Bloom Works Public Benefit LLC

We're thrilled to announce that Bloom Works Public Benefit LLC has been awarded a position on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts IT Project Services (ITS81) vendor pool in the User-Centered Design and Development category! ?? This 10-year contract enables us to assist various government agencies across the Commonwealth with technology and data projects, focusing on user research, usability testing, prototyping, and service design. Bloom Works is excited to contribute to the digital transformation of government services in Massachusetts. We're eager to apply our expertise in creating more efficient, accessible, and user-friendly digital services for the benefit of all Massachusetts residents. ???? #GovTech #DigitalServices #WOSB

A reminder that registration is open for our upcoming government panel titled, "Breaking Barriers: Elevating WOSBs through Strategic Set-Asides." Members, prospects, allies and partners are all invited to attend! ?? Date: Thursday, November 14th ?? Time: 3:30pm ET (DWA members only networking begins at 230pm ET) ?? Location: In-person and virtual attendance available Thank you to Slalom for being a great partner to the DWA and hosting this event at their office in Mclean. ?? Register here: https://lnkd.in/dfPyF8ZT

"Sharing knowledge and decision-making power in the research process, can support participants’ safety by offering choices and check-ins at multiple stages. We’ve found that centering participants allows us to share power, offer choices, and be accountable to the people central to our work." - Sonya Silva We're amplifying this post "Trauma-informed research: Co-designing with research participants" and think it's a good set of straightforward research tactics that help us center the experience of our participants.

Bloom Works Public Benefit LLC is excited to announce that we've been awarded a prime call order on the HHS Office of Grants' Software Integration and Frontend Technology (SWIFT) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)! This project represents a significant milestone for Bloom Works. Not only does it align with our core belief that better government services start with putting people first, but it also marks our first prime contract award with the U.S. federal government. Over the past year, our content strategists, editors, product managers, software engineers, UX researchers, and designers have been piloting improvements to how funding opportunities are written in plain language and published to be consistent and accessible. Our focus has been making these opportunities more understandable to the general public and underrepresented groups who could benefit from federal government grantmaking. Through this award, we'll support the Office of Grants in scaling this work using content strategy, plain language coaching, product strategy, user research, and human-centered design methods. In the project's first year of scaling, we aim to simplify over 250 funding opportunity notices and instill more of these best practices into the grant writing culture at HHS.

Bloomers talk about LLMs! At Bloom we work to improve outcomes for people by empowering governments to deliver services better. As a team of just 45 people, we’re always looking for ways to scale the impact of our work beyond the projects our small but mighty team can take on. So, over the past months, we’ve deliberately engaged our teams to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of LLMs, and establish some baseline principles for applying them. These experiments have led to fruitful discoveries, unexpected turns, and some dead ends. The lessons we’re learning have helped us amplify our team’s impact within and across our project work — and we want to share our learnings more widely! Kudos to Chelsea Levinson, Shana Kimball, Jackie Chang, and Paul Craig for helping the rest of us build up our LLM skills!

Do you live in Vermont? We would love to hear from you as we help the Vermont Department of Labor improve unemployment benefits! If you have ever received or applied for unemployment benefits in Vermont, share your feedback in a paid research study! Please click here (https://lnkd.in/ecTNNavZ) to learn more and fill out our interest form. It’s a brief and confidential survey to register your interest. If selected, we’ll then reach out to schedule and complete a 20-minute paid survey, or a 1-hour paid interview. How much will I be paid? $50 gift card for a 1-hour interview, or $20 for a 20-minute survey. Participants will receive the gift card after completing the interview or survey.

Exciting news! Bloom Works Public Benefit LLC and Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech) are collaborating to enhance the user experience of digital services across Washington State. We're thrilled to support WaTech in delivering improved digital experiences for state agencies, boards and commissions, local governments, tribal organizations, and nonprofit organizations throughout Washington State. Our researchers, designers, and technologists are eager to collaborate with WaTech to enhance the state's digital services. Some of the projects and services we’ll be working on: - Accessibility evaluation and audits - User research and usability testing - Content strategy and information architecture - Wireframe and prototyping - Product roadmap development We're particularly excited to bring our experience from recent projects in Washington around improving child welfare and behavioral health systems. #GovTech #DigitalServices #UserExperience #WashingtonState

Stopping by to amplify this Content Strategist & Designer role with our friends at Systone! Take a look, and share with any content folks you might now. It's good work making the government run better, and will be working closely with our team as well. Also, thrilled to see they recently received their 8(a) certification! Congrats ??

Bloom Works Public Benefit LLC believes web accessibility is not just an engineering responsibility, but a broader challenge that requires an interdisciplinary perspective. Read more about the first steps toward deeper accessibility from our designer Adam Moorman. The First Step Toward a More Inclusive Web: Take a Step Back (https://lnkd.in/efKVFtJ) The Second Step Toward a More Inclusive Web: Build a Solid Foundation (https://lnkd.in/eEiCJG8)

Bloom Works is pleased to announce two new partnerships to improve state-level unemployment insurance (UI) systems. This year, we’ve been working with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) to help modernize state UI systems for equity and accessibility. Both projects are funded through the U.S. Department of Labor UI Equity grants, which provide funding for states to reduce accessibility issues marginalized communities encounter and improve the user experience for all people interacting with UI systems. In Indiana, Bloom has partnered with Resultant to engage with Indiana DWD to ensure equitable access to UI benefits, with a focus on historically underserved populations. Key achievements in the Indiana project's first phase include: - Assessed and prioritized over 600 documents and 150 website pages - Revised 14 critical documents into plain language - Surveyed DWD staff and claimants - Developed detailed claimant and employer journey maps We look forward to continuing to support Indiana DWD by establishing a sustainable plain-language methodology and identifying areas for streamlining communication with stakeholders. Bloom was also awarded a two-year contract with the Vermont Department of Labor. This project encompasses: - Conducting an equity audit of the state's UI system - Analyzing resident interactions with the system - Providing recommendations for implementing necessary changes - Embedding with Vermont's portal modernization team to promote equity, accessibility, and usability Since May 2022, we’ve also been partnering with Nava and the New Jersey Department of Labor to modernize its unemployment insurance system. We're proud to be involved in improving such an important aspect of the social safety net in these states.