A Civic Technologist's Practice Guide

Evaluation can reveal successes and failures, and may generate new problems to be solved with policy levers. If you’re a data scientist, a product manager, or a user researcher, make it an immediate priority to meet the nearest evaluation group and learn what they’re up to. They’re likely to be doing rigorous, academic-style research on questions related to the ones you’re looking at in a shorter-term, less formal frame. Their work can definitely inform yours, and yours might well be able to inform theirs.