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United States Digital Service Origins
- snickerbockers 1y ago[flagged]
- itsdrewmiller 1y agoQuite the opposite - they exist as a reaction to how bad that experience was.
- enceladus06 1y agoActually it was $1.7 billion USD https://oig.hhs.gov/reports/all/2014/an-overview-of-60-contracts-that-contributed-to-the-development-and-operation-of-the-federal-marketplace/ https://oig.hhs.gov/reports/all/2014/an-overview-of-60-contr... for contracts for a heavily-bureaucratic application process. Or pay slightly more in tax & actually spend less in healthcare per capita like UK/Canada/Au/NZ, and you just go to the doctor and don't worry about ambulance bills. But neither political party wants that, so we don't do it.
- BurningFrog 1y agoYou don't get any bills in those systems, but you also don't get treatments that are deemed too expensive for the government system.
- ascorbic 1y agoJust as well nobody ever has treatment denied in the US system, right?
- enceladus06 1y agoAnd yet you still live ~4 years longer in non-USA countries with similar income. USA Healthcare ROI is quite pathetic, but that is by design. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/what-drives-differences-in-life-expectancy-between-the-u-s-and-comparable-countries/ https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/what-dr...
- BurningFrog 1y agoThis surprises everyone, but the quality and level of healthcare actually doesn't have a huge impact on average lifespan! From memory, it's just around 1-2 years. In contrast, modern sanitation (underground sewers, mostly) and access to clean water added 15-20 years! Lifespan is far more affected by how healthy a life you live. In the US the opioid epidemic has lowered it ~1 year. (This is not intended as an argument, just some facts I think more people should know)
- armchairdev 1y agoThis is incorrect. The original team that became USDS was brought in because healthcare.gov was a dumpster fire.
- ForHackernews 1y agoThis is sweet. The USDS and 18F did a lot of good before they were gutted.
- i80and 1y agoI'm not sure which group was behind it, but login.gov is a genuine delight and I'm always chuffed to run into a government website that uses it. EDIT: It was a joint effort between the two!
- ronbenton 1y agoI thought it was mostly 18F. Interesting to hear USDS was involved in that one as well.
- octo888 1y ago> Just over a year old, GDS would serve as critical inspiration for the founding of USDS [0] Really appreciate the 14 mentions of GDS and acknowledgment of the inspiration. (The older but poorer cousin gets ahead of the younger, richer cousin for a change ;) [0] https://usdigitalserviceorigins.org/timeline/ https://usdigitalserviceorigins.org/timeline/
- krainboltgreene 1y agoI was a big fan of the USDSO at the origin, definitely it's previous iterations, but man was it so bad at getting their improvements any publicity. Then and now they (and Democrats) made the fatal mistake that the slow march of government would be enough for public support. This website too is from that same strategy: "If we simply show Americans the machine they'll understand what they've thrown away!" It's very Aaron Sorkin's West Wing. The reality is that the average american doesn't give a shit about the machines. They want better lives and they haven't gotten that for a long time. Talk to some old guy at a diner about why they were a Democratic voter and you won't hear "The Social Security Administation got my checks on time." You'll hear about the New Deal, wage increases, and how they can retire.
- calgarymicro 1y agoDirectFile was a material product that had a 94% satisfaction rate.[0] Within the remit of this organization, if making filing taxes free and easy doesn't count as making people's lives better, then I'm not sure what does. [0]https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/06/direct-file-beloved-its-users-internal-irs-report-says/405883/ https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/06/direct-fi...
- krainboltgreene 1y ago> Overall, traffic for Direct File was only up by 16% compared to last year, something the report attributed to a “lack of awareness and public confusion.” > https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/06/direct-file-beloved-its-users-internal-irs-report-says/405883/ https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/06/direct-fi...
- calgarymicro 1y agoI'm not sure how much control the USDS that developed DirectFile (or whatever was left of it) had over that given the reasons that article cites for the confusion > The IRS deemphasized the program on its website, the report said, and the media coverage this filing season focused on the question of if the tool existed or would continue to in the future. > Billionaire Elon Musk caused confusion in early February when he posted on X that the team powering Direct File was “deleted,” leading to headlines like “Elon Musk says he 'deleted' IRS Direct File. Can taxpayers still use the free service?” Direct File saw a drop in use after that. To be honest, I'm impressed there was even a 16% traffic increase this year at all.
- dr_dshiv 1y agoI really wish these people the best. It’s humble, meaningful, high-impact, high-integrity work.
- stefan_ 1y agoTruly humble. Makes sense to record some museum pieces thou, put it next to the Ruby On Rails section.
- mlinhares 1y agoKudos to everyone involved in this, it made a huge difference for this country, your service will be remembered.
- zbentley 1y agoThe example they set, and the systems and processes they put in place, are still alive. In peril? Sure, frequently. But the USDS, and the work they started, goes on, even today. Interestingly, the executive order which changed USDS's name seems to consider that work important: it tasks the renamed United States DOGE Service (which is separate from the DOGE temporary organization or the DOGE agency teams, created with separate charters in the same executive order) with: > a Software Modernization Initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/establishing-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/esta... Whatever else you might think about DOGE or that executive order, it's interesting to note that the government tech improvement goal of the original USDS appears to have been underlined/re-emphasized, rather than crossed out, in this case.
- krainboltgreene 1y agoThe whole reason this website exists is because it won't be remembered.
- righthand 1y agoHopefully these services can be restored in 3.5 years. One of the greatest things to happen to aging infrastructure of this country in the last 10 years as a lot of our systems are based on aging military systems. We just need it, there’s no question of the benefits and there were no negatives to speak about. Thank you President Barack Obama! A true leader and patriot.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- spencerflem 1y agoI mean, I liked what they made but its kinda sad that greatest thing to happen to our nation's infrastructure was some nice websites. Meanwhile, healthcare housing and education got way more expensive and taxes for the wealthy went down.
- nemomarx 1y agoAnd a lot of bridges fell into disrepair, roads get worse, etc. Gridlock has made funding anything pretty hard in the last decade, and certain parties are so anti spending they won't try to fix it
- spencerflem 1y agoLol anti spending but they're about to pass a bill adding 2 trillion to the deficit
- kubb 1y agoIsn’t that just to cut taxes for the rich?
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoYep. The only real cuts I see are cutting medical care for the poorest of the poor.
- timewizard 1y ago[flagged]
- calgarymicro 1y ago> this just looks like a federal power grab A federal power grab from . . . the federal government?
- timewizard 1y ago[flagged]
- calgarymicro 1y agoSo (if we take your interpretation at face value) you could call it a 'presidential power grab', or maybe even an 'executive power grab' (if we stretch things and assume power is being transferred away from executive departments subject to greater oversight), but 'federal power grab' still doesn't make sense. No power is being grabbed from or by the federal government as an entity.
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoFor that matter, those agencies report to the president anyway. So this is more of a reorganization than a power grab.
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoThere could very well be a better way. See if you can get it through Congress. Good luck!
- Boxxed 1y ago> The only reason your agency came into existence is because the government completely failed to deliver on it's promises in an exceptionally divisive way. So...you're mad that the government tried to fix a problem it had?
- ChrisArchitect 1y agoThis wasn't that long ago. And it was very active in public ways over the Obama administrations etc. Sure you can find numerous discussions about various site launches and initiatives around here over the years. Definitely were discussions and fervent attention over in the Design community as things progressed. Why is everyone treating it like some forgotten Atlantis project?
- eddieroger 1y agoDon't underestimate how quickly things end up in the memory hole - it's better to preserve stuff while it's recent than try to recreate it when it's stale.
- zbentley 1y agoIt’s not forgotten—it’s not even gone! Copied from my adjacent comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44208596 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44208596): The example they set, and the systems and processes they put in place, are still alive. In peril? Sure, frequently. But the USDS, and the work they started, goes on, even today.
- adfm 1y agoSince we’re celebrating an obviously positive advancement in infrastructure attributed to one side, I’d like to know about the obviously positive advancements from the other side (in all fairness).
- AStonesThrow 1y agoObamacare Website Tips - Saturday Night Live https://youtu.be/_rzQeDOGDxI?si=7tO2yhAlvoYsGqu6 https://youtu.be/_rzQeDOGDxI?si=7tO2yhAlvoYsGqu6