18F Blog

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.

Today, we’re happy to announce the first open position on the new hiring page for the Technology Transformation Services (TTS). JoinTTS will be the new home for all TTS job postings, including open 18F jobs.

Building products for the public requires a lot of listening and finding the right balance of value, cost, and user needs to build the best product. With that approach, we find most of the time that building a highly-optimized mobile-friendly website almost always trumps building native mobile apps.