How Digital Services Interns Reshaped Mass.gov’s Content

We faced a big challenge with the Mass.gov redesign in the summer of 2017: How to move thousands of pages from the legacy site to the new site. Faced with this mountain of content, Digital Services formed and deployed what came to be known as the “Digital Intern Army”: A group of 30 students trained to make the government’s online communications transparent and understandable.

The Mass.gov redesign radically changed the Commonwealth’s digital approach. In the past, a good portion of our web content was full of “governmentese,” or jargon and highly technical legal terms. Because our site serves users from all sorts of backgrounds, we wanted to make our content accessible to as many people as possible. That’s why we didn’t simply “lift-and-shift” pages from the old site into the new one. Instead, we brought together talented students with backgrounds in writing and policy to rewrite and rethink how we present information to the site’s users.

Kicking off the program

We kicked off the 10-week internship program in early June with a week of rigorous training. The 30 interns, who ranged from first-year college students to a Ph.D. candidate, barely fit in our conference rooms.

We focused on user-centered thinking, writing for the web, data analytics, and how to use our new Drupal-powered content management system. It was an intense yet productive week, as our interns worked closely with experts across our teams to get up to speed. We gave them the knowledge and tools they needed to fulfill their mission: Publish more than 1,000 pages on the new site in just 9 weeks.

Partnering with agencies

Then came the big step. We embedded pairs of interns in partner agencies throughout the Commonwealth, ranging from the Department of Public Health to the Department of Conservation and Recreation. They spent the rest of their time working hand-in-hand with subject-matter experts and program directors to create clear, user-friendly content on the new site for some of the state’s most essential services. This included filing a workers’ compensation claim, checking the status of a tax refund, applying for WIC, and other high-traffic services on Mass.gov.

The interns had to quickly learn about various subject areas and how different organizations thought and operated. They became expert writers and ambassadors for our project, constantly encouraging partner agencies to put constituents first on Mass.gov. They also brought fresh perspectives and important questions both to their agency supervisors and to Digital Services, which helped us refine our technology and the way we work.

“They provided us with a level of service and professionalism typically associated with seasoned outside consultants.”

— Supervisor survey response

Producing quality and quantity

Some partner agencies were reluctant to make changes to their content at first. However, by the end of the summer, they were asking to retain their interns to continue the process we had begun. The interns’ supervisors recognized the value the interns brought, commenting on how interns were able to produce a large of amount of quality content in such a short time. Ultimately, the intern army published more than 1,400 pages, exceeding their target by 30 percent.

Recognizing the interns’ skills, we worked with our partners to keep as many of them as possible after the summer: 6 continued working part-time during the semester, 2 were hired by other other agencies, and we hired 1 directly at Digital Services.

The Digital Intern Army exemplifies the impact that even young students can have on government. Today, dozens of services are more accessible to constituents because of our interns’ work. They also show what can be accomplished when we combine the in-depth knowledge of subject-matter experts with new technological platforms. Last summer’s interns opened the gates to a new era of digital government in Massachusetts.

Interested in a career in civic tech? Find job openings at Digital Services.
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