{
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    "title" : "The New FEC.gov |Digital.gov",
    "description": "The New FEC.gov",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/snyk-fix-08ac0319715b31f28b1a7897cd249f39/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/snyk-fix-08ac0319715b31f28b1a7897cd249f39/2017/06/06/the-new-fec-gov/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"The New FEC.gov","summary" : "Last week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) unveiled their new website at FEC.gov. This new site is the result of a years-long collaboration with GSA’s 18F and features completely revamped tools for exploring campaign finance data. It provides user-centered content for understanding the reporting and compliance requirements for people participating in federal elections, redesigned tools","date" : "2017-06-06T10:25:09-04:00","date_modified" : "2024-07-10T08:44:18-04:00","authors" : {"noah-manger" : "Noah Manger","jennifer-thibault" : "Jennifer Thibault"},"topics" : {
        
            "application-programming-interface" : "Application programming interface",
            "content-strategy" : "Content Strategy",
            "design" : "Design",
            "human-centered-design" : "Human centered design",
            "mobile" : "Mobile",
            "open-data" : "Open Data",
            "plain-language" : "Plain Language",
            "user-experience" : "User Experience"
            },"branch" : "snyk-fix-08ac0319715b31f28b1a7897cd249f39",
      "filename" :"2017-06-06-the-new-fec-gov.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2017/06/2017-06-06-the-new-fec-gov.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/snyk-fix-08ac0319715b31f28b1a7897cd249f39/content/news/2017/06/2017-06-06-the-new-fec-gov.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/snyk-fix-08ac0319715b31f28b1a7897cd249f39/content/news/2017/06/2017-06-06-the-new-fec-gov.md","slug" : "the-new-fec-gov","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/snyk-fix-08ac0319715b31f28b1a7897cd249f39/2017/06/06/the-new-fec-gov/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eLast week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) unveiled their new website at \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/\"\u003eFEC.gov\u003c/a\u003e. This new site is the result of a years-long collaboration with GSA’s 18F and features completely revamped tools for exploring campaign finance data. It provides user-centered content for understanding the reporting and compliance requirements for people participating in federal elections, redesigned tools for exploring legal resources, and more.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"why-it-matters\"\u003eWhy it matters\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the agency’s “About the FEC” page, it says, “The FEC was created to promote confidence and participation in the democratic process.” Providing a modern, user-centered set of tools for browsing finance data and understanding the laws, regulations, and requirements to participate in the democratic process is vital to that mission. This means more informed voters and a more accessible point of entry for getting involved in elections.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut the product itself is only part of the story. The other part is the way that our partners at the FEC have committed to the agile way of working, to the value of open source technology and cloud infrastructure, and to user-centered design. They have been a major part of the project up to this point, and they will soon be taking the reins. Because FEC.gov will need to continue growing and adapting over the years, the fact that our agency partners have been developing the skills and capabilities to lead agile, user-centered projects on their own is tremendous.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"how-we-got-here\"\u003eHow we got here\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInstead of starting with the website, improving the experience for the FEC’s users started with opening up the FEC’s data archives by building a \u003ca href=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/07/15/openfec-api-update/\"\u003epublic API\u003c/a\u003e. We then used that API to power the new \u003ca href=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/10/29/welcome-to-betafec/\"\u003ebeta site\u003c/a\u003e, built in the open at beta.fec.gov. We used this beta site to constantly learn, iterate, and improve, \u003ca href=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/2016/06/07/building-better-by-building-together-with-the-federal-election-commission/\"\u003eworking closely with our agency partners\u003c/a\u003e to design, build, and refine new features to meet user needs and to build a practice of \u003ca href=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/12/17/plain-language-betafec-new-content-design/\"\u003ewriting about complex topics in plain language\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the year-and-a-half that we were in beta, the site evolved significantly. We learned some of our early bets — like the way we structured candidate pages or the information architecture of our initial menu system — were not meeting user needs and required totally different design approaches to improve them. Some of the other features needed more detail-oriented fine-tuning, like the filter and tag system of our data tables. We learned from real users via usability testing and our anonymous feedback tool what features they needed, which allowed us to prioritize more effectively. And because we shipped new features every two weeks, we were able to deliver constant improvements to a tool that journalists, academics, and everyday Americans were using to learn more about our political process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe FEC’s digital offerings are massive, including millions of campaign finance records, thousands of legal documents, and over 40,000 pages of content covering everything from campaign activity guidance to press releases from 1998. And on top of that, it’s always changing. A site like this is never “done,” and work will continue to add to and improve it. But the time has come to make this new site the primary entry point for visitors to FEC.gov.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"highlights-of-the-new-fecgov\"\u003eHighlights of the new FEC.gov\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first thing most visitors familiar with the old FEC.gov will notice is the completely new visual design and the new organization of information. We worked with our partners at the FEC early on to refine the FEC’s visual identity from the broad existing styles choices on the old site into a smaller, consistent set of visual and interaction patterns for the new site.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the \u003ca href=\"https://standards.usa.gov/\"\u003eU.S. Web Design Standards\u003c/a\u003e launched, we started using their components with the new FEC styles — even contributing back to the project as a use case for research on how to use the Standards with your own styles. Since the site is responsive, it looks great no matter what device you’re using. And whereas the old FEC.gov presented users with over ten different top-level navigation elements, the new FEC.gov reduces the primary navigation to three main items to reflect the three primary focus areas that users need when coming to the site.\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/assets/blog/fec/1-fecnavs.png\"\n    alt=\"An image of the new and previous FEC website navigation systems\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cfigcaption\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe new FEC.gov reduces the primary navigation down to three main items to reflect the most common areas that users need when coming to the site. The old FEC.gov presented users with over ten different top-level navigation elements.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe campaign finance data section has grown since the initial beta launch to include even more datasets — like the ability to get all raw data from electronic filings as soon as it comes in, right alongside processed data — and we redesigned major features like the candidate and committee profile pages based on user feedback.\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/assets/blog/fec/2-newbetafec.png\"\n    alt=\"An image of three different design iterations for the committee pages\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cfigcaption\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe launched beta with a new design and architecture for the candidate and committee profile pages and later redesigned these features after user feedback showed that people needed more granular data and were having a hard time finding what they needed.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe legal resources section allows users to search through multiple types of resources at once, which previously wasn’t possible. It also includes new ways to explore advisory opinions, which are the official Commission responses to questions about how federal campaign finance law applies to specific, factual situations.\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/assets/blog/fec/3-legalresource.png\"\n    alt=\"An image of the new combined legal search results and the new search interface for advisory opinions\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cfigcaption\u003e\u003cem\u003eImprovements to the new legal resources section include being able to search for keywords across different resources in one search results list, and a better-designed advisory opinion search interface, which makes it easier to tell if a case is what you’re looking for before opening it.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe help for candidates and committees section unifies content that previously lived across several sections and multiple PDFs into a single, user-centered set of pages, giving users one place to look for information.\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/assets/blog/fec/4-candidatehelp.png\"\n    alt=\"An image of the new content structure in the Help for candidate and committees section\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cfigcaption\u003e\u003cem\u003e“The new Help for candidates and committees section brings together content that previously lived in many parts of the site, and groups it by type of committee.”\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnder the hood, the entire thing runs on \u003ca href=\"https://cloud.gov/\"\u003ecloud.gov\u003c/a\u003e, resulting in cost-savings of over $1.2 million a year, and providing a secure infrastructure that’s easy to deploy and scale to meet demand.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"whats-next\"\u003eWhat’s next\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe are now in a transition phase for FEC.gov. There is a new home page and major new sections, but as of today there are still many pages that have not been fully redesigned and some legacy applications that still serve an important role for certain specialized groups of users. These pages are all accessible via the new site, and will live in a sort of hybrid state on \u003ca href=\"https://transition.fec.gov/\"\u003etransition.fec.gov\u003c/a\u003e, combining the new header and footer while retaining everything from the previous site in between. This ensures that the not-yet-migrated content isn’t lost, but also safeguards against users getting lost in between the old site and the new site’s totally different navigation structures. The hybrid pages will stay like this until they are able to be fully redesigned or replaced by new pages or features over the coming months.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"pre-flip-pre-flipfigurehahahugoshortcode3093s4hbhbfigcaption_while-the-site-was-in-beta-content-that-wasnt-finished-would-link-from-betafecgov-back-to-fecgov-so-that-users-could-find-the-most-up-to-date-information-or-guidance_figcaptionfigure\"\u003ePre-flip {#pre-flip}\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/assets/blog/fec/5-preflip.png\"\n    alt=\"An image showing how beta.FEC.gov linked to FEC.gov before the URL change.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cfigcaption\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhile the site was in beta, content that wasn’t finished would link from beta.fec.gov back to FEC.gov so that users could find the most up to date information or guidance.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"post-flip-with-hybrid-transition-pages-post-flip-with-hybrid-transition-pagesfigurehahahugoshortcode3093s5hbhbfigcaption_after-the-site-flip-fecgov-content-no-longer-links-back-to-classicfecgov-hybrid-pages-on-transitionfecgov-use-the-content-from-classicfecgov-and-the-navigation-design-from-new-fecgov-for-pages-that-arent-quite-complete-on-new-fecgov_figcaptionfigure\"\u003ePost-flip, with hybrid transition pages {#post-flip-with-hybrid-transition-pages}\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/assets/blog/fec/6-postflip.png\"\n    alt=\"An image showing how after the URL change, the new FEC.gov only links to transition.fec.gov pages, and not to classic.fec.gov.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cfigcaption\u003e\u003cem\u003eAfter the site flip, FEC.gov content no longer links back to classic.FEC.gov. Hybrid pages on transition.FEC.gov use the content from classic.FEC.gov and the navigation design from new FEC.gov for pages that aren’t quite complete on new FEC.gov.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/figcaption\u003e\u003c/figure\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are also several major new features we’ll still be working on, including a more powerful search for individual contributions across time, enhancements to data browsing, additional legal resources, and more guidance content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMeanwhile, we know that change is hard, and a massive change like this carries a lot of risk. That’s why the entire old experience will continue to be available at \u003ca href=\"http://classic.fec.gov/\"\u003eclassic.fec.gov\u003c/a\u003e. That way, users who are used to the old way of navigating will be able to have a fallback in case they need it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere’s still a lot to do and we will continue working with our partners to ensure that this new FEC.gov meets user needs. We’re eager to get feedback from real users and are listening by \u003ca href=\"mailto:webmanager@fec.gov\"\u003eemail\u003c/a\u003e and on \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/18f/fec\"\u003eGitHub\u003c/a\u003e. But we crossed a major milestone last week, and so to our partners, our users, and everyone who helped along the way, all we can say is thank you.\u003cem\u003eThis post was originally published on the \u003ca href=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/blog/\"\u003e18F blog\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
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