18F Blog

Ask 18F is an advice column that answers questions sent in by federal employees. Our technical experts aim to provide you helpful resources and a good starting point to tackle your problem. Got a question? No matter how small the task or how big the project, email us at 18f@gsa.gov

When Performance.gov re-launched on February 12, it became one of hopefully many websites to use the full suite of the Technology Transformation Services’ (TTS) products and services, from hosting to design.

Adopting this “smaller is better” mindset as a way to overhaul a large, complex legacy system can feel counterintuitive. But the notion of smallness — of distilling complex, interdependent tasks into achievable units of work — is fundamental to building modern software in both the private and public sector.

We are launching a new series called Ask 18F – an advice column that answers questions sent in by federal employees. Our technical experts hope to dispel myths and ease fears about building or buying technology in government. We aim to give you suggested resources, questions to ask your team and lastly, a good starting off point to tackle the problem you wish to solve.

The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) is one of the longest-standing champions for great content and user experience in government. A small team from 18F worked closely with DigitalGov and PLAIN to redesign plainlanguage.gov, making it more modern and usable.