Minimum Viable TaxesLessons learned building a MVP in the IRS
Andrea Schneider @AZSchneiderinMDLauren Gilchrist @lgilchristLovingly illustrated by Linda Joy @ljoy
It all began with a business problem...
IRS gets too many calls from taxpayers asking “what do I owe?”
Maybe we can solve this problem with software...
But, building software in the IRS is hard.
Could agile make building software easier?
Agile isn’t a silver bullet. We still need to build the right software.
Government really needs to build the right software.
Could lean help us build the right software?
Lean tells us to:1.List your assumptions2.Understand your
customers 3.Get something into the
world4.Adjust based on evidence
Taxpayers want to know their basic tax history
1. LIST YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
Is that true? Let’s ask real taxpayers.
2. UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMERS
3. GET SOMETHING INTO THE WORLD
Taxpayers want to know what they owe the IRS
4. ADJUST BASED ON EVIDENCE
4. ADJUST BASED ON EVIDENCE
Before After
Lean made us confident we were building the right software.
What does lean government software development look like?
What does lean government look like?
1.Test with real people2.Use data wisely3.Embrace constraints
upfront
It can be hard to find representative users.
1. TEST WITH REAL PEOPLE
Employees are not a substitute for users.
1. TEST WITH REAL PEOPLE
Test before launching (or even building!)
1. TEST WITH REAL PEOPLE
Evidence doesn’t need to be statistically significant
2. USE DATA WISELY
Balance qualitative & quantitative evidence.
2. USE DATA WISELY
Be a scientist, not an expert.
2. USE DATA WISELY
Begin with accessibility
3. EMBRACE CONSTRAINTS UPFRONT
Begin with compliance 3. EMBRACE CONSTRAINTS UPFRONT
MVP looks different for the government.
3. EMBRACE CONSTRAINTS
What does lean government look like?
1.Test with real people2.Use data wisely3.Embrace constraints
Lean is really hard.Lean is really worth it.
If the IRS can embrace lean, you can too.
Questions?
Andrea Schneider @AZSchneiderinMDLauren Gilchrist @lgilchristLovingly illustrated by Linda Joy @ljoy
Thank you!
Andrea Schneider @AZSchneiderinMDLauren Gilchrist @lgilchristLovingly illustrated by Linda Joy @ljoy