Before the Commit: A Note for Tech Friends Newly Motivated to Hack for Justice

In the six years or so since the Gov 2.0 movement first coalesced, this sector has matured greatly. We’ve moved fast, broken things, learned lessons, achieved massive wins on some fronts, saw bitrot on others. Here are some things you should know.

1. Before building anything new, ask whether you should contribute to existing projects instead.

By contributing to an existing, successful project, you’re less likely to diluate your valuable skills. You also increase the changes that your work, both the software and the program, will live on.

A short list of projects to know about. From here, Google is your friend.

• Project Callisto — Callisto is an online sexual assault reporting system designed to create a more empowering reporting experience for survivors, provide authorities with better evidence and data on sexual assault, and facilitate the identification of repeat perpetrators.
• Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate Map — Map of hate crime organizations and incidents across the US, maintained and used by a leading civicl rights organization. Used to track change over time and drive press attention.
• Left Aligned — Matchmaker between design volunteers, and with organizations representing marginalized communities.
• How to Talk to Civic Hackers — Strategies for fruitful collaboration between civil servants and private sector technologists, written by Philadelphia’s first Chief Data Officer Mark Headd. The “Challenges to Engagement” chapter is especially useful.

2. Build with, not for.

You know a lot about tech. But you probably don’t know much about government or politics yet. And it’s possible you never will.

Meanwhile, people have spent entire careers learning how to navigate the operating system for our nation. Find the right experts, and they will be your best users and your best allies.

So “build with, not for,” in the words of LaurenEllen McCann. Try this rule on for size: “My team will have at least as many subject experts (community organizers, administrators, program directors, elected officials) as there are engineers or designers.”

3. Don’t build a map or a form. Probably.

Two most common hackathon project archetypes are maps and forms.

Maps want to tell you shocking information in a new and dazzling form. Who are you shocking, and why? Perhaps it’s journalists, so they cover an underreported issue. Or maybe it’s your peers, so they’re motivated to donate.

Meanwhile, forms want to simplify a previously byzantine process or collect information, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Once submitted, who’s reading or evaluating the info? What does that person need to do their work more efficiently or more fairly?

If you must build a map or form, make damn sure to call, tweet, or email these end users first. Ask open-ended questions. Use good research practices. Make sure your product arms the intended audience with everything they need to take the next step. Also, see #2.

Finally: thank you, and welcome. Thank you for contributing your skills and time and money, for taking a minute to read this, for rolling up your sleeves and joining the civic tech movement in scripting a better tomorrow. Let’s do this.

I’m @mishmosh on Twitter. I’ve split my past decade between consumer and civic technology.