TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT AND OUTREACH

1 | Monthly Web Coordinators Meeting eere.energy.gov

Public Service of Colorado Ponnequin Wind Farm

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT AND OUTREACH

Web Coordinators MeetingHosted by:Drew BittnerSarah Kirchen

April 15, 2010Room 5E-081Call In 301-903-6351


• Around the Room (15 min.) – Drew Bittner• Communication Standards Survey Results (10 min.) – Elizabeth

Spencer• Maintaining PIR Pages (5 min.) – Lou Sousa • ITP User Research Survey Results (10 min.) – Morgan Weir • Solar Usability Testing Summary (10 min.) – Linh Truong• Earth Day (10 min.) – Elizabeth Spencer & Leslie Gardner• EERE Facebook Fan Page (5 min.) – Drew Bittner & Chris Stewart• WIP Site Redesign Preview (5 min.) – Elizabeth Meckes• EERE Redesign Update (5 min.) – Chris Stewart

Agenda – April 15, 2010

EERE Web Coordinators Meeting


• Open for two and a half weeks, March 3-19• Designed to get feedback from everyone who works on

the EERE Web site—no matter what products they work on or if they are federal workers or contractors.

• This feedback will be part of a recommendations report that combines statistics, usability testing, Webmaster emails, blog comments, and feedback responses, in order to update the Web site in FY11.

Communication Standards Survey



We received responses from 33 people—23 contractors, 10 federal workers (8 of which are Web Coordinators). Thank you!


About half are fairly new (0-2 years), and half are more experienced (3+ years).



And they work on every part of the EERE enterprise—with a good split between people who work with Web and print products.



The most popular content on the site among the respondents includes the EERE Style Guide, the ability to find updates, and Web project management.



Overall Findings: What the respondents like:• There’s a lot of useful information on the site• The information is comprehensive and detailed• Many respondents not only appreciate the standards

information itself, but the resources like the EERE Style Guide



Overall Findings: What the respondents think could be improved:

• It’s difficult to find information on the site• There’s overlap between the three different Web

sections• The navigation is too dense and too deep• There’s no easy point of entry for new users to the site• Sometimes there’s too much information to process• The site doesn’t explain why some standards are

specifically required



Recommendations for FY11• Re-architect the site to improve the navigation• Look into adding horizontal navigation• Explore a more topic-focused organization for the site• Explore ways to use graphical cues to help users find

and understand content• Consider new ways to highlight and utilize popular

content like the Style Guide and updates to the site• Look for ways to shorten and simplify the content



Questions?



Maintaining PIR Pages

Maintaining Your Program's PIR Webpage

• Role of the Plans, Implementation and Results webpage• Will monitor new products added to the EERE library,

flag those that are 'PIR-worthy,' and bring to attention of program webpage managers

• Semi-annual calls to EERE programs to review and update their PIR pages


ITP User Research Survey Results

Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) Web Site Survey Report Industrial Technologies Program (ITP)

Web Site Survey Report

Understanding Users of the ITP Web Site

April 2010


Agenda


• Purpose

• Methodology

• Results- Overview of Results

- Results by Role (top user groups)


Purpose


• Gather information about- Who is visiting the ITP Web site - How frequently they visit - What type of information they are looking for

• Use data collected to help inform our benchmark usability test of the ITP Web site (May)


Methodology


• Number of Respondents- n = 132 (91 complete; 41 partial)

• Data Collection

- Graphic link on every page of the ITP site

- Feature graphic on ITP home page

• Types of Questions

- Organization type

- Industry

- Professional role

- Size of company

- Why they are visiting the site

- If they found what they were looking for

- Frequency of use, if the site met their needs

- How likely they were to recommend the site


ITP Web Site Home Page




ITP Web Site Survey


Overview of Results


Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) Web Site Survey Report

• Organization Type• Industry• Professional Role• Size of Company• Task Accomplishment • Frequency of Use• Web Site Ratings• User Top Tasks

– Improvements• Results by Role (top user groups)

– Manufacturing– Consulting– Education/Research Institute– Government


Organization Type


• When visiting the Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) site today, what best describes the• organization you work for/represent?(ITP) Web Site Survey Report

n = 118


Industry


• What is the principal industry you represent?

(ITP) Web Site Survey Report

n = 118


Professional Role


• What best describes your professional role?


n = 20


Size of Company


• How many people are employed at your company, at your location?


n = 115


Task Accomplishment


• Did you find what you were looking for on the site?


n = 15


Frequency of Use


• How often do you visit this Web site?


n = 94


Web Site Ratings


• On a scale of 1-10 , how likely are you to recommend the Industrial Technologies Program Web site? ( 1= very unlikely; 10 = very likely)


n = 14


Information Users are Looking For



n = 91

Other25%


Improvements


• How can the ITP Web site better meet your needs?

• Comments - n = 51

• General Categories


- Update more frequently (n = 3)Example: “Launch recent documents”

- General information on energy efficiency solutions (n = 3)Example: “Any ideas or suggestions on how to save energy in my plant, reduce costs, teach me new methods…”

- Improved search function (n = 2)Example: “Improve the search function to provide relevant materials”

- Other specific information requestsExample: “A quick facts page about energy consumption per sector”Example: “Summarize incentive programs by state”Example: “Resource and research white papers”Example: “List out specific initiatives that ITP is working on”

- Nothing (n = 9)Example: “Very efficient and easy to use as is”

- Navigation (n = 4)Example: “It is very general and hard to navigate.

Not exactly sure where I need to go”

- Information architecture (n = 4)Example: “Organization of information is not intuitive

for first time users”

- Training (n = 3)Example: “Maintain historical training presentations

for a long time period, as much of the information is still accurate and needed”

- Case studies (n = 3)Example: “More case studies and calculations that start from the very basic assumption”


Results by Role (top user groups)


• Manufacturing

• Consulting

• Education/Research Institute

• Government



Manufacturing


• How many employees do you have in your manufacturing plant?



n = 37


Manufacturing continued…





n = 37 n = 6






• Did you find what you were looking for?

n = 31 n = 3




• Why were you visiting the ITP Web site today?


Energyassessments

11.54%

Software tools

11.54%

Financial

7.69%

n = 26

General learning/informationon how to save energy

42.31%Other

19.23%

Specific information on an energy system

3.85%Projects

3.85%


Consulting





n = 27


Consulting continued…




• How often do you visit the site?

n = 27n = 22


Consulting continued…





n = 1

Training5%

n = 20

General learning/information

on how to save energy

25%

Software tools

15%

Energyassessments

10%

Financial

10%

DOE programs

10%

Specific information

on an energy system

15%


on an industry

10%

Other

5%


Education/Research Institute





n = 2n = 10


Education/Research Institute continued…




• How often do you visit the site?

n = 10 n = 8


Education/Research Institute continued…





n = 2

n = 9

Specific information onan energy system22.22%


on an industry

22.22%

Software tools

11.11%

General learning/informationon how to save energy11.11%

Information on DOE directives11.11%

Other

22.22%


Government


• What level of government?



n = 12

n = 12


Government continued…





n = 12

n = 4







n = 12

n = 8





(ITP) Web Site Survey Reportn = 8

Training

12.5%

Software tools

37.5%

R&D (Impacts)12.5%

Other

37.5%


Contact Information


Morgan Weir

Communications Specialist

BCS, Inc.

8920 Stephens Rd, Ste 200

Laurel, MD 20723

[email protected]

P: 410.997.7778 x 252

F: 410.997.7669


Overview • Evaluate the top tasks on the DOE Solar Program’s

Web site with a select group of target audience members

• Use feedback as a baseline for future studies • Incorporate findings to improve site.

Solar Usability Testing


Planning (October-November 2009)• Identified goals

• What did we want to learn?• What areas did we want to focus on?• What are the priorities of the users?

• Identified target audiences• Who do we want to reach?• What relationships are most vital to the success of

the Solar Program? • Identified tasks

• What information is important to the target audiences (for us and to them)?

Solar Usability


Recruitment (November-December 2009)• Goal of 1 to 3 participants from each group:

• Congressional staff/DOE PBA staff• Industry partner • Media• DOE lab partner• Non-profit organization.

• 10 actual participants:• 1 media• 2 congressional staffers• 3 industry partners• 1 non-profit staffer• 3 lab managers.

Solar Usability


Sessions • 30-45 minutes• 8 tasks• 6 remote and 4 on-site sessions• Minimum staff needed per session:

• 1 moderator• 1 note-taker• 1 observer.

Solar Usability


Findings: What’s working • EERE Solar Program search engine works well.• Feature buttons are eye catching, especially those with

simple text.• Financial opportunities are easy to find.• Nearly all comments on the home page were positive

when referencing the amount of information and layout.

Solar Usability


Findings: What needs improvement • Users had difficulty finding publications in the library

when using the library’s search engine. • Users had difficulty finding projects that were funded by

the Solar Program. • The rotating features on the home page were eye-

catching to some people, but completely ignored by others.

• Users were confused by some of the terminology on the site.

• Users expected to see a wide range of information on the site for multiple audiences.

Solar Usability


Next Steps• Talk with EES about improving library search engine. • Create landing page for all projects with a link on the

home page.• Move the position of the rotating flash feature above the

fold. • Discuss with HQ a new approach to organizing content. • Add landing pages that take visitors to content on

industry and other external Web sites. • Once changes are made, solicit user feedback every

quarter.

Solar Usability


Earth Day 2010


New and Improved Animation

This fresh edition of the animation is designed to provide more information, more program consistency, and more fun.

The 2010 Earth Day Animation is an interactive tool that enables you to:• Discover what you can do to save energy and money in your

home

• Learn how energy is being used more efficiently in communities

• See the different sources of energy being used across the country

Earth Day 2010


The Earth Day Animation has been expanded for 2010, and includes new features such as:– A new introductory scene– Your Home, Your Community, and Energy Sources scenes– An expanded house scene with more information– Added and updated info on High Efficiency Homes, Government,

Alternative Fuels, and more

The new look is similar to last year’s release, and will be available on the EERE Earth Day Web page next week.

Earth Day 2010


Earth Day 2010


Facebook.com/eeregov “soft launch”• We’d like your feedback and suggestions.

– Please send your comments and ideas to Drew.– We’ll compile it and make improvements in phase II.

• We'd like programs to contribute content.– 2-3 photos: These photos must include rights to publish to the

Web and already be published in programs’ Publication and Product Library.

– Notes and wall posts: First receive program approval to publish this information on Facebook and then send request to Drew.

– Requests to publish information will be considered as part of a larger editorial calendar. We don’t want to overwhelm our fans by publishing at once a lot of information or on the same day.

EERE Facebook Fan Page


EERE Facebook Fan Page


WIP Redesign


• New WIP site includes some design elements of the new template—but isn’t in the new template per se.

• Solar Pilot– Usability testing

• EERE home page and landing pages also will be usability tested.

– Template tweaks

– Process and roadmap for migration

• Landing Pages– Incorporating programs’ feedback

– Usability testing

– New design

• Audience Analysis– Findings and recommendations meeting in May or June

EERE Redesign Update


Wrap Up

• Next Meeting TBA

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT AND OUTREACH

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