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