A More Human Government: How We Can Transform Public Services

Tara McGuinness is the Founder and Senior Director at New Practice Lab. Tara spoke to us for the latest edition of the UCL Policy Lab magazine. To find out more about Policy Lab and get the latest news events, sign up for their newsletter here.

If there is one thing that becomes clear from my conversation with Tara McGuinness, it is that the business of government needs to be more firmly connected with people—the humans seeking help, support, or essential services from the state. This may seem obvious but senior officials tell us again and again that it is often far from the case. 

"I can speak from personal experience working to turn around Healthcare.gov for President Obama that when a public service project fails, it's often because you did not consider the human interaction with the service," McGuinness says.

McGuinness first found prominence as one of the key people part of the turn around Obamacare. The federal health insurance system in the United States faced a tumultuous launch, plagued by technical glitches and a poor user experience. In response, the government mobilised a dedicated team of experts. They worked relentlessly to identify and fix issues, streamline the website but most importantly, make it function for those trying to use it.  This type of tech team eventually became a permanent fixture in government the US Digital Service.

This meant speaking with users and understanding their individual needs. And it meant a culture change in Washington too: always circling back to see how to design a service and system that met the public's needs rather than worked for those at the centre. Harnessing technology to enable effective human interaction, as opposed to allowing design to be driven by tools.

Reflecting on all of this years later, McGuinness recalls the stress of mending a system in this way in the heat of political battle. The political threat the potential failure of the Obamacare system posed to President Obama was clear, but it also had a broader impact, eroding public trust in the government's ability to do good at all.

"That period when Health.gov failed was the single lowest moment for US public trust in government,” she reminds us.

McGuinness now sees the turnaround as a broader turning point in policy design. It led to the development of new working practices, improved communication, and the adoption of what we now call user-centric design. Through transparency, collaboration, and rigorous testing, a team of engineers, designers, prodect managers, and agency leaders helped transform HealthCare.gov into a functional, user-friendly platform by December 2013, enabling millions to access affordable healthcare coverage, and restored faith in what was possible.

This change required being open and honest about both the failings of the status quo and what would be required to fix it. McGuinness believes this is not always a natural impulse in politics, even amongst reformers.

"It's very counterintuitive when you're in a government role to express the broken, because you own it. But often, that's what's required." 

McGuinness believes these lessons hold true in the UK as well.

"You see this with the NHS waiting list, which has plagued governments for decades. I was looking back at the original Tony Blair platform—and there it was: 'Cut NHS waiting lists.' This isn't a new problem. But today, what I think is needed is for the government to be open and honest, to respect voters' intelligence about what will be required. To say we are here, and this is how we're going to explore the problem. We will come back to you with the solution in a more honest timeline."

Counterintuitive though this might be, McGuinness believes it is now possible. She thinks we live in an era in which voters have grown tired of lofty but ultimately empty promises and instead yearn for openness, collaboration and clarity.

The need to collaborate is at the heart of how McGuinness approaches her job. She speaks powerfully and warmly about the teams she works with and the diverse expertise and experiences they bring to the table. She recognises, too, the need to draw strength from a wider network of communities, social enterprises and private sector organisations.

"If you look at the way we make policy, it is immensely siloed”, she tells me. “And this is just not how people live. When the President asked me to help improve outcomes for the people of Detroit, we convened and ensured everyone was around the table." 

This includes those outside the policy space. McGuinness points out that the success of President Biden’s most powerful initiatives has been as much due to the continual involvement of community organisers, activists, and those with real-world experience as it has been to the role of experts in policy research and delivery.

It is this approach that McGuinness has taken to her new role outside the White House, helping set up the New Practice Lab based at New America.

"Our aim is to take the first step forward in building a team that is part policy thinking and part delivery, grounded in the audacious goal of helping millions of families. We're committed to assisting 3 million families living in poverty with at least one child in their households. But doing this in constant conversation with the people we are designing for."

This sense of mission and collaboration is what drives the audacious hope that emanates from McGuinness. As she says, "We live in extraordinary times, and we're called on to meet this moment."

It’s one of the reasons McGuinness came to visit the UCL Policy Lab, where researchers collaborate with practitioners and where hosting and facilitating conversations of people of diverse backgrounds is often more important than making sure you get the final word in any debate. 

“It resonates with me what you're doing here at UCL”, McGuinness says. “And I hope in collaboration, we, too, can begin to change how think tanks operate.”

That’s the first step towards a greater culture change that could change the country

This interview originally appeared in the the UCL Policy Lab magazine. To find out more about Policy Lab and get the latest news events, sign up for their newsletter here.