The Tax Institute at H&R Block

The Tax Institute at H&R BlockSTRATEGIC PLANJuly 21, 2009

STRATEGIC PLAN

07/21/2009 — PAGE 2POPULARFRONT.COM 555 FIRST AVENUE NE, MINNEAPOLIS MINNESOTA 55413 612.363.0900 H&R BLOCK – THE TAX INSTITUTE STRATEGIC PLAN

Overview 3Project Background 4Project Overview 5Process/Methodology 6Objectives 7Audiences 8

Strategic Findings 9Overview 10Business Interviews Findings & Recommendations 11Tax Pro Interviews Findings & Recommendations 16Competitive Review 21

Approach 23Overview 24Initial Launch: Feature List & Content Workflow 25Subsequent Launch: Feature List & Content Workflow 29Future Considerations 31

Technology Approach 32Overview 33Architecture Overview 34Technology Interviews Findings & Recommendations 35

Implementation 44Implementation Plan 45

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Overview


OVERVIEW

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Popular Front is entering our fourth tax season with H&R

Block and Tax Pro Finder. This partnership has familiarized us

with many areas of focus for not only the upcoming 2010 tax

season, but also with the new “Will to Win” projects. As a result,

additional areas in which Popular Front can help H&R Block

have emerged, such as helping to develop an enhanced Tax

Institute Web presence.

The Tax InstituteThe Tax Institute at H&R Block is a group of 16 full-time Tax Agents, as well as seasonal staff (12 on-site and 24 field Tax Professionals), who provide research, analysis, and integration of federal and state tax laws. The Tax Institute has three key functions -- Industry Operations/IRS Liasion, Tax Law and Policy Analysis Center, Tax Law Research Center.

The Tax Institute’s Vision The group’s vision is to become the nation’s most trusted source for interpretation and application of tax code within H&R Block and within the industry at large. This includes answering federal or state tax questions, providing industry insight, and acting as the definitive resource for tax law interpretation.

The Current LandscapeCurrently, The Tax Institute leverages an online experience to deliver key information to Tax Professionals. Driven by the Tax Knowledgebase, frequently asked questions from Tax Professionals are converted into feature articles that interpret complex tax code issues. It also contains functionality that allows Tax Professionals to ask a question and enlist The Tax Institute’s help in resolving unique tax preparation issues.


OVERVIEW

Project Objective

The objective of the strategic planning project was to gather insights from a broad spectrum of inputs, data, stakeholders, and partners so that Popular Front could identify agreed-upon areas to focus The Tax Institute’s efforts as well as determine how to evaluate and measure success.

This document contains our findings and recommendations, and includes:

A plan focused on delivering on immediate needs for an initial launch.•

An approach addressing the use of technology and the infrastructure in which site data will be organized and searched.•

An approach to The Tax Institute site content, including the tax question submission and answer publishing processes.•

Recommendations for the most effective implementation option.•

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Popular Front is working with The Tax Institute to improve

their online experience and create a road map and strategy for

helping The Tax Institute realize its vision of becoming thought

leaders for matters related to income taxes.

We were given the opportunity to help with this online strategy

and concept some examples of how an updated experience

might look and work. The initial concepts were well received

and H&R Block asked Popular Front to conduct a deeper

discovery effort and develop a strategy for evolving The Tax

Institute’s online presence.

The following document outlines Popular Front’s findings,

insights, and suggested approach to the short-term needs and

the long-term direction of The Tax Institute.


OVERVIEW

PROCESS/METHODOLOGY

In order to gather the information necessary to solidify our

strategic approach, validate ideas generated to date, and

develop a meaningful plan for how to implement our suggested

approach, Popular Front performed the following activities:

Audience Analysis: Popular Front conducted one-on-

one sessions with Tax Professionals in order to better

document and understand how they seek answers to their

tax questions, the degree to which they use the online

channel and other tools in the process, as well their current

perceptions of The Tax Institute.

Competitive Review: Popular Front evaluated the online

presence of two key industry research resources: RIA (used

by Tax Agents), and IRS.gov (used by Tax Professionals)

against key business and user objectives.

Business Process Analysis: We documented how the

current content-generation process is structured and

identified how the site could leverage existing strengths

of the process as well as improve workflow, content-

generation, and publishing practices.

Technical Analysis: In partnership with The Tax

Institute’s technical team, Popular Front identified how

data is currently structured, stored, and accessed, and

documented technical constraints that need to be taken

into account during site development. Popular Front

also identified opportunities to revisit data structure and

taxonomy to make features such as faceted search feasible.

Primary Research Process

The Tax InstituteStrategic Plan

Strategic Findings•

Technology Approach•

Implementation Plan•

Audience Analysis

Competitive Review

Business Process Analysis

Technical Analysis

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2

3

4


OVERVIEW

Short-term Objectives

Increase organizational effificency by more effectively leveraging existing resources.•

Increase brand awareness and value among Tax Professionals inside and outside of H&R Block.•

To accomplish these objectives, Popular Front will focus on evolving the Tax Knowledgebase and enhancing The Tax Institute Web experience in three ways:

Elevate do-it-yourself research to the primary method that Tax Professionals use to research and find answers at 1.

The Tax Institute.

Evolve the Tax Knowledgebase to become a more comprehensive and fully indexed database of questions, answers, 2.

and articles for Tax Professionals.

Emphasize do-it-yourself research to reduce the volume of questions, and focus Tax Agents on resolving truly 3.

complex cases.

Long-term Objectives

Fully establish The Tax Institute brand as thought leaders for all matters related to income tax.•

Increase the visibility and value of The Tax Institute within H&R Block and the industsry as a whole.•

Enhance systems and workflow to support the ongoing growth of the The Tax Institute brand and its expert content.•

Establish online as the center of an integrated Tax Institute campaign and tax community.•

Increase The Tax Institute touch points beyond the Web to all marketing and communication channels (PR, POS, •

collateral, direct).

Expand market share beyond Tax Professionals to individuals tax payers.•

OBJECTIVESShort-term objectives drive the recommendations behind

the first two launches outlined in our approach. A number

of long-term objectives were also created to drive future

release planning.

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2

3


OVERVIEW

Primary Audiences

H&R Block Tax ProfessionalsOn the frontline with clients, this group is looking for trusted, effective, and timely support to resolve their tax questions and complete their client’s tax returns as quickly and accurately as possible. The Tax Institute Tax AgentsSixteen full-time agents with a great deal of experience and education, this group is charged with responding to Tax Professionals’ questions and populating the Tax Knowledgebase with articles. During peak season, they are augmented with 12 on-site tax professionals and 24 field tax professionals who assist with answering questions.

Secondary Audiences

Non-H&R Block Tax ProfessionalsSimilar to H&R Block Tax Professionals, this group is looking for answers and resources that will help them resolve their issues in the most cost-effective and timely manner.

AUDIENCESPopular Front idenfitied three audiences that are directly

impacted by this project. Primary audiences include H&R Block

Tax Professionals and The Tax Institute Tax Agents. Non-H&R

Block Tax Professionals are a secondary audience.


Strategic Findings


STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Update the user experience and emphasize do-it-yourself research.1.

How will we track and measure success?

Decrease or flatten “Ask the Expert” questions. •

In 2008, Tax Agents answered 11,900 questions. In 2009, this number nearly doubled to 21, 600.

Decrease time to respond to questions. •

The Tax Institute’s Tax Agents try to respond to 95% of all questions within a Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 3-4 days (5-7 days during peak season). During the ’09 tax season only 30% of questions were closed within 3 days. At one point, this service level agreement was cancelled due to the huge volume of questions. By decreasing the number of questions, Tax Agents will be able to improve the SLA.

Decrease the time it takes Tax Professionals to find needed answers. •

Based on stakeholder research, 2-3 days was seen as the window of time Tax Pros have to find answers to questions.

Elevate The Tax Institute brand to expand the expert tools and resources it offers.2.

How will we track and measure success?

Raise awareness of the The Tax Institute brand. •

As expertise is reinforced across all marketing channels, The Tax Institute brand perception will increase.

Increase revenue from non-H&R Block Tax Professionals. •

Though a minor consideration, the right content and usability will generate revenue much greater than the $10-20K per year that the current system drives.

Expand reach to individuals.• As the amount of valuable content grows, The Tax Institute could increase traffic to the site and generate more ROI opportunities by targeting individuals in addition to Tax Professionals.

OVERVIEWThree types of findings – business, user, and technology – were

gathered and distilled into the insights at the foundation of the

strategic findings.

These insights were used to develop feature lists and content

workflows for both the initial and subsequent launches. In turn,

they drove the creation of future considerations.

The approach that emerged from research is two-fold:

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2


STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Business Interviews: Research Process Summary

Tax Agents are effectively using existing tools.

Findings

Tax Agents mainly use Research Institute of America’s (RIA) Web site to research new cases. The RIA Web site is not •

available to H&R Block Tax Pros due to membership cost.

When using The Tax Institute to research articles, Tax Agents use the audience-facing Web experience as there is no •

administrator search within Clarify or Vignette. In turn, there is no way for them to search previous questions and answers. They can only search articles.

Cases normally take less than two hours to resolve. Complex cases may involve additional research time and/or team-based •

processes (SWAT) to resolve.

AssessmentTax Agents are very comfortable and proficient at research. At this point in the process, there are very few problems.

RecommendationProvide better access to internal data in the Tax Knowledgebase and previous cases. This will help further streamline the process.

BUSINESS INTERVIEWS: FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONSPopular Front conducted stakeholder interviews with a variety

of The Tax Institute team members to understand workflow,

systems and Tax Knowledgebase content.

Popular Front met with:

Tax Agents: Zach Goff, David Brewer, Jennifer Rempe, •

Cheryl Meditz

The Tax Agent in charge of Tax Knowledgebase Content: •

Gil Charney

The Tax Agent in charge of Systems: Mary Bunnel•

The Manager of Tax Agents: Joe Parker•


STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Business Interviews: Tax Knowledgebase Content Summary

Content focuses on previous issues and does not provide guidance into the future.

Findings

The Tax Knowledgebase does not include all Tax Institute cases (questions and answers). Only hand-picked cases are •

developed into articles and published via Vignette to the Tax Knowledgebase.

Once written, articles are manually tagged with synonyms and keywords by Tax Agents. It is up to the Tax Agent to “think •

like a Tax Pro” when assigning tags.

The questions and answer format was chosen because Tax Agents felt it was the simplest way to communicate information •

to an inexperienced audience of searchers.

Articles are written after issues have peaked and dissipated. Due to resource issues, often articles are written after tax •

season is over.

AssessmentThe current Tax Knowledgebase content is reactive (providing information from the last tax season). At the same time, Tax Agents and Tax Professionals expressed the need to have access to more insight into new or revised tax codes before issues and questions arise.

RecommendationPush content on key issues via The Tax Institute online experience. Over time, offer additional resources and tools to offset the reactive nature of the Tax Knowledgebase.

BUSINESS INTERVIEWS: FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS (continued)


STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Business Interviews: Tax Knowledgebase Management Summary

Accuracy of content relies on manual, sporadic review.

Findings

There are no formal reviews of Tax Knowledgebase content. Updates to articles happen when Tax Agents come across an •

error or outdated information while they are researching other cases.

Current feedback mechanisms (relevancy rating, feedback field, and an overall article rating) on the The Tax Institute •

Web site are hidden behind extra clicks and are not easy or intuitive for Tax Professionals to find. Thus, there’s very little community involvement in keeping the Tax Knowledgebase accurate.

There is no way to systematically flag an article for update when tax codes change. Updates are completely manual.•

All data is currently hard coded into the body of articles. However, a great deal of this data changes each year. •

AssessmentExpert content is the foundation of The Tax Institute brand. It needs to be relevant and up to date.

RecommendationCreate automated mechanisms for tracking Tax Knowledgebase content via tags. Make feedback mechanisms more visible and accessible in order to empower the entire tax community to police and update Tax Knowledgebase content.



STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Business Interviews: Workflow Summary

Systems and processes are complicated and human-based.

Findings

36-click process in Clarify is cumbersome and complex. •

The same file is saved three times in three different ways during workflow to accommodate technical issues with Clarify.•

Tax Agents are assigned cases based on 1-2 areas of expertise. However, case assignment is a loose, human process that •

involves review of the question prior to assignment.

Some cases are assigned to Tax Agents outside of the Clarify system (via e-mail, etc.), and there is currently no way for a Tax •

Agent to input a case on behalf of a Tax Professional.

There is no formal system to handle redundant or duplicate questions. Tax Agents address these on a case-by-case basis. •

Generally, the goal is to have duplicates assigned to the same Tax Agent(s).

AssessmentAgents spend a great deal of time focusing on process that would be better spent resolving additional cases.

RecommendationAssess the Clarify workflow and system to streamline the process. This will allow Agents to focus their time on resolving cases.



STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Business Interviews: Tracking & Monitoring Summary

Current assessment and tracking is anectodal and qualitative.

Findings

Tax Agent Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are 3-4 days during normal business seasons and 5-7 days during peak season. •

Due to the volume of questions, they did not come close to making their SLAs last tax season. SLAs were actually cancelled midway through the season.

The timer used to track resolution length within Clarify is very inaccurate – it resets when ownership changes. Thus, •

reporting is inaccurate.

Cases that come to Tax Agents outside of Clarify cannot be tracked as there is no way for agents to enter them into the •

system.

Agents are measured on the number of cases they resolve – not on quality or complexity.•

Decisions to write new or update existing articles in the Tax Knowledgebase are not tied to quantitative issue tracking or •

reporting. They’re based on:

Reaction to tax code changes. ·

What Tax Agents deem is important for Tax Professionals. ·

Requests from Tax Agents based on their case or when they encounter erroneous or outdated information. ·

There is no formal process in place to monitor and update the Tax Knowledgebase. •

AssessmentSystems do not provide a means to track trends, issues, etc. As a result, a complex system of human-based assessment has developed to qualitatively drive updates and enhancements to The Tax Institute’s data. The qualitative assessments are very good, but should be balanced with quantitative tracking methods so that ideas can be easily vetted against concrete data about audience needs.

RecommendationProvide a means to track trend data via tags.



STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Tax Pro Interviews: Research Process Summary

Though all Tax Pros use a similar suite of tools, tool preference varies by age.

FindingsAll Tax Professionals listed the same general research resources:

Quick Finder (annual resource book)•

Consult colleagues in office•

Consult colleagues designated as subject matter experts in the district•

IRS.gov information and publications•

My Block/The Tax Institute•

Manuals from training courses•

Older Tax Pros:

Primarily use paper-based research methods especially while face-to-face with clients.•

Feel going online while a client is present does not instill confidence in their abilities. •

Prefer paper-based methods due to habit and comfort searching in books.•

Want to file a paper trail of answers so that they are covered should there be any issues with returns in the future.•

Younger Tax Pros:

Go online and use H&R Block resources – My Block and The Tax Institute – first. (One did not even list the Quick •Finder reference as a resource.)

Are comfortable searching online for answers while face-to-face with clients.•

See online searching as a good way to reassure clients by validating their answers. •

AssessmentThe Tax Institute’s new online experience needs to provide a more intuitive search and browse experience that accommodates the needs of both older novice online searchers and younger power searchers.

RecommendationRedesign the user experience of search and browse functionality to better meet the needs of all audiences.

TAx PRO INTERVIEWS: FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONSPopular Front conducted a series of one-on-one user sessions

with Tax Professionals from H&R Block offices in the

Minneapolis, MN, metro area. Popular Front gained an

understanding of the Tax Professionals’ research habits, the

research tools they prefer and why, as well as their overall

perception of The Tax Institute and its online experience.

Popular Front met with:

Cindy K. (20 years)•

Rhonda H. (17 years)•

Deona B. (2 years)•

Bev H. (13 years)•

Joanna A. (15 years)•

Nancy F. (20 years)•

Roberta B. (4 years)•


STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Tax Pro Interviews: Tax Knowledgebase Content Summary

The Tax Knowledgebase consists of a good basis of frequently-asked-question content.

Findings

Once exposed to the experience, all the Tax Pros found it very helpful. Most defined the Tax Knowledgebase correctly as a •

FAQs raised by other Tax Pros.

However, most Tax Pros were looking for more information from The Tax Institute than simple FAQs including upcoming •

tax code changes, as well as archives of previous years’ tax codes and related issues.

The actual Q&A format garnered mixed reviews. Approximately half of the participants like the Q&A format, as it was the •

way they thought about research. The other half would prefer a more keyword-based headline to drive them into a more comprehensive set of data that covered an entire subject area.

Many Tax Pros liked the publication and tax code references at the bottom of each article, so that they could do more •

investigation if their research needs required it.

AssessmentTax Pros would make more efficient use of the tool is there more efficient ways to search for content.

RecommendationShort Term: Expand the taxonomy of the current Tax Knowledgebase experience to include more ways to search – by publication, code, form, etc.

Long Term: Expand the suite of tools and resource to provide more variety of information – both proactive and reactive.

TAx PRO INTERVIEWS: FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS (continued)


STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Tax Pro Interviews: Site Navigation & Taxonomy Summary

Keyword searches are the primary form of navigation.

Findings

When researching a question, search was considered the primary means of finding answers. All Tax Pros interviewed •

expressed that they would always start with a keyword search.

Browse navigation was valuable to Tax Pros who were looking to learn. Three different participants mentioned that they •

have already or would in the future browse navigation in The Tax Institute in their down moments to learn about tax issues. These browsers tended to be younger Tax Pros (< 40).

There were no major issues with the taxonomy of the Tax Knowledgebase. Categories were sometimes considered too •

broad, but once a participant navigated into sub-categories, their questions were quickly answered and they became more comfortable with the organization.

AssessmentHaving access to multiple categories and levels of information will enable Tax Pros to make better use of the tool.

RecommendationPresent sub-categories immediately (instead of forcing the user to click) in order to more quickly inform Tax Pros about the types of information available in each category.

Display the number of articles associated with a category to give Tax Pros an immediate reference to the amount of content in each area of the site.



STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Tax Pro Interviews: Training & Awareness Summary

The Tax Institute needs to increase awareness and establish its value.

Findings

Most of the Tax Pros interviewed were not aware of the Tax Knowledgebase, nor did they fully understand what The Tax •

Institute was (a few even thought that it was part of the IRS).

Once exposed to the online experience, all agreed that there needed to be more visibility for The Tax Institute and more •

awareness of the value and functionality of the online experience.

Speed-of-use when researching with the Tax Knowledgebase was very important to Tax Pros. Anything that would help •

them quickly find answers in front of clients was considered a positive.

AssessmentThere is not enough brand awareness of what The Tax Institute is or the services it provides.

RecommendationCoordinating the release of the new Tax Institute experience with opportunities for training and/or promotion of the value and vision:

Become a bigger part of yearly Skills for Success training.•

Create a comprehensive Smart Card as part of Skills for Success training. •

Develop an intro class focused on The Tax Institute, its tools, and how to search (especially for older Tax Pros).•



STRATEGIC FINdINGS

Tax Pro Interviews: The Tax Institute Site EnhancementsThroughout the course of the Tax Pro interviews, a variety of site enhancements were suggested by the participants. Below is a list of enhancements that were raised in several of the sessions and, thus, merited being mentioned in these findings.

User-Generated Enhancements

Findings

Streamline access to The Tax Institute and MyBlock. Most Tax Pros perceived the login process as a deterrent to accessing •

needed information. Login currently must be repeated each time they go online.

Present an archive of past years’ questions and tax code references for Tax Pros doing audits.•

Feature articles on upcoming changes to tax codes (upcoming or current tax season).•

Feature most recent or most popular articles.•

Include more related questions within the body of articles.•

Include more examples within the body of articles.•

RecommendationAddress content enhancements as part of the broader release plan – especially after the 2010 tax season.



STRATEGIC FINdINGS

COMPETITIVE REVIEWAs a means of gathering additional insight, Popular Front

analyzed two key industry Web-based resources: irs.gov and ira.

thomsonreuters.com. The goal was to benchmark their search,

navigation, and content.

Competitive Review: irs.gov

Home page presents a cross-section of push content on current issues, as well as provides a variety of ways to begin searching for information.

The experience emphasizes keyword searching. Search is comprehensive and intuitive. Keywords are highlighted throughout results. Browse navigation is comprehensive but hidden and hard to use.

Articles are backed up with cross-linked citations and the user has the ability to highlight searched terms throughout articles.


STRATEGIC FINdINGS

COMPETITIVE REVIEW (continued) Competitive Review: ria.thomsonteuters.com

Browse navigation is extremely comprehensive, but includes an overwhelming amount of choices. Because the experience does not prioritize or highlight current or critical issues, users need to know what they’re looking for to browse the site.

A diverse set of tools throughout the site provides a variety of ways to search. However, the search results of these tools vary greatly. This gives the impression that the searches are not connected or comprehensive.

Articles are backed up with cross-linked citations and the user has the ability to highlight searched terms throughout articles.


Approach


APPROACH

OVERVIEWPopular Front’s approach outlines our recommendations for

initial launch of an enhanced Tax Institute online experience

as well as a subsequent launch that continues to enhance and

evolve the experience. For both launches, we have detailed

the features and functionality of the experience, as well as the

workflow and tools needed to support it.

Beyond this tax season, we have also included Future

Consideration in this approach that will become the foundation

of future iterations and evolutions of both The Tax Institute

online experience as well as The Tax Institute brand.

Popular Front’s recommended approach includes three

components:

Initial Launch Features List & Content Workflow1.

The initial launch will focus on increasing organizational efficiency and elevating the value of The Tax Institute by improving search and browse. The

launch includes new and enhanced features and an enhanced workflow that will:

Improve the design and usability of the current experience.•

Revise the taxonomy to align with industry benchmarks an the explicit needs of Tax Professionals. •

Allow Tax Professionals to more easily and accurately search the Tax Knowledgebase for answers before submitting questions. •

Provide a tool and process to tag all articles for effective searching, browsing and tracking. •

Prompt the Tax Professionals to begin the content tagging process when as part of the submitting a question to The Tax Institute.•

Subsequent Launch Features List & Content Workflow2.

For the subsequent launch, the Tax Knowledgebase will be augmented with a database of more information and resources relevant to Tax Professionals. The launch includes new and enhanced features as well as a new workflow that will:

Expand the site to deliver the database of questions with final/approved answers along with articles. This will allow Tax Professionals •

to learn from other Tax Pro’s questions and minimize redundant questions submitted.

Allow Tax Professionals to add their own tags to content (articles as well as questions and answers) they want to bookmark. •

Begin pushing content to Tax Professionals based on current, new and/or most popular issues. •

Leverage and enhance the Tax Agent workflow to allow for consistent content tagging. •

Future Considerations3.

Beyond the first two launches, Popular Front has included a variety of additional recommendations to drive future release planning and provide a vision for the ongoing evolution of The Tax Institute’s brand. These include:

Collect and centralize all of The Tax Institute’s content. •

Develop a full suite of expert tools and resources. •

Build a community around tax information. •

Expand the tracking of trends. •

Convert trends into outreach and acquisition strategies.•

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APPROACH

INITIAL LAUNCH: FEATURE LISTPopular Front uses a Feature List to define the ways in which

the site will fulfill the content and functionality needs of both

Tax Professionals and Tax Agents. It is organized by New and

Enhanced features and, in turn, highlights the areas of impact

that these features have (UX, Technology, and/or Workflow).

The Feature List is a valuable tool that will be used to:

Gain consensus between Popular Front and The Tax Institute •

regarding what will be included in the site.

Allow the team to prioritize the work. •

Outline the complexity of individual features.•

Provide a starting point for planning future releases.•

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles via a Web-based tool.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles by selecting text-based keywords generated by Google Appliance.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles with appropriate Tax Agent Area(s) of Expertise.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles with publication names referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles with tax codes referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles with regulations referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles with form numbers or names referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles based on jurisdiction to which they apply – Federal or State (MN, KS).

Allow articles to exist within multiple categories (remove one-to-one relationship).

Allow users to browse content by publication name.

Allow users to browse content by tax code.

Allow users to browse content by regulation.

Allow users to browse content by form.

Allow users to rate content using a clickable 5-star rating system.

Allow users to provide feedback on content (article accuracy, quality of information).

Display search and browse functionality prominently on the home page.

Show article count within each level of the taxonomy.

Allow user-defined tags during question submission process (Category, Tax Form, Federal/State).

Provide access to the “My TTI” (questions/answers/bookmarks) from the home page.

Present help features into a single section of the site.

Present question detail and case detail content in a single page layout.

New Feature

Enhanced Feature

User Experience

Technology

Workflow

Initial Launch: Feature List


APPROACH

INITIAL LAUNCH: CONTENT WORKFLOWIncreased tagging opportunities ensure that no matter how a

Tax Professional searches the Tax Knowledgebase, all pertinent

articles will be returned as results.

Initial Launch: Content Tagging

In order to make do-it-yourself search more effective, back-end systems need to support the front-end delivery of content. As mentioned in the Feature List, Popular Front recommends developing a tagging tool that would allow Tax Agents to more comprehensively and consistently tag all article content. This would make content more accessible and easier to find for Tax Pros, and also allow for easier tracking.

Publications,Codes, & Regulations

Entered by Agent via Tagging•

Searchable via Menu•

Selections & User-Entered Keywords•

Categorization& Sub-Categorization

Categorized at time of Publishing•

Searchable via Menu Selections & User-•Entered Keywords

Keyword TagsEntered by Agent via •Tagging

Searchable via Menu•

Selections & User-Entered •Keywords

Open Text SearchGoogle Search Appliance Article •Indexing

Searchable via User-Entered Keywords•

TaxKnowledgebase

Article


APPROACH

Initial Launch: Pre-launch Tagging

Pre-launch resources will need to be devoted to the effort of tagging the existing 3,000 Tax Knowledgebase articles. This could be accomplished either as a one-time effort or a phased approach starting with the most current articles.

As defined above, the tagging tool will allow Tax Agents to easily tag articles with:

Text-based keyword tags from the Google appliance•

Tax Agent Areas of Expertise•

Publications referred to in the article•

Codes referred to in the article•

Regulations referred to in the article•

Multiple taxonomy categories•

Ongoing Tagging ProcessTo accommodate all new articles moving forward, the Tax Agent content workflow will need to be updated as follows.

Article TaggingThe following diagram displays at which point in the article-creation process that tags are added to the article. Popular Front adhered to existing workflow, with the addition of only one new tagging moment.

INITIAL LAUNCH: CONTENT WORKFLOWTo support consistent, timely, and accurate tagging of articles,

Popular Front recommends a pre-launch tagging effort for

existing content and a minor workflow enhancement to address

ongoing article tagging.

Keyword TagsPublications,Codes, & Regulations


Google Appliance Tags

Questions are evaluated for Article creation.

1Article isdeveloped by a Tax Agent.

Tagged with

Tax Agent tags the Article with Keywords.

Tagged with

User finds theArticle via searchor browse.

Article ispublished.

Tagged with

2 3 4 5New Step


APPROACH

INITIAL LAUNCH: CONTENT WORKFLOWTo streamline the tagging process and minimize the impact on

the existing Tax Agent workflow, Popular Front recommends

leveraging a tagging tool with a simple interface.

Article Title and Content will display so the administrator

may read the article. If required, the article may scroll.

When the user selects a tag, it will populate this area.

Several tabs will allow the administrator to navigate to the

tags he or she wishes to assign to the Article.

Tag terms will be displayed. When a tag is clicked on it will

be added to the Selected Tags area. When a tag is selected,

it will display in a selected state within the Tag terms area.

Clicking on a tag in a selected state will de-select the tag.

**** This documenT is noT inTended To represenT design, iT is for informaTion archiTecTure purposes only ****

THE TAX INSTITUTE

SELECTED TAGS

How much of a traditional IRA contribution can be deducted?

SUBMITCANCEL

BACK TO ARTICLES

Last Updated:4/25/2008

Resolution

Generally, a taxpayer can deduct the lesser of:

• The contributions to the traditional IRA for the year, or• The general limit (or the spousal IRA limit, if applicable).

If either the taxpayer or spouse was an active participant in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, the taxpayer may be entitled to only a partial (reduced) deduction or no deduction at all, depending on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) and filing status.

The deduction begins to decrease (phase out) when modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) rises above a certain amount and is eliminated altogether when it exceeds the high end of the phaseout range. These threshold amounts vary

ADD OTHER FEDERAL/STATE

CODES & REGULATIONS

PUBLICATIONS AREAS OF EXPERTISE

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Last Updated:4/25/2008

Resolution

Generally, a taxpayer can deduct the lesser of:

• The contributions to the traditional IRA for the year, or• The general limit (or the spousal IRA limit, if applicable).

If either the taxpayer or spouse was an active participant in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, the taxpayer may be entitled to only a partial (reduced) deduction or no deduction at all, depending on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) and filing status.

The deduction begins to decrease (phase out) when modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) rises above a certain amount and is eliminated altogether when it exceeds the high end of the phaseout range. These threshold amounts vary

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Initial Launch: Content Tagging Admin Tool


APPROACH

SUBSEQUENT LAUNCH: FEATURE LISTPopular Front uses a Feature List to define the ways in which

the site will fulfill the content and functionality needs of both

Tax Professionals and Tax Agents. It is organized by New and

Enhanced features and, in turn, highlights the areas of impact

that these features have (UX, Technology, and/or Workflow).

The Feature List is a valuable tool that will be used to:

Gain consensus between Popular Front and The Tax Institute •

regarding what will be included in the site.

Allow the team to prioritize the work. •

Outline the complexity of individual features.•

Provide a starting point for planning future releases.•

Allow Tax Agents to tag questions and answers via a Web-based tool.

Allow Tax Agents to publish questions and answers to the Tax Institute Web site interface.

Allow Tax Agents to tag all published questions and answers with appropriate Tax Agent area(s) of expertise.

Allow Tax Agents to tag all published questions and answers with publications referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag all published questions and answers with tax codes referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag all published questions and answers with regulations referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag articles with form number(s) or name(s) referenced in content.

Allow Tax Agents to tag questions and answers based on jurisdiction to which they apply – Federal or State (MN, KS).

Allow questions and answers to exist within multiple categories (remove one-to-one relationship).

Allow users to browse questions and answers by all appropriate taxonomy categories.

Allow users to assign their own My Tags to content.

Allow users to designate some/all of their My Tags private.

Allow users to designate some/all of their My Tags public.

Allow users to subscribe to some/all of other users’ My Tags.

Display My Tags in browse experience.

Display My Tags in search results.

Present key tax code updates or Q&A trends on home page.

Present most viewed Q&A trends on home page with links to search results.

Graphically present most asked Q&A trends on home page with links to search results.

New Feature

Enhanced Feature

User Experience

Technology

Workflow

Subsequent Launch: Feature List


APPROACH

Subsequent Launch: Question & Answer Content Tagging

After the initial launch, Tax Agents will be asked to:

Monitor questions for personal information as part of their existing question assessment process. •

Monitor questions for redundancy with already asked or answered questions as part of their existing questions •

assessment process.

Leverage the tagging tool and process to tag questions and answers. Questions and answers will be tagged with the same •

categories set up for articles:

Text-based keyword tags from the Google appliance ·

Tax Agent Areas of Expertise ·

Multiple taxonomy categories ·

Publications referred to in the answer ·

Codes referred to in the answer ·

Regulations referred to in the answer ·

Question & Answer TaggingThe following diagram displays at which point in the question-and-answer process that tags are added to the record.

SUBSEQUENT LAUNCH: CONTENT WORKFLOWIn order to integrate question and answer content into

a searchable, browsable experience, the current Tax Agent

workflow will need to be updated to properly assess the value of

questions and assign the appropriate, consistent tags.

User asks a Questionand adds Keywords during submission.

1Question is received and is assigned toa Tax Agent.

Tagged with

Tax Agent develops an Answer to theuser’s Question.

Tagged with

Answer is submitted to the user. Q&A is published.

Q&A is evaluated and additional Keywords are applied.

Tagged with

2 3 4 5New StepNew Step New Step

Tagged with

Keyword TagsPublications,Codes, & Regulations


Google Appliance Tags


APPROACH

Future Considerations

Collect and Centralize all Tax Institute ContentThe Tax Institute already creates a great deal of content to educate people about trends and issues in tax law – press releases, brochures, articles and television appearances. However, that content is not being captured or stored for reuse at this time. It is leveraged once and often lost.

The Tax Institute has the opportunity to create the workflows and systems needed to collect all information and resources into a set of centralized databases. This would allow the entire Tax Institute organization and the larger H&R Block organization to leverage content to reach all audiences – tax pros, media and individuals.

develop a Full Suite of Expert Tools and ResourcesTo better leverage its breadth of content, The Tax Institute should expand upon the Tax Knowledgebase and create a complete suite of tools and resources that allow audiences to access information and guidance in the ways most appropriate for them.

Tools and resources could be created that go beyond solving problems as they arise to providing proactive information and guidance about upcoming tax code changes or even archiving information from previous years’ tax codes. These could be delivered in modules that are targeted to the specific needs of specific audiences.

Build a Community Around Tax InformationThe Tax Institute has access to a great deal of seasoned experts on taxes, tax law, and tax interpretation. Tax Professionals provide a depth of information and passion for taxes that would effectively augment Tax Agents’ research efforts. In turn, individual taxpayers would pay a premium to have access to a strong community of experts to assist with their issues.

The Tax Knowledgebase could be extended to become the foundation of an ongoing dialogue around tax questions, issues, and changes. This would allow Tax Professionals to actively participate in answering questions and provide all audiences an extensive resource.

Expand the Tracking of TrendsContent tags not only make it easier to search and browse content on The Tax Institute Web experience, they also provide a powerful mechanism to begin dynamically tracking trends and issues occurring within The Tax Institute’s data.

As The Tax Institute begins to tag all of its content, there is an opportunity to:

Track trends in question, answers, and articles to drive content strategy.•

Track user’s tagging trends to drive future enhancements to Tax Knowledgebase taxonomy and tags associated with •content.

Monitor and update content based on trends in tax code, changes in interpretations, etc.•

Convert Trends Into Outreach and Acquisiton StrategiesAs the community grows and the understanding of trends and issues deepens, The Tax Institute will be in a position to become a definitive voice for tax issues. Audience and trend data could be converted into valuable insights to fuel PR campaigns, marketing campaigns, and even the development of new products and services at The Tax Institute or H&R Block.

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONSThe Tax Institute’s brand is based on delivering expert content

to Tax Pros as well as three other key audiences – other industry

practitioners, professional organizations, and the media. While

the initial focus is to empower Tax Pros with intuitive, do-it-

yourself-access to the Tax Knowledgebase, there are a great deal

of ways in which The Tax Institute can elevate its brand, expand

its services, and reinforce its value in the eyes of all audiences.

There are five themes that emerged as we evaluated and

documented future considerations.

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Technology Approach


TECHNOLOGy APPROACH

OVERVIEWBy defining a technology approach which maps to the needs

of users and leverages existing investments, Popular Front can

produce a significant improvement in the quality of the research

capabilities as well as the users overall experience of the site.

The technology approach we recommend involves:

Efficiently Improving Site Look and Feel1.

Leveraging as much existing business and data layer code as possible for the client experience.•

Providing an engaging and flexible interface for the client experience by utilizing Silverlight for the presentation layer.•

Maximizing reuse of the administrative site by concentrating development efforts on reskinning the existing pages with HTML and •

CSS treatments.

Augmenting Search Metadata 2.

Developing a streamlined tagging tool to allow agents the ability to facilitate the increased quality and robustness of search metadata.•

Extending the tagging tool for use by agents to attach search metadata to selected Q&A data.•

Providing users of the client facing site the ability to personalize search results by augmenting content with their own •

user-supplied tags.

Enhancing Search Results3.

Elevating the quality of the data by normalizing schemas and isolating external dependencies.•

Increasing the accuracy of search results by working with the Google Search Appliance team to fine tune configuration and metadata •

consumption by the device.

Additional Recommendations4.

Enhancing search metrics reporting by capturing search criteria and results to cross reference with existing site metrics.•

Increase the efficiency and accuracy of creating user accounts by evaluating end-to-end login credentials and data exchange.•

Researching mobile platform adoption of The Tax Institute users and providing recommendations for a set of robust middleware •

services that can be adapted to multiple platforms.

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TECHNOLOGy APPROACH

Architecture Overview: Delphis Base ArchitectureTechnology is primarily current Microsoft development tools and practices. Some legacy code and data remains but a substantial effort has been made to migrate into current Microsoft best practices and normalize the data. Some Flash exists on the site, but that is being depreciated. Silverlight would be an acceptable substitute.

There are external dependencies to Google Search Appliance, Clarify, Tax Knowledgebase, and a merchant provider (Cybersource).

Architecture details

MS Windows Server 2003 (load balanced)•

ASP.NET version 2.0.50727 / .NET 3.5 •

Page / Control / Line Counts:•

ASCX controls = 16 ·

ASPX pages ·

admin pages = 10 ·

popup windows via Rad Controls = 9 ·

search engine indexing = 2 ·

Misc pages without security = 12 ·

main site = 33 ·

Master Pages = 10 ·

Class Files = 42 ·

Total lines of code exceeds 48,000 ·

Codesmith datalayer (updated to use MS practices lib)•

RAD controls•

AjaxControlToolkit•

nUnit compatible unit tests have been written into some of the controls.•

PDF Sharp•

SQL Server 2005 databases accessed using mostly using SQL pass through.•

Web service calls to Clarify, Google Search Appliance, Tax Knowledge Base (TKB) and Cybersource.•

ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEWWorking with H&R Block’s IT team, Popular Front assessed

The Tax Institute’s systems and code and was able to outline

the following systems and site architecture. Popular Front will

leverage this architecture when developing the next iterations

of The Tax Institute’s online experience.


USER EXPERIENCE STRATEGy

Technology Interviews: Delphis Architecture Summary

The client facing architecture is primarily implemented using current Microsoft development tools and practices.

FindingsSome legacy code and data remains, but a substantial effort has been made to migrate into current MS best practices and normalize the data. Some Flash exists on the site, but that is being deprecated. Silverlight is a desirable presentation technology.

RecommendationUse as much of the existing data and business layer classes as possible. If timing and budget allow, Silverlight would be an optimum presentation technology and would allow for maximum flexibility in user interface implementation.

TECHNOLOGY INTERVIEWS: FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONSIn addition to business and user interviews, Popular Front

interviewed key IT personnel to gain a deeper, firsthand

understanding of databases, systems, architecture, workflow, etc.

Interviews included the following IT team members:

Andy Dextraze•

David Grainger•

Dave McManus•

John Keschinger•

Lynn Adkins•



Technology Interviews: Admin Tool Summary

An Admin Tool is used by a small internal staff to manage user credentials, permissions, and billing rates.

FindingsLike the client facing side, the Admin Tool is built using .NET architecture and sections have been migrated to current standards.

RecommendationReskin the presentation layer of the Admin Tool with HTML/CSS instead of Silverlight to mitigate cost and schedule overruns.

TECHNOLOGY INTERVIEWS: FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS (continued)



Technology Interviews: Q&A Processing Summary

The process of collecting, routing, and escalating questions is managed through Clarify and maintained by an internal H&R Block team.

FindingsClarify is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool deployed throughout H&R Block. A complex workflow has been developed that manages and measures Q&A responses by Tax Agents. The software and processes are maintained by an internal Clarify team. Several productivity and metrics issues have been raised regarding the existing workflow. Clarify users currently access the system remotely via Citrix Server.

RecommendationAssess of the Clarify workflow and system to streamline the process and focus resource time on resolving cases. Implement a tagging tool to make the searching of questions and answers possible for both Tax Agents as well as users of the client- facing site.




Technology Interviews: Article Production Summary

The production and workflow of articles that appear on the site are managed throughVignette and maintained by an internal H&R Block team.

FindingsVignette is a Content Management System (CMS) used to manage workflow of article creation, approval, categorization, and submission to The Tax Institute Web site. It is maintained by internal Vignette team. It possibly limits articles to a single categorization and limited tagging (synonyms). There is no current ability to associate related articles.

RecommendationWork with the Vignette team to support multiple taxonomy categories and the tagging of related articles. Use data captured through a tagging tool to derive multiple taxonomy categories.




Technology Interviews: Data Anomalies Summary

Databases that feed the client-facing site have redundancies and can be fed from disparate sources.

FindingsWhen reviewing custom questions there are apparently circumstances where some are read from Clarify-fed data and some from Delphis data. This can result in the same questions on two different pages. Clarify applies updates to SQL database via web services and there is no provision for managing redundancy.

RecommendationNormalize the database schema for the client-facing application. Isolate and manage external dependencies with web services.




Technology Interviews: Search Results Summary

A Google Search Appliance (GSA) is used to provide search capability to the client-facing site, but has been problematic.

FindingsSearch has been limited since February due to problems related to using an older, unsupported search appliance (version 4.4). As a result, new content is either not showing up or is showing up incorrectly.

The internal GSA team is migrating to newer appliance (version 5.2). There are reported issues with security and flexibility given that the same GSA box can only be configured to operate one way for all sites. Index pages are completely open. Filters are being performed by processes on the calling side.

RecommendationWork with the internal GSA team to make recommendations on optimizing and potentially segregating search modalities targeted for The Tax Institute. Combine results from this work with tags harvested via a tagging tool in order to provide accurate and comprehensive search results.




Technology Interviews: Metrics Summary

Site metrics are limited and not integrated with other metrics like search terms and results.

FindingsThe Tax Institute is currently using Google Analytics for collecting site metrics. H&R Block is standardizing on Omniture. Search and results metrics are gathered by the client facing application.

RecommendationImplement a series of unified reports that represent site traffic, search terms, and related results in order to provide comprehensive metrics to be used in optimization of search results and site flow.




Technology Interviews: Single-Sign On Summary

Single-Sign On is supported by the client-facing site for Tax Professionals but is limited in its data sharing abilities.

FindingsSiteMinder is currently used to manage the Single-Sign On process, but doesn’t carry as much information as is needed by the site, requiring more registration information to be filled out by user.

RecommendationReview all systems involved in validating credentials for Tax Professionals to determine if more data sharing is possible outside of SiteMinder capabilties.




Technology Interviews: Mobile Application Summary

Some effort has been made in the area of mobile application.

FindingsWindows mobile application development has been started as a proof of concept, but is not yet in a deployable state.

RecommendationEvaluate the range of currently deployed mobile devices and desired use by The Tax Institute clients. Develop a standard set of middle-ware services that could be adapted to any mobile platform including iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Android, etc.



Implementation


IMPLEMENTATION

IMPLEMENTATION PLANAfter finalizing the strategic plan and approach with The Tax

Institute, Popular Front will implement approved features using

a four-phased execution process — User Experience, Design,

Development, and Q/A.

5-6 weeks

Site Map

Interaction Diagrams

Wireframes

Technical Requirements

5-6 weeks

Design Concepts

Page Template Designs

12-14 weeks

Tagging Tool

Google Appliance Integration

Administrative Tool Skinning

Silverlight Development

Utility Page Skinning

CSS Programming

Implementation Documentation

11-13 weeks

Test Plan

Quality Assurance Testing

USER ExPERIENCE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE

Implementation Plan

User Experience

Design

Development

Quality Assurance

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The Tax Institute at H&R Block

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Transcript of The Tax Institute at H&R Block