City of San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department
Supporting staff efficiency and civic communication
TEAM
2 designers, 1 developer
ROLE
Design lead
TIMELINE
8 months
TOOLS
OVERVIEW
The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (SFRPD) oversees 230+ parks, fields, and facilities across the city. Their permits division fields thousands of repetitive inquiries each year about reservations via phone and email.
We cut email response times nearly in half.
context
SFRPD manages 70,000+ yearly reservations with just 5 staff members. A fragmented system has staff carrying the weight of thousands of support calls and emails each year.
13,000 phone calls and 5,000 emails were logged in the last year alone
Staff manage reservations across 3 separate, unintegrated platforms
Existing vendor contracts, government procurement rules, and a decreasing budget meant the system couldn't be overhauled in the near term
Our immediate priority was to give staff something they could use right now, without going through a lengthy procurement process
constrants and decisions
As we thought about how to support staff, we had to design within some key constraints:
1
SFRPD has no in-house developers to maintain a complex system
2
A closed vendor platform meant our solution had to be standalone
3
Limited budget meant the cost of hosting / data storage had to be zero
Guided by these constraints, we made deliberate choices:
Conceived a standalone browser extension to bypass vendor lock-in and ensure lightweight integration
Template-first approach, using editable templates to prioritize consistency and accuracy
Purposefully avoided 100% automation, instead giving staff full control of the process before sending to preserve tone, empathy, and the human touch
mvp designs
Upload or create curated email templates
Access templates and generate pre-populated draft replies
Customize replies before sending
outcomes
Our testing and staff feedback showed clear, measurable impact.
42% faster email response times
Described by staff as “the next best thing” short of replacing the entire system
Served as a bridge solution while the department prepares for a new vendor RFP
IMPACT
Gave staff an immediate way to cut response times and reduce the strain of repetitive emails
takeaways
Here are a few North Star design principles that I'll keep in my back pocket
Navigating red tape requires reframing. Instead of fighting constraints, we shaped solutions that could succeed within them.
Service design requires balancing quick wins with systemic change.
Even smaller-scale interventions can have outsized impact.
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