Determining Content and Information Architecture for FirstGov.gov The U.S. Governments Official Web

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Determining Content and Information
Architecturefor FirstGov.govThe U.S.
Governments Official Web Portal

• August 2005

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Determining Content for FirstGov

• 24 million government web pages. How do we
  determine how to structure and what to feature?
• Customer Segmentation
• What Customers Want
• What Government Has to Offer

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Customer Segmentation

• Citizens -- 297 Million Americans (60 are
  Online)
• 41 million kids 5-14 19 million teens 15-19 16
  million college students
• 34 million households with children under 18
• 33 million seniors over 65
• 138 million workers
• 94 million low income
• 26 million U.S. residents speak Spanish at home
• U.S. population includes 33 million persons born
  in other countries
• 51 million foreign tourists came to the U.S. and
  spent 85 billion in 2000
• Business
• 5.6 million employer firms (4.9 million employees)
• 56 million employees work for small business
  (
• 25 million work for medium size business
  (500-9,999 employees)
• 30 million work for big business (10,000
  employees)
• 12 million self-employed
• Government 18 Million Government Workers
• 2.7 million federal government employees (760
  thousand military)
• 15 million state and local government employees
• 3 million Native Americans

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Determining Content for FirstGovWhat Customers
Want

• Feedback from FirstGov.gov Visitors
• FirstGov Site and Search Statistics
• Contact Us (e-mail FAQs)
• Suggest-A-Link
• Customer Satisfaction and Other Surveys
• Nielsen Net Ratings
• Input from Call Centers (1-800-FED-INFO)
• Input from Government Agencies Partners
• Librarians, Teachers, Students, Others
• Internet and Market Research Statistics
• Usability Research
• FirstGov Focus Groups Usability Tests

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Whats On Americans Minds?Top Requests at
FirstGov.gov

• How to get Government Benefits and Grants
• Help with buying a home
• Starting or running a small business
• Social security
• Government grants
• Disaster assistance
• How to get a Federal Job
• How to Buy Things from Government cars, homes,
  guide to buying
• International Travel
• Passport applications and questions
• What immunizations are needed
• Naturalization and Immigration
• Visas
• Check status of green cards
• Becoming a citizen
• A Few Examples of Many Others
• A-Z Index of Government Agencies
• Address change, Drivers Licenses, Vital Records
• How to comment on legislation or contact Congress
  or White House

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Determining Content for FirstGovWhat Government
Has to Offer

• Input from e-Gov Initiatives, Government
  Agencies, Cross Agency Portals and Partners
• New Features/Services
• FAQs/Top Requests
• Call Centers and FOIA Requests
• Expertise of their Audiences, Subject Matter,
  Services, Websites
• FirstGov and Other Searches
• Daily Broken Links Reports
• Benchmark Against Best-in-Class
• International Federal/State/Local Private
• Review of Hot News, New Sites and Awards
• In-Depth Research and Analysis
• Government Domain Registration (.gov, .mil,
  .fed.us)
• Federal Business Reference Model/Services for
  Citizens

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FirstGov.gov Linking Policy

• Official government-owned or supported site
• Official government information or services
• Complements existing information and services
• Accessible and applicable to a wide audience
• Relevant and useful for our customers
• Accurate and current
• Consistent with privacy and security policies
• User-friendly
• Highly desirable
• Crosses agency or intergovernmental boundaries
• Enables online transactions
• Includes ability to interact with government
• Provides information on service performance
• Provides community-level information and services

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Features Functionality Search

• In depth Search of U.S. government, both federal
  and state information
• Searches .gov and .mil domains at federal level
  also State home pages
• Creates index of millions of government web pages
• Search all pages in less than ¼ of a second
• Search capability free to federal agency websites

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Features Functionality Browse

• By Organization
• Federal, State, Local, Tribal, Hierarchy, Cross
  Agency Portals, and A-Z Index
• By Audience Channels and Sub-Audience
• Citizen Kids, College Students, Parents,
  Seniors, Spanish Speakers, Disabled Persons,
  Americans Living and Traveling Abroad
• Business -- Nonprofit, Self Employed, Small,
  Exporters
• Federal Employee
• Government to Government State Local, Tribal
• By Topical (Subject) Directory
• 14 Top Level Topics Benefits/Grants,
  Education/Jobs, Health
• By Means of Public Contact With Government
• In-Person (Location), Phone, eMail
• Special Features/Highlights
• Online Services, Most Requested, Seasonal, New,
  Special Topics

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FirstGov.gov Redesigns

• Sept 2000 FirstGov Initial Launch
• Search
• Organizational Directory
• Topics
• Feb 2002 Major Site Redesign
• Added Audience SegmentationCitizen, Business,
  Government
• Focus on Get It Done Online
• May 2003 Site Refresh
• Home Page same as Citizen Gateway
• Federal Employees as Separate Gateway
• More Sub-audiences Parents, Americans Abroad,
  NonProfits, Military and Veterans
• Incorporated Get It Done Online into each Topic
• October 2003 FirstGov en Espanol Launch

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Directory, By Organization

• How Built
• Started with the U.S. Government Manual
• Found Website URLs, Uncovered Expired
  Organizations
• Heard from Other Entities to be Added Public
  Input
• How Maintained/Improved
• What are the Organizations?
• Causes for Change Reorganizations, Renaming, New
  Organizations, Expired Organizations
• Sources Federal Register, Agencies, News
  Releases, Domain Registry, FACA Database, Public
  Input
• What are the Websites?
• Causes for Change New Websites, Renamed URLs,
  Broken URLs
• Sources Daily link checking software, Domain
  registry, Agencies, E-Mail

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Taxonomy, By TopicBuilding, Maintaining and
Improving

• Initial Look at Other Government and Internet
  Portals
• Topics covered by these sites and topics that
  cross agency lines
• Analysis of What Public Wants from Government
• Website Usage Statistics (clicked pages, search
  terms) Common questions by e-Mail and Phone
  Research on what public comes to government sites
  most focus groups usability more
• AND Analysis of What Government Has to Offer
• Agencies (espertise, FAQ, Phone, FOIA) Search
  Domain Registration Business Reference Model
  Broken Links Research News
• Validating and Improving
• Detailed Look at Other Government Subject
  Taxonomies LOC, CRS, GILS/State Taxonomies,
• Benchmarking Other International Website Portals,
  U.S. Government Directories, State Portals
• Information Architects, Librarians, Taxonomy
  Specialists, Content Analysts Review

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Taxonomy, By Audience

• Market Segment Analysis
• Lifestages and other major audiences
• Whats Already Been Built
• Gap Analysis What is missing?
• Prioritizing
• Refining based on continued analysis, usage and
  public input
• Learning from expertise of each agency and
  together to further refine audiences

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Performance Measures FirstGov Success
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Web Content Best Practices

• Define purpose of website
• Define your audience(s)
• Focus on audience, not on your organization or
  program names
• Provide audience interaction and listen to your
  audience
• Respond to customers
• Continue to define your audience

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Web Content Best Practices

• Define information architecture
• Offer information/services in different
  ways/paths
• Avoid duplication and confusion develop once,
  then use many times
• Get forms and services online
• 3-click rule for common services/information
• Structure content to make it scan-able
• Use table of contents (with anchors) for longer
  pages
• Create consistent navigation
• Create consistent look and feel
• Partner with organizations, agencies, states and
  localities to better serve your customers

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Web Content Best Practices

• Write for the web
• Use plain language your audience understands
• Determine style guide and use consistent style
• Keep content up-to-date
• Check often for broken links
• Create linking, security, privacy policies post
  them
• Make site accessible and usable for persons with
  disabilities
• Test your site in browsers and levels of
  machines
• Set performance measures and use them to manage
• Check back often with your customers and use
  their input