minimum viable taxes: lessons learned building an mvp inside the irs

Minimum Viable TaxesHow to launch an MVP in the IRS

Andrea Schneider @AZSchneiderinMD

Lauren Gilchrist @lgilchrist

It all began with a business problem...

IRS gets too many phone calls from taxpayers who owe a balance 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 make us build the right software?

Lean concepts: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 their basic tax historyTaxpayers 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?

1. Test with real people2. Use data wisely3. Embrace constraints

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

Accessibility is important.3. EMBRACE CONSTRAINTS

Compliance is important.3. EMBRACE CONSTRAINTS

MVP looks different for the government.

3. EMBRACE CONSTRAINTS

What does lean government software development 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?

Thank you!

Andrea Schneider @AZSchneiderinMD

Lauren Gilchrist @lgilchristLovingly illustrated by Linda Joy @ljoy