Appendix 1
Why aren’t there more Delivery Phase guides?
Four major challenges surfaced in writing this Delivery Guide:
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Almost all the guidance for Delivery in the public sector focused on digital delivery. Since the Human-Centered Design Guide series does not limit itself to digital products, digitally-focused guidance was useful, but limiting.
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As stated above, almost all the guidance for Delivery came from people who had a lot of control over the product, program, service, or system. They were high-ranking, directing actions from a high level, and they had the trust of other, even higher-ranking individuals.
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The products and services launched were generally either first-of-their-kind or extreme, ground-up redesigns of pre-existing offerings. This meant that the team behind the delivery got to both learn from past mistakes and build entirely new, functioning systems.
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All the guidance ended at launch. Once the offering was in the world, the people in leadership who oversaw the discovery, design, and delivery of the offering exited the public sector, often in less than 4 years. Since the average U.S. public sector employee stays in a position for 6.2 years,1 it was clear that the HCD Delivery Guide must include sustainment planning.