Tara Dawson McGuinness - Power to the Public: The Promise of Public Interest Technology

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Public Interest Technology and Why It Matters

THE WORLD IS ON FIRE. We hope by the time you read this book that is not so, or less so. But the tail of a global pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis is likely to be longyears, perhaps decades, of remaking ourselves, our systems, and our institutions. Now more than ever we need a new generation of public problem solving that ends what ails us. The world needs governments and nonprofits that provide meaningful help and change.

A new practice is emerging around the globe and making a differenceone that better positions organizations to be responsive problem solvers. This practice is grounded in three essential elements: design informed by real human needs, the use of real-time data to guide problem solving, and a focus on delivery in order to continuously learn and improve.

These elements are not new on their own. What is new is that across the world, people are using this combination of approaches to serve people better and solve problems at their root. This signals the creation of a new field, which has been termed public interest technology by those working in and researching the space. We define public interest technology as the application of design, data, and delivery to advance the public interest and promote the public good in the digital age.

The field builds on other traditions from existing fields, which we will explore. What makes public interest technology different is that it has the potential to operate on a very large scale and is accompanied by a mindset about the role that government should play in peoples lives: government must help, really help. It should not present barriers, complications, or confrontations. There is no solving the worlds hardest problems without governments and institutions that really work for people. Public interest technology provides a strategy to do just this.

One of the challenges todays problem solvers face, as a result of our worlds increased complexity, is the distance between deciders, lawmakers, public officials, and those whom they serve. When President Lincoln presided over a country of thirty-one million residents, he was perhaps the first U.S. president to conduct user research. He would open the doors to the White House after breakfast to hear from not only government officials, but citizens. Noah Brooks, a journalist and a friend of Lincoln, wrote of these listening sessions: With admirable patience and kindness, Lincoln hears his applicants requests, and at once says what he will do, though he usually asks several questions, generally losing more time than most businessmen will by trying to completely understand each case.

But as the U.S. population has grown tenfold since Lincolns time, the distance between government leaders and those they serve has grown far more. While the new millennium brought a ruthless focus on delivering for customers in the private sectortesting messages and imagery and even tweaking the timing of e-mails to increase customer responsethis modern tool kit did not permeate government. For government to function well in the modern era, this must change. Close proximity, understanding, research, and constant program testing with the people you are trying to serve is essential to getting public policy and public programs right in the digital age.

To improve how government works today we need to build a tighter feedback loop between the people and those who design policies for them. From a book ordered on Amazon to a Lyft ride, todays companies are constantly learning, testing, and seeking data and feedback. There is no reason we cant bring these tools to bear on solving the worlds hardest problems, from reminding new parents to show up for doctor visits through text messages to reaching taxpayers in need with automated emergency stimulus payments. Deep user research and behavioral nudges keep us glued to our phones and earn billions for the private sector. Why shouldnt these tools be applied to improve our quality of life, to keep us healthy and safe, and to reach the most vulnerable with needed, essential services?

Many modern companies use data to stay connected to their customers, learn from their habits, and improve sales. These companies are constantly tracking, gathering, analyzing, and testing what works and using this data to make decisionseven for processes as simple as selling a cup of coffee. Starbucks uses data to determine everything from where to open a store to what to put on a menu. Starbucks menus are digital, allowing the company to learn what is working and what is not, and to optimize the menu without repainting a sign. What you see on a Starbucks menu may differ throughout the day or in a particular season or location.

Conversely, Jennifer Pahlka, founder and former executive director of Code for America, a nonprofit focused on bringing the effective use of technology and design to the public sector, describes the public sectors use of data as being like asking a pilot to fly a transcontinental flight with only after-the-fact, unreliable estimates of her airspeed, heading, and altitude.

Using, collecting, and analyzing data to better see those you are serving is imperative for the public sector. If Starbucks can use data to better understand when their customers want a Frappuccino, think of the endless possibilities for governments and nonprofits to use these same tools to help the people they serve.

The final aspect of public interest technology is the capacity to rapidly test, learn, and then improve via a minimum viable product (MVP). In practice, this means running a small pilot test of how something might work, and making improvements quickly before broadening usage. Though a focus on MVPs and a culture of rapid learning have guided the rise of many modern companies, these methods are not new. In the 1940s, W. Edwards Deming evangelized a plan, do, study, act learning cycle for the private sector. Some teams in the public sector are able to think in an MVP framework. Most do not.