Better Government, One Form at a Time

Government is built on forms. Need safety net benefits? There’s a form for that. Want to reserve space in a city park? There’s a form for that. Want to clear a criminal record, apply for a parent assistance program, or adopt a pet from a county shelter? Yes, there’s a form for all that, too. As the old adage goes, the best things in life come to those who fill out the form for them. 

But despite how ubiquitous forms are, it’s rare to rave about the customer experience of filling one out. We believe things don’t have to be that way. That’s why last week, Code for America and the Beeck Center for Social Impact hosted FormFest, an event designed to imagine a world in which forms are easy to fill out, remove burdens to programs and services, and make government more accessible to the people it serves. 

More than 2,000 registrants from 30 countries brought their passion for building better government, one form at a time. From Indiana to Iceland, attendees shared best practices, accessibility principles, and design methodologies that are leading the field of form creation into the new digital age. 

We focused on things like the need to bring forms online—since only 2% of government forms are currently digitized. And we need to make sure they’re optimized for mobile—because, as of 2021, 85% of Americans own a smartphone while only 77% own a desktop or laptop. When forms aren’t designed for mobile use first, we leave behind people from low-income communities and those with disabilities. Designing a better experience for them makes for a better experience for everyone. 

We were thrilled to leverage the expertise of such an inspiring group of government and civic tech innovators, including Maryland Governor Wes Moore and First Lady of Pennsylvania Lori Shapiro. Our 70 speakers from more than 20 organizations shared how they’re approaching some of the biggest challenges in form design and service delivery, and offered wisdom on how to identify form stakeholders, navigate different priorities, and design forms that work well for people of all abilities and circumstances.

It’s important for us as form designers to connect the dots—to connect the information we’re getting from form users, form owners, and form processors. 

We talked about the necessity of tackling this work at all levels of government, and our responsibility to improve the experience of interacting with government in all places. Regarding the US Digital Service’s work to improve benefits renewal systems, we heard that building a solid process can pay massive dividends at scale—because no matter the context, good design principles remain effective.

We went to red and blue states, big and small, rural and urban. This process of bringing people together and fixing systems quickly really seemed to work no matter where we went.

And because it’s Formfest, the nerdiest of nerdy conventions, we also just commiserated and shared some laughs about the bureaucracy of it all.

I recently participated in an activity where I had to describe my job badly. And I said, ‘I make red tape.’ That sums up what it feels like to design forms sometimes. But my philosophy is to minimize that red tape and the impact it has on people using our services.

As Code for America CEO Amanda Renteria shared, “All of our work to make forms more user-friendly and accessible is so critical when it comes to making sure government can really deliver for people.” We’re proud to be in this work with such a strong community of people who are passionate about improving people’s experiences with government.

Want to see more from FormFest? Subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we’ll be posting videos soon!