Hack Your Bureaucracy

The Paperwork Reduction Act defines the word information as well as what is not information. And right there in black and white, the exceptions list includes: Facts or opinions obtained through direct observation by an employee or agent of the sponsoring agency or through non-standardized oral communication in connection with such direct observations. Unfortunately, the exact letter of the law was not widely known in government. To combat this misperception, Erie, an incredible bureaucracy hacker, got the agency in charge of enforcing the Paperwork Reduction Act (the Office of Management and Budget) to publish a memo encouraging other agencies to conduct user research, citing her close read of the law.