigate information and guidance within the division. Over ten weeks, 18F worked to identify key problem areas to create a roadmap for prioritizing and addressing knowledge management challenges. 213 | - Theme: Knowledge Management, Justice Domain 214 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JiyoVNdzBwNygxX7woYFh-tHPh15sPrHq0ZQvCd4T3o/edit#), [Internal 18F README](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JiyoVNdzBwNygxX7woYFh-tHPh15sPrHq0ZQvCd4T3o/edit#), [post mortem](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uQeCJ-AO2Qs3hWm12RjmtYITrCVDeVhEjGHsmwofmbg/edit?pli=1#heading=h.z4ro83s8fm92) 215 | 216 | #### DOJ / Civil Rights Division PA/E&I [#1051](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1051/) 217 | - December, 2018 - February, 2019 218 | - Team: Olesya Minna, Uchenna Moka-Solana, Nikki Zeichner, Jacklynn Pham, Aviva Oskow, Rebecca Refoy-Sidibe 219 | - The Civil Rights Division works to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans and enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, disability, religion, familial status, and national origin. Currently, when citizens believe a civil rights violation has taken place, they can submit a complaint to the Civil Rights Division in a variety of ways including phone, email or website. The current process and accompanying website for filing complaints is not intuitive or user friendly and causes confusion for the citizen. It also leads to time-consuming, manual effort by the internal DOJ staff that need to take action quickly on the claims. On the citizen side, there is no unified or clear method for finding information and submitting claims to DOJ. On the DOJ intake side, there are many manual, disparate processes for routing and addressing the claims, making the review and decision process labor-intensive and inefficient. 220 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1B0Okn6pGyatD4M5QqKHiNGXPvKK4YLdA), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1iWlPK3lQBAP6fXIaP6Th6WYsEgCyor1L) 221 | 222 | #### DOJ / IT Functions [#923](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/923/) 223 | - September 2018 224 | - Team: David Corwin, Aviva Oskow, Jacklynn Pham, Tim Spencer, Nikki Zeichner 225 | - Investigate whether there are opportunities to increase efficiency, improve customer experience and reduce cost by consolidating select IT functions across three litigating components and the Justice Management Division (JMD). The three litigating components involved are the Civil Rights Division (CRT), Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), and the Tax Division (TAX). 226 | - Deliverables: [github](https://github.com/18F/doj-it-pa), [team folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mSU-qq0-Jghv2i95diA01d2ICSEz_6Rn?ogsrc=32) 227 | 228 | #### DOJ / Digital Transformation FY17 [#474](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/474/) 229 | - December 2017 230 | - Team: Nikki Zeichner, Ed Mullen 231 | - Investigate creating the Data Ingest and Analytics Resource Center (DIARC) to integrate policies, processes, services, and technology into a shared service that is accessible to all litigation components. 232 | - Deliverables: [readme](https://docs.google.com/document/d/14A4sr626EKFpdObQkn3vfxBOPmSrKu9EnTKoaaLasW0/edit), [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-8nze2Vu-LiI_tgKZE_YyU98w75yo7zqRO_zT0_LsEc/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B2MQdLyPsR4JM18yOXNWRjNaUGs) 233 | 234 | ### Department of State (State) 235 | 236 | #### State Operations Center Path Analysis [#798](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/798/) 237 | - June 2018 238 | - Team: Brandon Kirby, Kara Reinsel 239 | - Complete a current state analysis of elements of the Operations Center’s work and create a strategy and roadmap for how the State Department could move forward to modernize Operations Center processes and technology specifically related to knowledge management and information dissemination, and a high-level strategy for future state interoperability across all Operations Center systems. 240 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oHZA5gBfY1l7skHCIkfvAyQK1MCbCH6wCCk7w4RmiH8/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LkQE0mlQnXHXq3pvgn_k-CffFhd3X8DK) 241 | 242 | #### State Department / Diamond Tracking Foundation Engagement [#748](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/748/) 243 | - March 2018 244 | - Team: Porta Antiporta, Vraj Mohan 245 | - Assess the problem space around the current website, database and data needs 246 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1svjmi0nURpRLyRr2O59fOo5zqVpIi4n4b5EdgAXhv-E/edit#heading=h.e8nss3dsefeh), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1k5-ySsRUI0LynYif_bxfUvqJfuai4lMb) 247 | 248 | ### Veterans Affairs (VA) 249 | 250 | #### VA / Inquiry Routing and Information System (IRIS) Foundation Engagement [#527](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/527/) 251 | - May 2017 252 | - Team: Jeremy Canfield, Mark Trammell, Robert Sosinski 253 | - Take a comprehensive inventory of VA’s Inquiry Routing and Information System (IRIS) alongside the many other systems 254 | Veterans use and VA representatives work with. Build a roadmap for integrating IRIS and similar systems functionality into a more unified and effective veteran information support system. 255 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B1bszTx6T0szUEdZNHlUNC1waDQ), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B8uvRFgNv6TAbGtJMFUya3Nma2s) 256 | 257 | ## Independent agencies 258 | 259 | ### General Services Administration (GSA) 260 | 261 | #### Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) / Commercial Platforms Foundation Engagement [#758](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/758/) 262 | - April 2018 263 | - Team: Michael Cata, Brandon Kirby 264 | - Define a high-level vision and roadmap for improving the federal purchasing experience. 265 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ganft6g1jvChCiqCEABT4ZRX8523IvkDc6N4-YFKuN4/edit#heading=h.nfi7i0o0xz2c), [final presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VtPsmFP0f_FakW-ePs1PanlE0V-npSqMRE2zsjYUhoU/edit#slide=id.g35e4b9e59b_0_203), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1St7ki-y6kEU9QvsbV75VgtRsstG0XXZU) 266 | 267 | #### Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) / Integrated Awards Environment (IAE) Migration Foundation Engagement [#762](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/762/) 268 | - April 2018 269 | - Team: Porta Antiporta, Jon Carmack 270 | - Analyze the current state of IAE’s systems, review past documentation, and create a strategy and roadmap around how OSM should move forward with the migration of IAE’s system into a new environment. 271 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QPmBna_RAyINxJGvmB8tWzCVX0mxBHQfEWEaA3hUxYA/edit), [final presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1R8CuF6mGUoorgM25vOZQCUywjV9050DlTdvbwmVRtRA/edit#slide=id.p), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1GkffL55wW4uTFXTB6Gf0W0MTV45Vy0j5) 272 | 273 | #### Office of Products and Programs / Performance.gov Foundation Engagement [#663](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/663/) 274 | - November 2017 275 | - Team: Victor Udoewa, Eddie Tejeda 276 | - Assess the archived Performance.gov and create a product vision and roadmap for a new, modernized Performance.gov 277 | - Deliverables: [readme](https://docs.google.com/document/d/18FBZ0yDos77KLRLOTVUU3hCA_oFczxJlHSIKgl3gwNY/edit?ts=5a99b58f), [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TFh3r3Cdd_wiCuli1rpY4RkkMXfYXIfXCS2fv7B5o7o/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0Bykd9KmMpACXRUl2RDdGZjNucFk) 278 | 279 | #### Office of Products and Programs / Agency-wide Content Delivery Foundation Engagement [#647](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/647/) 280 | - October 2017 281 | - Team: Tim Jones, Andrew Maier 282 | - Assist OPP with market and user research, roadmap a vision for which roles TTS could effectively take on to help agencies with their content delivery needs. 283 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v0IaGPTh981ZsBYOTCdo2CVy0IxJnzWO7-3HS2RMGDI/edit#), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B_SvrGV09nQ-V2NxSFhjUGs5LWs) 284 | 285 | #### OCIO / GAMS Foundation Engagement [#588](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/588/) 286 | - September 2017 287 | - Team: Nikki Zeichner, Amos Stone 288 | - Examine GAMS as a test bed for researching the current access management systems in place; research various modern authentication methods currently used in the commercial sector. 289 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pP0LNUzoi_ZESMW2HRR-si0pzVn8kPDduIWI1wxUj1o/edit#heading=h.n9x70772ub7u), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B6M8a_9TXx6HcjZqdDVERk5xeFk) 290 | 291 | #### Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) / SWID Tag Repository Discovery [#562](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/562/) 292 | - September 2017 293 | - Team: Nikki Zeichner, Melissa Braxton 294 | - Investigate the best way to build or acquire a repository for tracking government software licenses and their identification tags. 295 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/12mefUAsK5PZ0BvKIqrY3hDhym6xeKrRqMd2dgxA7T90/edit#heading=h.3tid87unl71h), [presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1llthw2my1PgOQNguwwQvSLiazabnF1yvbecpa5c6RH0/edit#slide=id.g1f6a537e68_0_455), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B6M8a_9TXx6HODNsckdDYkJRYWM) 296 | 297 | #### Office of Products and Programs (OPP) / USA.gov Consolidated Permit System Foundation Engagement [#536](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/536/) 298 | - June 2017 299 | - Team: Michael Cata, Nick Brethauer 300 | - Learn more about the problem landscape as well as assess the viability of building a service to improve the user experience of land-use permit requests. 301 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xwZmmCDvOKzzMEnaglql99NhwQEnp34vRNRIIUz0Lhc/edit#slide=id.g1f55217fec_0_372), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B_n2YScccqDXemRHOVZtcU9FdFU), [project repo](https://github.com/18F/FFD_landuse) 302 | 303 | #### Office of Products and Programs (OPP) / Small Business Grant Foundation Engagement [#528](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/528/) 304 | - May 2017 305 | - Team: Ric Miller, Carolyn Dew 306 | - After inheriting BusinessUSA, USAGov wanted to identify opportunities to improve how small businesses interact with the federal government. We set out to better understand how small businesses interact with the federal government, directly or indirectly. We focused on federal grant dollars that are awarded to state or local entities, and which are then issued as contracts with specific small or disadvantaged business requirements. 307 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://github.com/18F/OPP-BusinessUSA-research/blob/master/small-business-discovery-handout.md), [project repo](https://github.com/18F/OPP-BusinessUSA-research) 308 | 309 | #### Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) ITC / Memo Compliance & Value Application Foundation Engagement [#517](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/517/) 310 | - April 2017 311 | - Team: Cyd Harrell, Michael Cata 312 | - How can GSA help client agencies painlessly integrate IT guidance from OMB, and would this compliance guidance act as a compelling value-add service for GSA customers? While OMB guidance is confusing, this wasn't a burning user need. What they and their COs really wish is that GSA would make it easier to find vendors who can meet their specific requirements. 313 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kigDq4JX_JVbAHaxaeDH-YtsgmbdRrvdB5fOtGeSfxk/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B1iVxB_cv5hZTG9UNGVaTENEQVE) 314 | 315 | #### Office of Products and Programs (OPP) / Social Security Number (SSN) Foundation Engagement [#493](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/493/) 316 | - January 2017 317 | - Team: Cyd Harrell, Ric Miller 318 | - Assess the current environment of privacy-protecting citizen identifiers and demo the existing proof of concept of the Program Unique Identifier Initiative developed by OPM. Stopped the project after three weeks because there was no existing proof of concept and the partner wasn't ready to work with us. 319 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cts4OmwY8kEIMvgWF3bhR4hTBZgwczufptKEBz450D4/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B15x0N-o0ueNTENxTlBPYllWcGc) 320 | 321 | #### 18F / OSC Web Presence PA [#948](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/948/) 322 | - August - November, 2018 323 | - Team: Ron Bronson, Jeffrey Durland, Austin Hernandez, Corey Mahoney, Olesya Minina, Eleni Gesch-Karamanlidis 324 | - OSC is responsible for providing enterprise web governance, developing agency strategy standards, policies, procedures, and guidelines applicable to web content and the presentation of that content. OSC also facilitates implementation of agency decisions concerning online content and its presentation to the public and monitors the overall branding and content integrity of GSA’s digital presence. GSA’s various websites hold a variety of content that spans federal regulations, acquisitions, public building services, e-commerce systems, and other various GSA products and services. Currently, users have difficulty navigating disparate GSA websites and finding and understanding information, which makes it challenging for GSA to serve different customers and users efficiently. In addition, OSC would like to update and modernize GSA’s overall web presence to provide for a more comprehensive and unifying experience for GSA’s many different users. 325 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wEoAvw3l7lpKPO4C1okH73ki76qvYJA7PrRYVvF4FcQ/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1FDgdHRZCTT0JVEfck21Z65ZSW-IEckBP) 326 | 327 | ### National Science Foundation (NSF) 328 | 329 | #### NSF Site Redesign Foundation Engagement [#515](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/515/) 330 | - May 2017 331 | - Team: Brandon Kirby, Corey Mahoney 332 | - NSF wanted help figuring out the future of NSF.gov: redesigning it to meet user needs, choosing and implementing a new content management system, and moving to the cloud. This foundation engagement aimed to help make this ambitious project successful by identifying risks, blockers, strengths, and opportunities, then recommending a roadmap for how NSF can approach this project to mitigate those risks. 333 | - Deliverables: [overview](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cpD9buNqmrbgtXeM8uoYMC98A8Nf2WwXJD59SRIyAFs/edit#), [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19pKR5a4aunJZd0lXWcK64h2dGZvcUZP7LlLfLY3A4iE/edit#slide=id.p), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B_FxR36sJSlCRE9vU1NrTzVQSm8) 334 | 335 | ### National Institutes of Health (NIH) 336 | 337 | #### National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Pharos Path Analysis [#1056](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1056/) 338 | - December 2018 - February 2019 339 | - Team: Kathryn Connolly, Jessie Posilkin, Aditi Rao 340 | - Identify and coach the NCATS team in ways they can improve the user experience of their public applications, using Pharos as a pilot example. 341 | - Deliverables: [readme](https://docs.google.com/document/d/17AA-RYGlJUcL8wXZq16B7rZ88PzaHFa1DLh__ku81GA/edit?ts=5c596adc), [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HW4IfZTMdYmd2VpWG8_Bmcfc7UrBitT2Byrb9pDYHbM/edit#slide=id.p), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12yQhB-ehPrWcR4UdvbBoX69fDlAvNHq8) 342 | 343 | #### National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Biomedical Translator Path Analysis [#1074](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1074/) 344 | - March-April 2019 345 | - Team: Kathryn Connolly, Jessie Posilkin, Aditi Rao 346 | - Conduct stakeholder interviews and generative user research for Translator, a new NCATS initiative which aims to facilitate biomedical researchers' ability to make connections across research and data from multiple disciplines, to help them more quickly identify new treatment opportunities for diseases. The results of the research informed directions for Translator's initial design, user experience, and data and API strategy in the E&I. 347 | - Next: This project rolled into a Experiment & Iterate phase. 348 | - Deliverables: [readme](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tjbmuYzM49zKTNIx3EQOpWS8ndTh2EbjhRJLt7V-A-c/edit), [initial discovery findings](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jxdzf-jqeAK92PXvFosK3HQjQnRFQItJdcENZvHokP8/edit#slide=id.g617789f9c1_0_0), [final user research findings](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CqbkTGDgYpHztc2Ksic-pH97xlUAmz891DZGcngSDfQ/edit#slide=id.g617929a700_0_217) (both were used to kick off the E&I), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OMBlJjqFRkHuV_zmhGO3ztZZUGNYWTxb) 349 | 350 | 351 | 352 | 353 | #### NIH / PubMed Foundation Engagement [#754](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/754/) 354 | - March 2018 355 | - Team: Victor Udoewa, Andrew Maier 356 | - Conduct user research in order to identify a potential roadmap for user-centered improvements to PubMed.gov and NLM literature offerings in general. 357 | - Deliverables: [readme](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W2-SbeepLxEv9LfXjFelDg8u_6CxkMIY7wZZTDDh-wc/edit?ts=5a99b796), [final report](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1d7Rjme9tv5sQi9PMDPMv7Cmww4T-R3IuuUMmNm4iGfM/edit#slide=id.g35d13d9c9a_0_1349), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1jPGVD44o3LoHlWI1KabzLBJe4SbhafNN) 358 | 359 | #### National Library of Medicine (NLM) / Clinicaltrials.gov Discovery [#514](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/514/) 360 | - May 2017 361 | - Team: Angela Colter, Melissa Braxton, Austin Hernandez 362 | - Provide recommendations on how the National Library of Medicine’s ClinicalTrials.gov could better serve the needs of its users. 363 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/10GxdXC3g9uOW3v8nCQYbs-sMgljhGxu1XQhVj9pL1us/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B5gljoqLY5hqWFlWTmNRbk80Rm8), [project repo](https://github.com/18F/clinical-trials/wiki) 364 | 365 | ### Social Security Administration (SSA) 366 | 367 | #### SSA / Disability Case Processing System (DCPS2) Path Analysis [#901](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/901/) 368 | - August 2018 369 | - Team: David Corwin, Eleni Gesch-Karamanlidis 370 | - SSA is seeking to identify the best technical solution for centralizing disability case processing. Determining how an internal disability case processing system (DCPS2) currently stacks up against commercially available alternatives, will help SSA determine whether to continue building or buy. 371 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iqXwOsYDSC5BOvpHt_xVyqzIZK3QsNq6yskfJw45lCU/edit), [project folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1ln7PFz4hhzPbzQRnSbXcn7MS_mEenZQS?ogsrc=32) 372 | 373 | ### Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 374 | 375 | #### EPA / Emissions [#1062](https://tock.18f.gov/projects/1062/) 376 | - April - June, 2019 377 | - Team: Nikki Zeichner, Kathryn Connolly, Andrew Suprenant, Lalitha Jonnalagadda, Ryan Hofschneider 378 | - The EPA’s Clean Air Markets Division (CAMD) runs regulatory programs that protect 379 | human health and the environment by reducing air pollution from power plants. A major 380 | part of its responsibilities is to gather data related to power plant emissions and to make them available to a variety of different users. To do this, it maintains multiple systems to manage input and output of data. These systems run on outdated technologies and have poor integration with each other. The vendors that manage them seem unable to help 381 | CAMD transition toward human centered design practices and cloud hosting for its applications. 382 | - Deliverables: [final report](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1w06ldQsOH96K4snc47qMWEVYjxQcPjh9), [team folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1MEH_kNBQiZGGiqt7e59rZZS2KNcDFJGQ) 383 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /sample-agenda/90-minute.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Sample 90-minute kickoff meeting agenda 2 | 3 | - (10 min) __Introductions__ -- who are you and what are your expectations for the project; what is 18F and who is on the team 4 | - (10 min) __Project history__ -- project sponsor explains how we got to where we are 5 | - (10 min) __Project brief__ -- review the project brief and edit as necessary so that everyone in attendance agrees on what problem we’re trying to solve 6 | - (20 min) __Approach__ -- 18F reviews the approach based on our understanding of the project including specific tasks and timing. The group should reach consensus on this approach before adjourning. Identify dependencies and assign to-dos. 7 | - (15 min) __Interviews__ -- Confirm which stakeholders/user types need to be interviewed; identify who (18F or agency) will be contacting them, on what timetable, and scheduling them. Be prepared with wording for the interview request if the agency partner is sending it out. 8 | - (15 min) __Expectations__ -- Identify any expectations around deliverables: what are they, how will they be reviewed, how will they be shared with the larger organization 9 | - (5 min) __Next step__ -- Agree on how often the 18F team will check in with the project sponsor (e.g., weekly) and interact with the core team. Decide on when the team will meet next. 10 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /sample-interview-questions.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # Sample interview questions 2 | 3 | These are some questions to get you started on an interview guide for the project sponsor. The goal here is to introduce the team, find out what the sponsor wants and how they think we can help. 4 | 5 | Example: 6 | 7 | 1. **What is the overall purpose of this project?** What problem are you trying to resolve or address? What need are you trying to address or satisfy? Usually aimed at achieving some significant improvement (efficiency, effectiveness, flexibility, innovation, timeliness, quality, service) or achieving compliance. 8 | 9 | 2. **What is the primary business objective driving this project?** How will that objective be measured? 10 | 11 | 3. **How are things currently working?** How would customers describe things? What would your managers say? Are there areas that clearly need improvement? What would be the main characteristics of an improved process? 12 | 13 | 4. **Are there issues or constraints we should know about?** Have any significant issues or difficulties arisen, such as conflict, a policy decision required or a technical difficulty? Are there any constraints we need to take into account such as deadlines, regulations, security, audit, control, and resources? Have any important decisions already been made? 14 | 15 | 5. **Have you tried to solve this before?** If so, why didn’t it succeed the first time? Is there existing material we can use or should be aware of? Are there other initiatives that might affect this one? 16 | 17 | 6. **What is the relative priority of this project compared to other initiatives?** 18 | 19 | 7. **When (and how) will we kick off this engagement?** Who is the core team on this project? What do we need to know about them? 20 | 21 | 8. **Who should we talk to?** Discuss which stakeholders, subject matter experts, and representative users should be interviewed in order to give the team insight into the current situation. Work out who will send out the request for participation. For stakeholders and subject matter experts, it will likely be the project sponsor that identifies specific people, contacts them directly about the project and communicates why we’d like to talk to them. For end users, the project sponsor can help identify the different user groups and how to recruit them. Decide whether any of this user/stakeholder outreach can happen prior to the kickoff meeting, because participant recruitment *always* takes way longer than you'd expect. Make sure the project sponsor understands how critical these interviews are. Aim for doing interviews during the first two weeks of the engagement. 22 | 23 | 9. **How does your agency or office currently buy software? Who is responsible for the procurement process? Can we speak with them?** 24 | 25 | 10. **Do you have any advice for us on how to succeed?** What would we have to do for this project to be a success? Are there things that would substantially increase the chances of failure? 26 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------