measuring succes for non-transactional websites

Measuring Success for Federal WebsitesHow The Office of Extramural Research Utilized

ForeSee to Improve User Experience

David RosenBranch Chief Web Development and Technology

Office of Extramural ResearchNational Institutes of Health

• Took over Branch 4 years ago.

• Has worked on other Federal websites like Army.mil and the VA.

• Has consulted with Non-Profits and Associations like SHRM and ASAE.

NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER)

OER provides the corporate framework for NIH research administration, ensuring scientific integrity, public accountability, and effective stewardship of the NIH extramural research portfolio.

Three Year Modernization

2012 - Cold Fusion no CMS 2013-14 – Updated Design & Drupal CMS

2015-16 Foresee Survey Input and Usability Audit

Improved User Interface

2012 search for funding 2016 search for funding

What Was our Issue?

E-Commerce Websites Make it Easy

Non-profit and Member Based.

Federal Sites…

Watching Google Analytics

Our First Step

• We needed to set a goal.GOAL: To be the main portal for all official information about NIH Extramural Grants and have that information easy to find.

Translate that Goal into Measureable Indicators1. Are our customers finding

the information they are looking for?

2. Are they satisfied with their experience?

3. Are our priorities aligned with their interests?

4. Are we missing information that they need from us?

1. Are Our Customers Finding the Information They are Looking For?

• Can you really derive this information from analytics?

Ask Your Customers Directly!

• “how well the features on the site help you find the information you need.”

Monthly KPI

Did you find the information you were looking for today?

Did you find the information you were looking for

today?

31%NO

69%YES

Yes No Overall

Responses 64 29 93

69% 31%

Information Browsing 68 36 58

Look and Feel 77 68 74

Navigation 69 43 61

Site Information 73 45 64

Site Performance 87 80 84

Satisfaction 68 42 60

Primary Resource 81 68 77

Recommend 77 55 70

Return 87 81 85

Digging Deeper

Implementation

2. Are They Satisfied with Their Experience?

Survey Driven KPI.• “What is your overall satisfaction with this site?”

Setting Priorities Based on User Satisfaction.Priority Map

Status Quo Required Maintain or Improve

Monitor Top Priority

Impact

Scor

e

Site Information

69, 1.3

Site Performance85, 0.0

Navigation64, 1.8Look & Feel

71, 0.9

Information Browsing61, 1.6

Digging Deeper

Implementation

3. Are Our Priorities Aligned with Their Interests?

Digging Deeper: Utilize Custom Questions to Drill into Key Segments

69

59 59 59 58

Satisfaction by Role

Visitor expectations often vary based on their role or reason to visit the website.

Implementation

4. Are We Missing Information that They Need From us?

Search Analytics

Digging Deeper

Implementation

So After all this What Did we Not Look at to Judge Success?

Visits, Hits, Unique Visitors, Page View, and Time on Site!

Thank you!