U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program Design Approach for usda.gov April 2003

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 2 I. Overview of Project II. Process to Complete Design Phase III. Team IV. Next Steps Agenda

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 3 Overview The usda.gov portal will redefine and improve USDA’s ability to communicate and interact with its customers. Sample capabilities may be:  Improved access to information Based on user intentions and service needs rather than the current agency-centric approach Citizen-centric design: Site is organized by citizen needs not by agency 24x7 availability of USDA: “USDA Available Any Place, Any Time”  Redesigned User Interface Relevant content based on customer groups Improved usability and consistent customer experience  Collaboration and communication capabilities Communities of Interest Message boards for posting questions to experts Potential subscription and notification services  Search Robust information retrieval capabilities to quickly locate information Initial utilization of FAST search* * FAST search is the FirstGov search engine.

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 4 Implementation Process usda.gov will be the first application to utilize the eGovernment “enabler” capabilities. Marketing and Communications Program Management Approach (Enterprise Solutions Center) Develop eGovernment Strategic Plan Strategic direction 24 Strategic initiatives Enabling initiatives Strategic initiatives Pre-Select Business Cases Initial vision Cost/benefit analysis Initial impact analysis Implementation and Investment Planning Functional & Technical requirements Program management approach Comprehensive technical architecture Implementation Plans Cost/benefit analysis Impact analysis Select-level Business Cases Change Management Planning and Implementation Decision to plan and implement Enabling initiatives Detailed Planning and Design Define application requirements Design User Interface (UI) Conduct usability testing Design architecture Define Detailed Design Installation & Testing Set up hardware Install software Perform necessary custom development (integration) System test Early Adopter Development / Strategic Initiative Development Rollout of version 1 of eDeployment capabilities Project Management (ongoing) NOW usda.gov Architecture  Site Map  Use case scenarios  Detailed Design Rollout of eAuthentication Services Rollout of eLearning Legend Completed In Progress Not Started Rollout of usda.gov usda.gov User Interface

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 5 I. Overview of Project II. Process to Complete Design Phase III. Team IV. Next Steps Agenda

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 6 usda.gov Design Phase Process The following “gameboard” shows the major sequential tasks necessary to complete the design phase of usda.gov. Project Management Identify Stake- holders Identify key stakeholders Identify usda.gov working group Define roles and responsibil- ities Architecture and Detailed Design Analysis, Planning, and Design Define Application Require- ments Define and prioritize functional require- ments Define and prioritize technical require- ments Define Information Architecture Develop a site map outlining the structure of usda.gov content Develop a high-level content model describing the type of content to be included in usda.gov Develop Use Case Scenarios Identify primary customer groups Develop use case scenarios detailing interactions between customers and usda.gov Define Business Process to Contribute Content Define and document updated business processes for creating, reviewing, and publishing content on usda.gov Design User Interface Create design mockups Develop graphics Develop HTML templates for usda.gov Develop usda.gov style guide Conduct Usability Testing Create and execute usability test scripts Deliver usability test results and provide design recommend- ations Update designs Develop Physical Architecture Identify and illustrate the develop- ment, testing, and production architectures Develop Detailed Design Design application components Define integration points Plan for develop- ment in the next phase Develop Application Architecture Illustrate custom and packaged components and integration points Ongoing Coordination with the Proof of Concept Prototype and the Enablers Initiatives Marketing and Communications

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 7 Stakeholders will be identified to review usda.gov deliverables produced during the design phase.  Key stakeholders will be responsible for reviewing each deliverable and providing final sign-off/approval  Additional stakeholders include, but are not limited to: Office of Communications Office of the Chief Information Officer Office of the Secretary Agency webmasters, content authors and approvers  Stakeholders will review and provide feedback on the following deliverables: Functional and Technical Requirements Information Architecture / Site Map Use Case Scenarios Updated Process for Contributing Content User Interface Design Physical and Application Architecture Detailed Design usda.gov– Design Phase Process Identify Stakeholders

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 8 The Application Requirements define the capabilities and characteristics of the usda.gov portal.  Gathering requirements ensures the required functionality and capabilities described by stakeholders is built during the implementation phase Requirements gathered for the Select phase business case will serve as an initial input Additional functional and technical requirements will be gathered through facilitated discussions with stakeholders  The final list of functional and technical requirements will be refined, prioritized and finalized Requirements will be prioritized by the level of effort to implement, cost constraints, and level of customization required beyond what the enabler solutions will provide usda.gov– Design Phase Process Define Application Requirements

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 9  The application requirements serve as input to the development of the information architecture  The site map includes a conceptual organization/structure of usda.gov content The site map will be created using the prototype site map as initial input  A high-level content model describes the type of content on the site and characteristics of the content This will be developed as input to the user interface design An information architecture includes a site map and a high-level content model. It is the blueprint for how a user will navigate and it defines the information included on each screen. Sample Site Map usda.gov– Design Phase Process Define Information Architecture

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 10 Use Case Scenarios demonstrate how a particular customer group interacts with usda.gov. Each scenario defines an action initiated by the user and the corresponding response of the system.  Prior to developing use case scenarios, each customer group who will be directly using usda.gov will be identified Identify and prioritize customer groups Identify customer intentions and service needs  Using the requirements and information architecture, use case scenarios will be developed to define the user interactions with usda.gov The use case scenario maps customer needs to agency information and services This includes interactions between each customer group and usda.gov The use case scenario also includes alternate paths the user may follow to interact with usda.gov usda.gov– Design Phase Process Develop Use Case Scenarios

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 11 In the future, content on usda.gov will originate from the Office of Communications and from individual agencies. A consistent process must be defined to regulate these contributions:  Specific content items on a usda.gov Web page or on a section of the usda.gov site will originate from agencies A central team will always have final edit authority over what is published on usda.gov to maintain consistency and usability  Using the workflow provided by the Content Management initiative, this central team will be responsible for creating, updating and approving usda.gov content usda.gov– Design Phase Process Define Business Process for Contributing Content

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 12  Design mockups or wire frames will be created for usda.gov Describes the purpose of the Web page, and illustrates each of the areas on the Web page Defines the overall layout of a Web page Utilizes design mockups developed for the prototype as initial input  Site graphics will be developed Includes icons, logos, and other graphical elements of the site  Reusable HTML templates will be created based on the approved design mockups  Leveraging the deliverables from the Web Presence initiative, UI style guidelines will be developed The UI design defines the layout, style, and graphical presentation of Web pages on usda.gov. The UI design will serve as the basis for building the user experience: Sample wire frame deliverable: usda.gov– Design Phase Process Design User Interface (UI)

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 13 Usability testing will be conducted to ensure the design of usda.gov is usable by customer groups. Sample tasks include:  Define the usability test approach and logistics This includes details on how the actual testing will be delivered (user interviews from design mockups, user interviews from prototype, user acceptance testing, etc) Recruit test participants from each targeted customer group  Create usability test scripts One test script will be created for each of the targeted customer groups  Execute usability test Execute test scripts Collect and document test data  Deliver usability test results and provide design recommendations  Update the user interface design based on usability test results usda.gov– Design Phase Process Conduct Usability Testing

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 14 usda.gov– Design Phase Process Design Physical and Application Architecture  The eDeployment physical architecture will serve as the foundation for the usda.gov physical architecture  Physical architecture areas that will be defined include: Configuration of development, testing, and production environments Hardware specifications and hosting configuration Communications network configurations System software components  The application architecture of usda.gov illustrates the integrated components of the application Defines the components that map the business requirements to application logic  Application architecture areas that will be defined include: Configuration of COTS software Custom components required to extend COTS software Application integration points Data sources and data flow The physical architecture defines the physical components of the system (e.g., hardware and network specifications) whereas the application architecture describes packaged and custom software components.

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 15 The Detailed Design is a more detailed description of the code-level elements of usda.gov. It is the basis from which developers will construct usda.gov:  The detailed design phase describes the specific parts of the application, the inputs and outputs, and the interaction between the parts Detailed design also addresses the interaction between vendor solutions (e.g., interactions between portal software and the search engine)  The detailed design phase includes the planning for the development (build) phases of usda.gov Utilizes the Application Architecture Determines the number of iterations or development cycles Plans developer deliverables usda.gov– Design Phase Process Develop Detailed Design

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 16 Interdependencies  eAuthentication Defines the approach for authentication and authorization of usda.gov users  Content Management Determines the approach for creating, reviewing, and publishing content on the usda.gov portal  Document Management Stores documents which can be retrieved through the usda.gov search mechanism  Web Presence Defines enterprise-wide style guidelines and presentation templates to be used in usda.gov  Portal Services Provides improved access to information, customization of content, and enhanced ability to collaborate and communicate across USDA usda.gov Portal Services Document Mgmt Web Presence eAuthen- tication Content Mgmt The usda.gov initiative has several interdependencies and therefore must be coordinated with the other enabling initiatives

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 17 I. Overview of Project II. Process to Complete Design Phase III. Team IV. Next Steps Agenda

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 18 Office of Communications Office of the Chief Information Officer Agency Webmasters usda.gov Team This organization chart identifies the usda.gov project team and their recommended roles and responsibilities. Define Technical Requirements Design User Interface Design Physical Architecture Design Application Architecture Develop Detailed Design usda.gov Team Lead Functional Team Technical Team eGovernment PMO Define Functional Requirements Create Site Map Develop Use Case Scenarios Define Process for Agencies to Contribute Content Design User Interface Conduct Usability Testing Agency Stakeholders Content authoring and approval Review and provide feedback on project deliverables Office of the Secretary Project Manager Working Group

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 19 usda.gov Working Group Roles and responsibilities of the usda.gov Working Group are as follows:  Attend and participate in weekly meetings  Assist with creating deliverables  Review and provide feedback on deliverables

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 20 I. Overview of Project II. Process to Complete Design Phase III. Team IV. Next Steps Agenda

U.S. Department of Agriculture eGovernment Program 21 Next Steps The next steps to kickoff the usda.gov initiative are:  Obtain participation commitment from stakeholders  Begin gathering usda.gov application requirements Requirements Gathering Session: Week of May 5 th Requirements Gathering Session: Week of May 12 th Requirements Prioritization Session: Week of May 19 th  Begin development of the usda.gov site map