Blogs

Government teams are improving digital experiences every day. Gain insights from their stories, case studies, and innovations.

Better Performance and Metric Downloads Now Available From Go.USA.gov

A few weeks ago, the Go.USA.gov URL shortener introduced several new features to improve the user experience. Go.USA.gov now offers users faster speeds and downloadable metric information about their links. The service, which launched in 2009, gives government agencies the ability to provide trustworthy shortened links to their audience. Just

Sep 04, 2013

A recent survey of 100 retailers by EPiServer found that 46 percent of those with a mobile strategy in place and 74 percent of those planning to launch one soon said they are using mobile primarily to increase customer loyalty or provide a more personalized experience for

Sep 03, 2013

Getting Started with the Digital Analytics Program

The Digital Analytics Program (DAP) is delighted to announce the launch of a DAP user group and new training program. These initiatives will support DAP users in getting the most from their implementation. The kick-off for this user group will be on Thursday, September 12, 2013, when we will

Sep 03, 2013

Looking at User Experience through Two Lenses

Usability and accessibility are slightly different lenses to assess user experience. It is possible to be strong in one area and weak in the other. Using either approach alone could result in an inaccurate view of your site’s user experience. Evaluating your website with both usability and accessibility in mind gives all users the best

Aug 30, 2013

Mobile Product Testing Guidelines and Resources

You have started developing your mobile product, but you may be wondering what and how to test. As with any form of software development, mobile testing should be done intermittently throughout all development stages. This article was developed as part of the Mobile Application Development Program to provide agencies with some general testing strategies, types,

Aug 22, 2013

Latinos appear to be adapting to mobile technology faster than other groups, according to Mobile Future. They are ahead of the average U.S. population in several key categories, such as: 47% of Latino adults have embraced wireless exclusively versus 34% of all U.S. adults

Aug 20, 2013

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

Aug 15, 2013

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

Aug 15, 2013

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

Aug 08, 2013

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

Aug 07, 2013

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

Aug 05, 2013

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

Aug 05, 2013