{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "5 Factors to Building a Successful Government-wide Digital Analytics Program |Digital.gov",
    "description": "5 Factors to Building a Successful Government-wide Digital Analytics Program",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/10/20/5-factors-for-building-a-successful-government-wide-digital-analytics-program/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"5 Factors to Building a Successful Government-wide Digital Analytics Program","summary" : "Launched just three years ago, the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) continues to drive the 2012 Digital Government Strategy’s mission to improve the citizen experience by streamlining the collection and analysis of digital analytics data on a federal government-wide scale. The DAP officially launched on October 15, 2012 with a release of its first version of","date" : "2015-10-20T03:15:07-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"gwynne-kostin" : "Gwynne Kostin","marina-fox" : "Marina Fox"},"topics" : {
        
            "analytics" : "Analytics",
            "customer-experience" : "Customer experience",
            "professional-development" : "Professional development"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-10-20-5-factors-for-building-a-successful-government-wide-digital-analytics-program.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/10/2015-10-20-5-factors-for-building-a-successful-government-wide-digital-analytics-program.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/10/2015-10-20-5-factors-for-building-a-successful-government-wide-digital-analytics-program.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/10/2015-10-20-5-factors-for-building-a-successful-government-wide-digital-analytics-program.md","slug" : "5-factors-for-building-a-successful-government-wide-digital-analytics-program","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/10/20/5-factors-for-building-a-successful-government-wide-digital-analytics-program/","content" :"\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/10/600-x-400-Graphic-charts-bizoo_n-iStock-Thinkstock-478288259.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Various analytics graphic charts\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eLaunched just three years ago, the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/guides/dap/\"\u003eDigital Analytics Program (DAP)\u003c/a\u003e continues to drive the \u003ca href=\"https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/egov/digital-government/digital-government.html#measure-performance\"\u003e2012 Digital Government Strategy’s\u003c/a\u003e mission to improve the citizen experience by streamlining the collection and analysis of digital analytics data on a federal government-wide scale.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://gsablogs.gsa.gov/dsic/2012/10/05/digital-analytics-program-helps-agencies-measure-web-performance/\"\u003eThe DAP officially launched on October 15, 2012\u003c/a\u003e with a release of its first version of the government-wide Web analytics code. The first agency to implement DAP was the Department of Interior, on doi.gov. Today, 45 agencies—including all CFO Act agencies—have implemented the common code across more than 4,000 public-facing websites, counting 1.5 BILLION pageviews each month.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe DAP has become a giant of a digital analytics implementation on \u003ca href=\"https://pulse.cio.gov/\"\u003ea federal-wide scale\u003c/a\u003e, bringing an unprecedented wealth of insight on the federal Web space usage to agencies and the \u003ca href=\"https://analytics.usa.gov/\"\u003epublic\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the Web analytics implementation under its belt, the DAP team is working to add a government-wide Web \u003ca href=\"\n\"\u003ecustomer satisfaction survey tool\u003c/a\u003e to help agencies better serve the online public. Over time, DAP will be the hub for the tools and training needed to propel data-driven decisions across the federal digital space.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes DAP a success? There are many reasons. We share five here to both celebrate the collaboration among agencies working to deliver the digital government promise to the public and as a mini-playbook for your own program implementations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-big-5\"\u003eThe Big 5\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"1-customer-service-is-key-put-agencies-first-and-make-them-part-of-the-team\"\u003e1. Customer Service is Key: Put Agencies First and Make Them Part of the Team\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTalk to your customers\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a government to implement a government-wide program of any kind. Managing change is not easy, especially an organizational culture change. In the case of DAP, asking agencies to place a piece of code on their websites for federal-wide tracking initially raised eyebrows and questions. Trust had to be earned one user, one website at a time, so the DAP staff dedicated hundreds of hours speaking to the agencies, answering questions, addressing concerns, and providing assurance with the program.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs DAP grew, we created a dedicated helpdesk to provide on-going support to users not just for general Q \u0026amp; A, but in-depth analytical and reporting support. \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/08/06/need-actionable-analytics-reports-heres-help/\"\u003eCreating custom reporting templates\u003c/a\u003e and helping users find relevant metrics as they try to answer business questions became the bulk of what the DAP helpdesk has done for the agencies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDAP also hosts regular monthly office hours by phone to provide program updates and answer any questions from our users.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"engage-your-customers-and-get-their-help-hahahugoshortcode2655s3hbhb\"\u003eEngage your customers and get their help \u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/04/250-x-167-Matt-Trommer-iStock-Thinkstock-120992111.jpg\"\n    alt=\"An illustration of a team of figures working together with puzzle pieces\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEncourage self-help. For any program, as the number of users grows, user training becomes a critical element. With limited resources to spare, we tapped into GSA’s \u003ca href=\"https://openopps.digitalgov.gov/dashboard\"\u003eOpen Opportunities\u003c/a\u003e program to bring in other agencies’ Web analytics experts to train the DAP users on how to use the tool. This not only allowed us to expand the training program from just Webinars to quarterly in-person trainings with live streaming for remote participants, but further helped with DAP agency adoption and acceptance as the DAP instructors came from other agencies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"give-your-customers-a-voice\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGive your customers a voice\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want your customers to talk about your product or service (and use it!), you have to give them a forum. The best way for us to hear from customers on a daily basis is via a collaboration network. We set up a \u003ca href=\"https://www.yammer.com/dapusergrouponlineforum\"\u003eDAP User Online Forum\u003c/a\u003e, where users can collaborate, post questions, answer question from other users and add issues and ideas. The online forum is monitored and moderated daily.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet, not everyone is outspoken, and some prefer to give feedback anonymously. To get those voices, DAP launched a quarterly Pulse Check survey with just two questions: 1) How happy are you with DAP? and 2) What can we do to make it better? We get more specific, timely responses to complement our annual customer satisfaction surveys.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"establish-a-community-of-experts\"\u003eEstablish a Community of Experts\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDon’t create in a silo. Eventually, programs have to get a buy-in from customers anyway, so why delay? Convening power users or experts and involving them in the creation and development of products or services leads to a better product and increases program ownership. With that in mind, DAP created a DAP Experts Community, pulling a group of digital analytics and technical experts from across the government. The DAP Experts Community is a great asset to the program as they consistently \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/08/26/analytics-pitfall-avoid-this-common-implementation-mistake/\"\u003echallenge DAP\u003c/a\u003e to improve and enhance data collection and analysis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"2-walk-the-walk-empower-agencies-with-examples-on-how-to-make-data-driven-decisions\"\u003e2. Walk the Walk: Empower agencies with examples on how to make data-driven decisions\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTalking about great data is great. However, applying the great data to make informed decisions is what it’s all about. While users understand the value and importance of Big Data in general, and DAP in particular, using the data and applying it to drive decisions can be overwhelming. “Where do I begin?” is a common question we get when agencies first on-board with DAP.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt DAP, we’ve always felt passionate about sharing lessons learned and demonstrating how data can be used to drive decisions. So, we write topic-based blogs, \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/10/15/gov-analytics-breakdown-1-browsers-chrome-takes-the-cake/\"\u003etrend analyses\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/guides/dap/\"\u003ebenchmark\u003c/a\u003e recommendations, \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2014/06/19/the-golden-metric/\"\u003emetrics guidance\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/04/16/using-a-hypothesis-driven-approach-in-analyzing-and-making-sense-of-your-website-traffic-data/\"\u003emethods for analyzing data\u003c/a\u003e to support agencies in integrating the use of the data into their daily routine. The best examples, though, come from agencies themselves, demonstrating how they’ve used DAP data to drive decisions, in \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/11/06/nps-gov-use-of-digital-analytics-program-beyond-the-numbers/\"\u003ereal-world\u003c/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/09/17/digital-analytics-program-goes-to-the-moon/\"\u003eout-of-this world\u003c/a\u003e scenarios.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"3-innovate-on-the-fly\"\u003e3. Innovate On the Fly\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe like to say that we’ve been flying the “plane” as we’re building it. To keep up with the unprecedented challenge to make a government-wide analytics code work across thousands of websites, the code solution must be innovative, creative, scalable, and \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/08/14/secure-central-hosting-for-the-digital-analytics-program/\"\u003esecure\u003c/a\u003e. To achieve that, we can never stop innovating. It’s second nature.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaking the code “work” is not enough. The code must collect insightful and actionable data for all of the participating agencies agency, and that comes with just the right amount of customization. To ensure that agencies have a choice with respect to hosting the DAP solution, we offer \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/guides/dap/add-your-site-dap/\"\u003emultiple code hosting options\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiven the unprecedented scale of the program, we knew that we’d need outside experts to keep the solution ahead of the game. We created a public repository on \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/digital-analytics-program/gov-wide-code\"\u003eGithub\u003c/a\u003e with each DAP Web analytics code version. We invite continuous feedback from external technical and data experts to weigh in with suggestions and feedback.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"4-make-data-accessible-inside-and-outside-the-government\"\u003e4. Make Data Accessible Inside and Outside the Government\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/05/250-x-346-Keep-Calm-and-Open-Data-American-Flag-Statue-of-Lady-Liberty.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Meme: Keep Calm and Open Data over an American flag\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\nWhen DAP first came to life, users were only allowed to view their own agency’s website data. [Even that was ground-breaking as most had only seen the data for their own site and never with full access to reporting across the enterprise.] But, that was just a start.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust shy of DAP’s second birthday, access to \u003cstrong\u003eall\u003c/strong\u003e DAP data government-wide was rolled out to every participating DAP agency user. That meant every DAP user had access not only to their specific agency’s data, but all of the participating agencies’ views, as well as the full government-wide rollup. In the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/guides/dap/add-your-site-dap/\"\u003ememo to agencies\u003c/a\u003e, then U.S. Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel stated, “opening the DAP government-wide data will let participating agencies see other agency’s public-facing website analytics, gain valuable knowledge about shared customers, benchmark against similar agencies, and, most importantly, engage in collaboration and exchange lessons learned.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, in March of this year, \u003ca href=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/03/19/how-we-built-analytics-usa-gov/\"\u003ein partnership with 18F\u003c/a\u003e, the DAP-based \u003ca href=\"https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/03/19/turning-government-data-better-public-service\"\u003ePublic Dashboard\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"http://mashable.com/2015/03/19/white-house-open-source-analytics/#9um3OMTT1qq1\"\u003ecame to life\u003c/a\u003e, letting the world in, for the first time, to see the top 20 popular pages across the federal government public Web space. The public response was \u003ca href=\"http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-really-want-to-know-wheres-my-tax-refund-2015-03-19\"\u003eoverwhelming\u003c/a\u003e and set the stage for additional innovation, collaboration, and partnership between federal government and the public.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"5-data-quality-and-integrity-above-all\"\u003e5. Data Quality and Integrity Above All\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData management and governance lie at the heart of the DAP program. Frankly, at the end of the day, none of the above factors matter if the data quality is questionable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt DAP, data is monitored closely on an hourly basis with the help of automated alerts to pick up significant changes and perform diagnostics. In addition, to ensure that the data is processed and standardized before it is available for reporting, we apply a set of data \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/digital-analytics-program/gov-wide-code/issues/10\"\u003estandardization rules\u003c/a\u003e against all of the collected data. As DAP continues to evolve, the role of the DAP Experts Community will continue to expand.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData quality doesn’t stop with DAP Experts. Every government user of DAP data also has responsibilities, abiding by a \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/guides/dap/common-questions-about-dap/\"\u003eset of rules\u003c/a\u003e to protect the integrity of the data upon receiving access to it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"its-a-journey\"\u003eIt’s a Journey\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDAP data is a gold mine for research and analysis for improving the effectiveness, efficiency and relevancy of information and services provided on government websites. Implementing a program of this scope across agency mission and budget lines helps government to focus on the reason for being DAP–that is to provide the best digital services to the public. We’ve worked hard to focus on what can make a big government-wide program a success. It’s starts with small steps, bringing on helpers and focusing on the end goals. Yes, it’s a journey, and government is up for it!\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}