How human-centered design helped El Paso’s local government become more engaged with and responsive to its residents

We already had processes in place to solicit feedback from our residents on improving different services across multiple projects, but we were asking ourselves whether there was a methodology that could deepen our understanding and help us unpack the voices of our residents to better serve them. We saw HCD as an opportunity to complement our existing approach with tools rooted in capturing meaningful new insights. We also thought HCD would help us understand what exceptional service delivery looks and feels like to our residents.

In 2019 we started doing research and came across the d.school’s webpage. We looked at the various tools available online, reviewed the bootleg (a deck of cards that includes tools and methods for inspiration or to generate new ideas), and attended one of the Designing for Social Systems (DSS) webinars and, well, we fell in love. We had been talking about combining systems thinking, strategic planning, and human-centered design for some time, but hadn’t yet found others that were doing this. We were so excited to see the DSS program was teaching how to integrate these methods for social sector leaders like ourselves.

Our strategic plan for the City of El Paso is our blueprint. We were looking for ways to bring  training and learning tools that would align with the strategic work of our organization at a holistic level.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) was foundational for providing our employees with a methodology anchored in process improvement and with lessons on different ways to increase customer satisfaction and streamline service delivery. Applying the Lean Six Sigma project work led to over $21M in cost avoidance and savings, $34M in new revenue, and other operational efficiencies. A key aspect of this work is gathering the Voice of the Customer (VOC).

HCD was additive in that it helped move us further toward capturing the voices of our residents. We have become more skilled and intentional about how we obtain feedback from our residents to direct the goals of process improvement.

We are grateful that we had the unwavering support of our leadership to pursue and engage with new tools and partnerships. Learning and innovation is a priority. While other organizations were pausing or divesting in learning initiatives during the early stages of the pandemic response, we were being asked to reimagine the way we approach our work and to grow our knowledge sharing. When we found the d.school program we were able to easily move into planning an engagement with the DSS team and were equipped to rapidly activate an internal cross-functional team that would spearhead this work.

Over the course of two years, we shared a series of HCD-centered programs with our workforce. They included:

In addition to the overall impact the trainings have had on the way employees tackle complex challenges, we can highlight a few exciting projects that emerged from this HCD deep dive.

The City’s Innovation Team (iTeam) assists with various process improvement projects across the organization. Team members utilize HCD on projects that benefit from co-designing programs and processes with both City staff and residents. In one case, a member of the team was asked to support a project to improve the process to hire and retain lifeguards. Access to the public swimming pools is very important to swim teams for training, and to residents and seniors for recreation, exercise, physical therapy, and keeping cool during the extremely hot summers. But the City was having trouble keeping the pools open because of staffing shortages. Utilizing an approach based on the Lean Six Sigma and HCD methodologies, the iTeam took a closer look at the recruiting process. A key approach was inviting lifeguards to share their stories and challenges via workforce experience workshops. By holding conversations directly with lifeguards, over 160 feedback data points were captured that contributed to the redesign of the process through the lens of city lifeguards. A key insight was understanding that lifeguards didn’t want to be seen as babysitters by the pool, but rather as the specially trained, professional first responders for pool rescue that they are. This insight, among many others, has led to the City revamping its recruiting efforts to reflect how lifeguards are seen and respected as first responders. The redesign will change lifeguard work schedules to include shift differentials with higher pay for certain shifts (like other first responder models), and will allow lifeguards new opportunities to engage with other first responder networks.

Another example includes the redesign of the Neighborhood Improvement Program. This program invites neighborhood associations to apply for funding for neighborhood improvements such as adding shades and benches to local parks or planting trees. A key part of this redesign was inviting community members to participate in customer experience workshops. These workshops captured over 350 points of input and feedback from 22 people, which assisted the project team in identifying key customer insights for improvement. The iTeam found that some neighborhood associations were frustrated because they had to wait for several months to have their application reviewed, and once it was, the City would present them with a design that did not match what they asked for. Once the iTeam gained a deep and clear sense of what the associations’ complaints were and why, they were able to design a new process with the association members. Now, the City is designing an online portal where associations can know exactly what improvements they are able to apply for, visually track the status of their application, and communicate directly with the City staff working on their application. The process also now includes an on-site walk through where City staff can explain improvement possibilities or constraints in person with association members, and the group as a whole can discuss and decide on desired improvements (such as where to place a new set of park benches if the original location is not possible because of zoning restrictions). By going through customer experience journey mapping and hosting ideation sessions with community members, the iTeam was able to design a whole new process for neighborhood associations, in which residents were truly heard and active contributors of their neighborhood improvements.

In 2022, we launched a youth engagement program, which was built off of insights uncovered during the DSS workshop. The program focuses on volunteer opportunities. Regardless of what district they are in, or if kids are homeschooled, all high school students in El Paso need to complete community service hours to graduate; however, they may not be aware of opportunities available at the city to participate and volunteer in a way that is of interest to them.

During the workshop, we had discovered some helpful insights from our interviews with youth that we wouldn’t have known without speaking with them directly. One insight was that youth volunteering had less to do with the type of program being offered and more to do with feeling emotionally supported in the experience. The interviews also tested our assumption that kids want to be mentored by adults. Instead, we learned that some youth want to be mentored by other youth–for instance, a freshman looks up to upperclass students and would welcome a chance to be mentored by them. So, we looked at how we could connect younger kids with older kids through volunteering. It changed the way we thought about mentorship.

Earlier in 2022, we opened the City Design Lab, which is a space for employees and residents to create and experiment. The City of El Paso encompasses a very large area, so it was important that we built it in a central location where it’s easy for the community to get to. The space is not just for government departments; it can also be used by residents and the broader community. We wanted it to feel like a welcoming, safe space where they can be inspired while doing creative work, and feel and be innovative.

We are planning more programming in the City Design Lab, to really make it a hub for workforce and community partners, and for residents to learn about and try on HCD. A lot of partnerships have been built with the high schools, and we are creating an HCD class for them. We want to bring them into the City Design Lab, show how their voices matter to our community, and hopefully get them interested in entering the public sector. There's a huge opportunity for our city departments as well, to come in and see how we map out processes in a visual way, conduct interviews, and create user experience journey maps so they can take it back to their departments.

There are also plans to provide more introductory trainings in HCD to our city departments. We’ve held a number of project- and topic-specific workshops, but we’d like to hold ongoing and more comprehensive introductory workshops.

And we are continuing to identify and build up leadership opportunities for those who have already been practicing design thinking. We continue to identify emerging designers within our workforce and support groups of six to seven employees to tackle projects where they can move fast and furiously to deliver working prototypes in three months.

The City will also offer an introduction to HCD training led by our internal champions, augmenting the existing Lean Six Sigma learner pathway to extend the reach from a cross-functional team to our workforce of over 6,000. This training is key in expanding creativity and design knowledge.Employees will experience what it’s like to move their ideas from concept to reality. This distinct combination of an LSS + HCD framework is about expanding a practical and scalable toolset to continue designing for the needs of our community.

Over the last year the Performance Office evolved to encompass both our learning and innovation professionals into one operational area, the Performance Team. Our approach is people-centered and is systems and process focused so that we may continue to deliver results. At the heart of this important work is a relentless belief that learning and innovation, when harmonized, can’t help but lead to meaningful and continuous improvement for us, our organization, and the vibrant El Paso community.