Embracing Responsive Design
See how a shift in consumer behavior during the last few years lead to the responsive redesign of USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov.
News and Updates
Innovative work, news, and ideas from people and teams in government
NASA Space Place Prime App
In May, NASA released the Space Place Prime app for both iPhone and iPad. This app’s target audience is not only kids, but for teachers, parents, and all space enthusiasts. Based on NASA’s website, The Space Place, this app presents
New Release on Next.Data.gov
Since the launch of Next.Data.gov, your help and ideas have made it possible to make two updates to the site. We’re naming these biweekly releases after the presidents so the one that launched this week is the Adams Release. We’re pleased to announce that much
SocialGov Summit Diagnoses Viral Gov
Agencies discuss how to make social media programs more sharable and engaging.
Trends on Tuesday: People Are Crazy about Mobile!
The way people are using mobile is changing—we are socializing in new ways; performing tasks in new ways, often multi-tasking between activities; and sharing and gathering information in new ways.
Military OneSource
Members of the military and their families now have access to Military OneSource on the go with the new Department of Defense mobile website Military OneSource. This
Improving Email Open Rates
Guest post by Ellen Langhans, healthfinder.gov Program Manager in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Department of Health and Human Services, with contribution from Tim Hudak, Web Analytics Specialist in the Office of
Trends on Tuesday: A Record 230 Million Smartphones Shipped Q2 2013
According to research done by Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew 47 percent from 156.5 million units in the second quarter of 2012 to 229.6 million units in the second quarter of 2013. Additionally, the research finds that this growth is being driven by demand for Android phones
Mobile Product Security and Privacy Testing Resources
Security testing is used to ensure that a mobile product does not pose a threat to agency IT systems and databases. In addition, privacy testing ensures that an app does not put the user’s personally identifiable information into a compromisable position. This article was developed as part of the Mobile Application Development Program. See our
Mobile Product Performance Testing
Performance testing is used to verify that an app or web page will display quickly to the user and will continue to function as the number of users increases to peak loads. Performance is an important consideration for mobile applications because the connection speed of users is often slower and more variable for mobile users than desktop users. Surveys
Thunderclap Now Available for Government-Wide Adoption
Thunderclap is the latest social media and crowd-sourcing platform available to federal agencies to better engage with the public, with a newly negotiated government-compatible Terms of Service (TOS) agreement. GSA collaborated with Thunderclap to negotiate the amended terms, which brings the total number of tools with federal-compatible agreements to 66.
HUD Office of Inspector General Responsive Design Website
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has developed a responsive design website for the HUD Office of Inspector General. The website provides: news, the latest reports and publications, locations to
The Impact of Culture on Customer Experience
What’s one of the most important factors in delivering a good customer experience? When I first began learning about customer experience, one of the biggest surprises was the importance of culture. Organizational culture can be defined as the values and behavior that contribute to the unique and psychological environment of an organization.It’s based on shared
Mobile Product Accessibility Testing Resources
Accessibility testing is a subset of usability testing and is the inclusive practice of making websites and mobile applications usable by people of all abilities and disabilities. You do this by testing mobile websites and/or applications on all leading browsers, mobile devices and screen readers. This article was developed as part of the Mobile Application
Trends on Tuesday: Identify Your Mobile Personas
The mobile product your agency is trying to promote needs to fit your customers, and creating mobile personas is a strategic way of doing that.
Improving the User Experience with the Usability.gov Reboot
Plan and analyze. Write and design. Test and refine. As Web Manager for Usability.gov, I have found that taking a user-centered approach is vital each time you improve or build a digital product, especially when the content is about improving user
API Security
Like website development, API security revolves around three stages—planning the API, testing the API, and monitoring the API after it has launched. The planning stage requires those involved to conceptually map several design decisions and the impact that they will have on security. The second stage applies your agency’s security program to the API release
Why NCI Moved to a Structured Content Model
Wikipedia says that structured content refers to information that’s been broken down and classified using metadata. It can also refer to information that’s been classified using XML or other standard or proprietary forms of metadata. The National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) move to structured
Understanding Your Customer
Do you know who your customers are? And what they expect from your organization? One of the most critical components of a successful customer experience program is to understand your customer. The first step is knowing who your customers are. Are they veterans, students, senior citizens or other federal workers? In some cases your customers
NOAA’s Whale Alert – Ship Strike Reduction for Right Whales App
Mariners now have an anytime, anywhere resource to aid in the
