{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "ATF.gov – Usability Case Study |Digital.gov",
    "description": "ATF.gov – Usability Case Study",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/04/29/atf-gov-usability-case-study/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"ATF.gov \u0026#8211; Usability Case Study","summary" : "The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has some really valuable information for the public that a lot of people search for on ATF.gov. It’s important that the information is easily and quickly accessible. Government agencies reach a wide audience with their information, so making sure everyone can understand your content is important. The DigitalGov User","date" : "2013-04-29T12:21:56-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"jonathan-rubin" : "Jonathan Rubin"},"topics" : {
        
            "research" : "Research",
            "usability" : "Usability",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2013-04-29-atf-gov-usability-case-study.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2013/04/2013-04-29-atf-gov-usability-case-study.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/04/2013-04-29-atf-gov-usability-case-study.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2013/04/2013-04-29-atf-gov-usability-case-study.md","slug" : "atf-gov-usability-case-study","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/04/29/atf-gov-usability-case-study/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eThe Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has some really valuable information for the public that a lot of people search for on \u003ca href=\"http://www.atf.gov//\"\u003eATF.gov\u003c/a\u003e. It’s important that the information is easily and quickly accessible. Government agencies reach a wide audience with their information, so making sure everyone can understand your content is important.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe DigitalGov User Experience Program performed an expert usability evaluation of ATF.gov in December 2012. The team identified the following three major issues that could quickly be fixed to make the site more usable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"problem-1-autocomplete-search-results-not-accurate\"\u003eProblem 1: Autocomplete Search Results Not Accurate\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe site search used autocomplete when the user pressed enter. The resulting search terms could be different from what was intended by the user.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"solution-1-remove-autocomplete\"\u003eSolution 1: Remove Autocomplete\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe autocomplete function was removed from the search bar, so that the user gets exactly the search results they want.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 1.5em\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/atfgov-before_0.png\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/atfgov-before_0.png\"\n    alt=\"Screenshot of ATF.gov before user testing.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 1.5em\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProblem 2: Homepage Links Not In Order of Importance \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe links on the right side of the homepage didn’t seem to be prioritized in order of importance and they were easy to overlook. For example, the link about smartphone apps is far less important than the strategic plan or other initiatives, but it was at the top of the page.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"solution-2-prioritize-homepage-links\"\u003eSolution 2: Prioritize Homepage Links\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLinks on the right side of the homepage are moved to the top, center area so they are more visible. Also, the links have been prioritized in order of importance. The large news picture has been taken out to make more room for the links and important, main–topic areas.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"problem-3-font-size-too-small\"\u003eProblem 3: Font Size Too Small\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe text size on some pages was too small and difficult for some users to read.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"solution-3-increase-font-size\"\u003eSolution 3: Increase Font Size\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eText size was increased to at least 10 point font.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe redesigned ATF homepage presents a much more user–friendly and information–rich experience. The site is more visually appealing as well, and less daunting to new visitors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/atfgov-before_0.png\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/atfgov-before_0.png\"\n    alt=\"Screenshot of ATF.gov before user testing.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/atfgov-after.png\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2013/12/atfgov-after.png\"\n    alt=\"Screenshot of ATF.gov after user testing.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}