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Design-Principles.md

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What are design principles?

Design principles are concise, specific guidelines for generating and evaluating ideas and artifacts. They help us, as a team, stay on track and make sure we're making consistent decisions based on our intentions and our goals.

The principles themselves and how they are incorporated into our work can be revisited over time. What is here is a starting point based on what we know now.

How we got to these principles

Design principles for TDRS

Equity first.

This project directly touches on very sensitive topics, including societal inequities and how states, tribes, and territories interact with federal oversight. What we're building has a very real impact on many people. We must make voices other than ours central to our work and ensure they are respected and included in our decisions.

How we can support this

  • Be flexible in our research methods to encourage more participation
  • Create accessible tech and designs from the beginning
  • Ask: How can we meet people where they are?

Secure and protect TANF recipients' privacy.

The data in TDRS is incredibly sensitive. We are responsible for protecting that data and the privacy rights of recipients throughout data transmission, storage, and analysis. A secure, privacy-centered system is essential for TDRS.

How we can support this

  • Prioritize securing data in roadmap decisions
  • Protect PII in our prototyping and research work
  • Ask: Why do we need this data? Will it be used?

Build for sustainability and adaptability

We need a stable, reliable TDRS that OFA can maintain and that supports OFA, STTs, and researchers in their work for years to come. To be sustainable, TDRS needs to be able to adapt to policy changes, diversity within the STT experience and evolving technology standards.

How we can support this

  • Default to reusable components
  • Know and respect the edge cases
  • Ask: How could this change?

Support and simplify the work.

TDRS should make work easier, not harder, for the people who use it. We must continuously investigate how to make data reporting, tracking, and analysis easier and more intuitive. The team should do the hard work to create an intuitive, usable experience for a complicated, sensitive reporting requirement.

How we can support this

  • Test regularly with real users
  • Understand the service beyond the tech
  • Ask: What does a person need to know now?