No Front Door
Examining how the Federal grants process could be improved for small governments
Client (pro bono): U.S. Digital Response
Roles: UX Researcher | Report Designer
Timeframe: February – July, 2023
"Small communities and businesses are frustrated when there is no ‘front door’... They need an easy way to navigate the opportunities available to them."
Research participant
Midwest Director, National Small Business Advocacy Organization
Grants to U.S. communities increased 93% between 2008 and 2020, will trillions more available through legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act.
To help ensure equitable distribution of these dollars, the U.S. Digital Response researched:
The barriers that governments with limited resources face when seeking and managing federal grants
The digital grants tools that are available to these governments and how they do or don’t meet user needs
With this research, we identified concrete steps grantors and grant seekers can take to improve the grants process, as well as opportunities for a more usable, helpful digital grants tool.
Our Approach
1
User interviews with 24+ people associated with the grants process
Interviewees represented 350+ communities actively involved in the grants process
We focused on the experience of navigating the grants journey from identifying opportunities to managing awards
2
Competitive analysis of existing federal grants tools
The objective was to identify opportunities for a better online application experience
Tools we studied included:
Grants.gov
GrantWatch.com
OpenGrants.io
So, you’ve got 24+ hour-long interviews to analyze. Now what?
We used Dovetail to collaboratively transcribe, tag, and take notes on our user interviews.
We then created an affinity map to understand common needs and pain-points.
Key takeaways
To quote from our report: “Many grant managers dream of a world where they can identify federal grants with pinpoint accuracy, apply for them with the click of a button, and automatically produce reports in exactly the format required by the funder.”
Grant managers in small governments are overburdened with application backlogs, reporting needs, and other demands.
The grants process is too confusing and too complex for governments with limited resources to easily access funding opportunities.
Tags we applied to interview quotes, organized by frequency of use.
Mapping a small government’s grants journey
Using insights from our user interviews, I designed a journey map for our report to visualize a small government’s experience from grants application to grants management – and all the pitfalls and pain-points along the way.
Analyzing Existing Grants Tools
I conducted a heuristic analysis of major grants tools mentioned by our user interviewees.
Snapshot of my heuristic analysis. View the full analysis here.
Our Recommendations
Our report provides three concrete steps grantors and grant seekers can take to improve the grants process.
Clarify and Communicate
This recommendation focuses on feedback, data, and transparency about grants so that grant seekers can find relevant opportunities and prepare stronger applications.
Simplify and Streamline
This recommendation focuses on a potential “common application” for Federal grants, which would significantly reduce the complexity and confusion grant seekers currently face.
Right-size and Rationalize
This recommendation focuses on minimizing administrative burdens, for example by replacing today’s one-size-fits-all grants compliance model with programs tailored to small, medium, and large governments.