Democracy 2.0: What can lawmakers learn from lean software development?

In developing new technology, usability and user experience (UX) is increasingly a key consideration. Hardware manufacturers such as Apple expect their product to be so intuitive that a user manual isn’t required. Websites such as Ebay or apps such as Facebook don’t require any training, even though they run on complex rules.

This is achieved with usability: achieving a user's desired outcomes with a positive user experience. Software teams using lean software development employ methods such as unit tests and user testing. Unit tests allows making changes with greater confidence of handling knock-on effects. User testing helps notice unintended consequences upfront. In an iterative process this frequently leads to better solutions for user outcomes.

A country’s legal system works somewhat like a software codebase. Laws can be seen as lines of code defining permitted behaviour within national borders; and legislators as a team of coders writing new laws. Why not test them the same way developers test their software? Large software applications are arguably as complex as the cumulative laws governing modern democracies. Seen this way, could we improve “citizen experience”? What are the principles lawmakers could borrow from lean UX to design better laws? And what is the difference between law and code?

This is what we intend to debate in our next event, with the help of our guest panelists who will present use cases of how lean UX could inspire policy making:

• Dazza Greenwood (http://dazzagreenwood.com/), lecturer and research scientist at the MIT Media Lab.

• Marina Korneeva (http://dateva.biz/) and Keith McDonald (http://mcdonaldkeith.com/) , open data and UX evangelists.

• Christien Levien, Criminal Defense Lawyer at Wiley & Levien (http://www.wileylevien.com/) & Founder of Legalswipe (http://legalswipe.com/).

• Joshua Stark, blockchain consultant and head of operations & legal at Ledger Labs (http://www.ledgerlabs.io/).