{
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    "title" : "You've launched, now what? Planning for the future of your content |Digital.gov",
    "description": "You've launched, now what? Planning for the future of your content",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2024/11/04/youve-launched-now-what-planning-for-the-future-of-your-content/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"You've launched, now what? Planning for the future of your content","summary" : "Creating quality digital content is not a one-time endeavor. Explore these approaches to managing and improving excellent digital content over time.","date" : "2024-11-04T00:00:00-05:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"frances-carden" : "Frances Carden"},"topics" : {
        
            "accessibility" : "Accessibility",
            "best-practices" : "Best practices",
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "digital-service-delivery" : "Digital service delivery",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management",},"primary_image" : { "uid" : "jack-russell-puppy-at-laptop-eva-blanco-istock-getty-images-1217036838-crop", "alt" :
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      "filename" :"2024-11-04-youve-launched-now-what-planning-for-the-future-of-your-content.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2024/11/2024-11-04-youve-launched-now-what-planning-for-the-future-of-your-content.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2024/11/2024-11-04-youve-launched-now-what-planning-for-the-future-of-your-content.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2024/11/2024-11-04-youve-launched-now-what-planning-for-the-future-of-your-content.md","slug" : "youve-launched-now-what-planning-for-the-future-of-your-content","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2024/11/04/youve-launched-now-what-planning-for-the-future-of-your-content/","weight" : "1","content" :"\u003cp\u003eCreating quality digital content is not a one-time endeavor. Once you’ve published content, you must then manage it over time. Sometimes management means making changes or enhancements. Other times, it means retiring legacy content or migrating content to another website, where it will be managed by another team. Regardless of the method, ongoing management keeps digital content relevant, accessible, and up to date.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost content will go through several launches over time. You’ll want to refresh, restructure, and update designs as you review metrics and receive feedback; continuously enhance usability; and potentially update technology platforms. You’ll also want to incorporate lessons learned.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"think-of-content-as-something-youre-responsible-for-long-term\"\u003eThink of content as something you’re responsible for long-term\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThink of this analogy when your team is planning new content: content is like a puppy. As the puppy grows, the owner learns how to take better care of it, and keep it happy and healthy. The owner also learns how much work caring for a puppy is — and thinks hard before getting another one.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContent is similar. Once you have new content, you can’t expect it to take care of itself. It must be maintained and kept in balance with the other demands. For example, assign specific pages or sections to someone to regularly review and keep current — like ensuring that everyone on the team knows when it\u0026rsquo;s their turn to take the puppy for a walk or give it a bath. This approach eliminates “heroes,” or individuals and teams who shoulder the work and get burnt out.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"document-and-measure-for-future-content-managers\"\u003eDocument and measure for future content managers\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePost-launch is also a good time to think about measuring success. Consider important questions like:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat will success look like for your content a year from now, or two years from now?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIf you use a minimum viable product (or MVP, a \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/product-and-project-management/\"\u003eproject management\u003c/a\u003e approach), what does your content management \u003ca href=\"https://guides.18f.gov/product/define/roadmap/\"\u003eroadmap\u003c/a\u003e look like after launch, and how will your plan \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/content-strategy/\"\u003eevolve over time\u003c/a\u003e?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhich \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/analytics/\"\u003emetrics\u003c/a\u003e will you collect and analyze, and how will they inform your definition of success and future refinements?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow will \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/usability/\"\u003eusability\u003c/a\u003e testing contribute to maintenance and enhancement of your content?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhere can you find efficiencies and make improvements?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou might decide to transition ownership of your digital content post-launch. During transitions, your project documentation is key. Project documentation includes things like:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMeeting notes\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/topics/governance/\"\u003eStandard operating procedures\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/style-guides-by-government-agencies/\"\u003eStyle guides\u003c/a\u003e (follow your agency’s style guide; don’t create your own!)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocumentation maintains consistency, provides clarity on decision-making, and helps teams iterate and build on previous work more effectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"share-what-youre-learning\"\u003eShare what you’re learning\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShare successes and lessons learned internally and externally throughout the post-launch process. Documented lessons learned can build buy-in within your agency for future projects. They also provide best practices and approaches which can be shared collaboratively across the government.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can share what you learned with other teams by joining \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/\"\u003eDigital.gov communities of practice\u003c/a\u003e and engaging in conversations with other federal practitioners.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note \"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/uswds/img/sprite.svg#notifications\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      Note\n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThis blog post was inspired by the final session of the Spring 2024 Digital.gov Community Summit: Delivering a digital-first public experience, which focused on standing up a digital team and the topics that relate to the successful creation and inspiration of that team. These topics included the kind of skill sets to look for, hiring strategies, how to leverage contractors, how to use creative approaches to get started, and how to effectively implement requirements for delivering a digital-first public experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis session’s panelists included:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSession moderator, \u003cstrong\u003eJessica Marine\u003c/strong\u003e, Product Manager and Digital Experience Lead for the General Services Administration (GSA)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGloria Huang\u003c/strong\u003e, Digital Engagement and Analytics Branch Chief for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Horton\u003c/strong\u003e, Accessible Design and Development Advisor with GSA\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTori Garten\u003c/strong\u003e, Chief of the New Media and Web Policy Grant at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n"}
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