Design in the time of a pandemic
Going digital, fast.
In the Fall of 2018 I saw an opportunity that I couldn’t possibly turn down. I saw an opening for the Design Director for the City and County of San Francisco Digital Services. The fact that I already had a job was certainly a deep complication, but the opportunity to serve the city I love to lead the design team and apply what I have learned all these years in tech and design was too tempting to pass up.
The first few months were an adjustment. I had a new team who didn’t know me and who I didn’t know either. While I understand the hierarchies and politics of big companies, I didn’t know how to navigate the waters of Government from the inside. I found that the timelines were paced differently than I was used to, and while the problems we were solving were complex, they were not complex in the more experimental/pushing the envelope on technology that I was used to. I thought the biggest challenge ahead of me for 2020 was design operations, scaling the team, and evolving the existing design system. And then, the COVID-19 Pandemic happened.
The first signs things were changing were so small they were almost imperceptible. I attended a conference in Milan, Italy, and we discussed the possibility of something major happening, but still, it was in a distant, academic way. And then came the day we were told to work from home. And suddenly, everything sped up and slowed down at once.
The city suddenly needed to go digital and fast. In a month or so my team delivered:
High-level UX flow for worker and family first program
SF.gov COVID Response Content News and information for everyone in the city
Workers and Family Fund: A program to help small businesses pay sick leave to employees
Electronic Plan Review: An online Electronic plan review process and service to keep critical building permits moving along
SF VolunteerAn online service for people to volunteer to help seniors
One of the mentions The Mayor made of a program I worked on.
City TestSF A COVID testing site and the online scheduling tool used to book an appointment and a touch-free communications platform for on-site communications.
My team members worked in the Emergency response command center and created the signage anyone could see throughout the city.
I was delighted to be able to roll up my sleeves and pitch in to help during this crisis. I have been proud and amazed by the team who has been working tirelessly to make this frightening and bewildering situation calmer and organized for the staff of the city and, most importantly, to the residents and businesses of San Francisco that we serve.
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