#64 - Civic Tech with Cyd Harrell

Whether you’re paying a parking ticket or getting a divorce, chances are high that you’ll go through some (if not all) of that process online. Chances are also good that the UX of that process will be… not great. Cyd Harrell wants to change that.

Cyd—prominent Civic Design Consultant and Service Design Lead at the Judicial Council of California—has been working in civic tech since 2012. She’s passionate about helping governments create digital services that meet people where they are. In this episode, Cyd joins Erin and JH to talk about her past projects, navigating the public sector, what inspired her to get involved in civic tech, and how people can contribute to the field.

Cyd talked about…

• The unique difficulties that come with designing for the public sector
• The importance of creating equitable digital experiences 
• How to get started in civic tech, even if you don’t code

Highlights

• [1:23] Civic tech, explained. 
• [4:09] Metrics for public services have to be different from the private sector because growth really isn't the focus. 
• [7:54] How Cyd got started in civic design.
• [13:23] Cyd talks through a project she worked on for California’s court system.
• [22:13] How do civic tech projects get started anyway? 
• [32:46] How to work with stakeholders in the public sector.
• [36:42] Checking your biases in civic research.

Resources mentioned in the episode

US government agencies

• U.S. Digital Response
• Code for America and Code for [Insert your city]
• U.S. Digital Service
• 18F

Consultancies that work with the US government

• A1M
• Bloom Works
• Nava
• Pluribus Digital

Communities, conferences, books, etc.

• Cyd’s book: A Civic Technologist’s Practice Guide
• Rosenfeld Media’s Civic Design 2021
• Code for America’s Slack channels
• #CivicTech on Twitter

About our guest

Cyd Harrell is Chief Digital Services Officer for the City and County of San Francisco and on the Board of Directors for Technologists for Public Good. She has previously worked at Code for America, 18F, and Charles Schwab doing UX, research, and product work. She’s the author of A Civic Technologist’s Practice Guide. Her favorite tools are empathy and duct tape.