Think of Your Constituents as End Users

When developing new applications, you want to include the end user in the process. But when it comes to using open data to tackle local problems, who counts as the end user? Is it just the government employee, or is it also the local constituent?

A recent report from the Centre for Public Impact suggests that agencies should consider residents as end users, not just beneficiaries. Although residents might never actually use the application, they have a ground-level understanding of the problems to be solved, according to the report.

For example, the City of Long Beach, Calif., recently developed an application that uses open data to track efforts to expand urban forest cover. As part of that sprint, community members encouraged the city to publicize that data to get more community involvement.

The Long Beach initiative was one of a handful of 22-week innovation sprints conducted in various cities and counties as part of the center’s Opportunity Project for Cities program.

During the sprints, government agencies invited members of community organizations join their development teams. Although a member’s perspective might be limited, “these individuals provide a vital link to the community and help to consistently center residents’ needs,” the report states.

This article appears in our guide “How to Change Things up (and Make It Stick).” To read more about ways to innovate successfully, download it here:

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