Human-Centered Design

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Date

December 19, 2023

Topic

DHS (Department of Homeland Security) Usability Testing Kit — So Easy, Anyone Can Do It

Program

Usability testing is a way to learn how easy or difficult it is for people to use something by observing them actually using it. 

On Tuesday, December 19th, Dana Chisnell, Deputy Director for Customer Experience (CX), from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security joined the CCSQ HCD Community of Practice discussing how to use the kit’s guidelines and templates to test the usability of your services and solutions. We dove into the details for four common approaches to usability testing — from quick tests with colleagues in the office, to structured, remote testing with real users. The resources provided in the DHS Usability Testing Kit can help you systematize the testing process, produce reliable findings, and expand your ability to test your websites, forms, and mobile apps with real users — before you launch them out into the world. 

During this session, we explored: 

  • How to get familiar with usability testing 
  • What you need for usability testing 
  • How to plan for usability testing 
  • How to conduct a usability testing 
  • Four approaches to usability testing 
  • Easy to apply templates & tools 

Presenters

Dana Chisnell, Deputy Director for Customer Experience (CX) - U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Dana Chisnell serves as the Acting Executive Director for Customer Experience at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In her role, she drives initiatives to reduce administrative burdens, simplify public-facing processes, and equip the DHS workforce with the tools necessary to improve customer interactions at all levels. 

From October 2014 to 2016, Dana was part of the founding cohort of the United States Digital Service. Her focus was on bringing human-centered design to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as the agency revamped its software development and design practices. Dana also acted as part of a cross-functional team to design a more agile and design-forward procurement process for the entire Department. 

In February 2021, Dana returned to federal service to improve processes to obtain Afghan Special Immigrant Visas, lead service design on parts of “Operation Allies Welcome” and explore process redesign for various parole programs. 

Before returning to federal service at DHS, Dana co-founded Project Redesign at the National Conference on Citizenship with Ginny Hunt and current DHS Chief Information Officer Eric Hysen. While with Project Redesign, she created and led the Tech Executive Leadership Initiative (TELI) with the Aspen Tech Policy Hub and the Tech Talent Project to prepare senior leaders from the private sector to enter public service. Dana also co-founded the Center for Civic Design (CDD). CCD was the first to map the experience of American voters. She worked on the Anywhere Ballot, the basis of the digital user interfaces on most commercially available voting systems today. 

Dana is an expert in plain language, forms design, and user experience for older adults. Her work on design for older adults includes groundbreaking work at AARP that was the basis for several requirements in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). 

Ms. Chisnell received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Linguistics from Michigan State University. 

Resources


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