Collaborating for America Code for America / Civic Commons Marketplace
Code for America, an ambitious fellowship program founded in 2009, enlists the skills of the Web industry to help foster open government initiatives and create positive social impact. Seeking guidance on product, design and brand strategy for its new joint venture with Civic Commons—an application marketplace that aims to democratize the vendor market for government software procurement—Code for America turned to Hot Studio. Hot responded with a lightweight working process that met the needs (and budgetary constraints) of Code for America and its partner organizations.
Finding the right fit
Hot first worked with Code for America and its partners—Civic Commons, BondArtScience, New Amsterdam Ideas, and Warecorp—to establish an effective working relationship. All sides ultimately agreed on a coaching/mentorship dynamic, through which Hot could provide feedback and direction throughout various stages of the development process, while Code for America’s fellows handled engineering. Working in this fashion allowed the team to solve problems and work quickly without sacrificing quality.
Nimble workshops
Next, two collaborative half-day workshops were held, during which Hot facilitated the review of initial desired features, wireframes, user flows and site goals created by Code for America. Working in this nimble manner, the team very quickly established consensus on the mix of desirability and technical feasibility for Civic Commons’ minimum viable product.
A system to build on
Following the workshops, Hot’s user experience team worked with engineers from Code for America and Civic Commons in a series of co-design sessions. A remote visual design workshop led by Hot yielded a light, modular visual design system for the Code for America/Civic Commons team to extend. The end results? For Code for America and its partners, a site that fosters transparency and recognition among government organizations. For Hot, a proven, lightweight method for helping smaller organizations meet their goals.
