Onboard Alex

[Maroyafaied]

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In order to get Alex productively contributing to the Open Data, Design, & Development (ODDD) team,Buddyshould helpAlex` complete a prescribed set of tasks that will bring them up to speed.

Directions

Buddy: If you can’t complete any of the items on your checklist personally, you are responsible for ensuring that someone with the correct access completes that item.

Alex: Take judicious notes on what about this onboarding process or the websites are confusing or frustrating. If you notice a problem (especially with things like documentation), you are more than welcome to fix it! At the very least, please share this information with your buddy so we can make the team/platform better. You can also file issues and pull requests as soon as you feel comfortable doing so.

Get access to GitHub so that you can complete this checklist

• [x] Create a GitHub account that you can use for government work
  GitHub is a platform for collaborative web development.

  • [x] Let @Maroyafaied (or anyone who is an admin) know when your account has been created, and what your username is. Ask them to add you as a member or contributor to the project repository so that you can make contributions, and to add you to the ONRR GitHub organization.

  • [x] Subscribe to the NRRD repository and ONRR.gov repository (through the GitHub watch feature) to get notifications of project activity. We also have separate repos for user research and the blog, that you should subscribe to.

Get access to other project tools and services that the team uses to communicate

• [x] @eelzi-ONRR please invite Alex to all of our sprint meetings
• [x] Maroya: Invite NewPerson to the Slack nrrd-workspace using government email
• [x] Alex: Accept the invitation via email, and set up your account with 2-factor authentication. Set up your profile with your name, location, and any other information you wish to provide.

• [x] Maroya: Invite NewPerson to ZenHub after they have accepted the GitHub invite
  • [x] Alex:Log in to ZenHub with your GitHub account so that you can view the project planning board
    If there is an option, select the “Public Repos Only” option when prompted to log in. We use ZenHub as a project management tool to track tasks. ZenHub connects to GitHub and displays the issues from the the project’s repository in columns that show its progress—Unprioritized, Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, In Progress, Awaiting Review, or Done.

ONRR Policies - @Maroyafaied

• [x] Communicate ONRR's vision, mission, and values
• [x] Review Organizational Structure
• [x] Explain ONRR policies for leave, work schedule, lunch breaks, etc.
• [x] Discuss Telework / Remote works, training and agreements
• [x] Alternate Work Schedule
• [x] Performance Plan (EPAP), will be issued within 45 days of start date

ONRR Systems/Benefits @Maroyafaied

• [x] Pulse Secure
• [x] DOI Learn
• [x] Quicktime
• [x] Concour Travel
• [x] GOV Credit Card - Travel
• [x] Employee Express
• [x] Fitness Reimbursements
• [x] Transportation Subsidy Benefit Program
• [x] Employee Assistance Program
• [x] @lpgoldstein add Erin to Team's Folder

Learn about the project background and how the team works

• [x] Read the NRRD Product Framing document

• [x] Read the ONRR.gov Product Framing document

• [x] Read about the current status of the project on the homepage of the wiki

• [x] @cthomasONRR Add Alex to the humans.txt project team list.

• [x] Read the Basics for making distributed work work

• [x] Meet with the Product Manager Maroya for an introduction to project routines, expectations, and rituals

  • [x] Discuss project meetings: what they are, how they are run, and how the new person is expected to participate at each
  • [x] Review the most recent ODDD team roadmap

Familiarize yourself with the new onrr.gov CMS

• [x] CMS walkthrough with @cthomasONRR
• [x] Read through the CMS user guide
• [x] Read the new method for releasing changes to production

Data Checklist

• [x] NRRD Data walkthrough with @lpgoldstein
• [x] Learn about the different data sets in our NRRD website by visiting the download page
• [x] Learn about the data types within NRRD as well as which data sets tie into which features
• [x] Learn about the different data visuals on our NRRD website by visiting the Explore Data Page
• [x] Learn about the Query data page
• [x] Review the how to upload data checklist
• [x] Review the checklists for reviewing newly uploaded data

Design checklist

• [x] Learn about what you need to know about doing design and research in the federal government

• [x] Learn about our user research practice
  Our research plans and findings are documented in the open as part of our GitHub repository. You can find the research at any time by changing the branch in the repo to the “research” branch.

  • [x] Read about NRRD's Research norms and processes
  • [x] Learn about NRRD's user types
  • [x] Learn about onrr.gov's user types

• [x] Read through the research work:

  • [x] NRRD research and findings
  • [x] onrr.gov research and findings

• [x] Review the style guides to get a sense of how to write and talk about content

  • [x] NRRD content guide
  • [x] onrr.gov content guide

• [x] Read the design principles for the NRRD site

• [x] Browse the onrr.gov design folder to get a feel for the work involved in the website redesign

• [x] Link to the Axure cloud folder where redesign prototypes and widget libraries are stored

• [x] Read about how to design with NRRD data

• [x] Read about onrr.gov's accessibility policy and accessibility resources

Development checklist

Get access to:

• [x] @eelzi-ONRR help Alex with accessing Axure
• [x] Github repos @Maroyafaied
• [x] CircleCi @Maroyafaied
• [x] cloud.gov @Maroyafaied

General

• [x] If you are new to GitHub, learn about how it works, and how to make it work for you
  GitHub is traditionally a development tool, not a design tool. It may take some time and experimenting to figure out how to work within its framework as a designer. Some places to start:

  • Understand the GitHub workflow that code-based changes to the website go through.
    Even if you won’t be contributing code changes, it helps to share the same vocabulary as your team.
  • Learn about GitHub issues
    Issues are how the team tracks tasks to work on or bugs to fix.
  • Understand the basics of writing in Markdown
    Markdown is a lightweight way of creating formatting for text. Using certain characters tells the text to render as headlines, bullets, etc. It will be helpful to know the basics of Markdown because GitHub uses it as the default syntax for writing issues (although they have recently implemented a WYSIWYG toolbar that helps!)
    • Try this Markdown tutorial

• [x] Get access to any software needed ( Adobe Pro, GitHub Desktop, Atom, Visio, etc.)
  Check that the IT Non-Core Software request form lists the most recent version of a software. If it does not, double check with an ODDD team member which software version we use before placing the request.

• [x] Get access to the NRRD Teams Group calendar. @Maroyafaied is the owner of these.

• [x] Join the UX Community of Practice email listserv and any other digital.gov communities you are interested in joining (optional)
  A mailing list of fellow UX designers across government. Useful for sharing resources and learning about challenges shared by other practitioners.

[Maroyafaied]

@AlexandracmONRR I gave you editing permissions for the team's shared calendar, please see if you are able to add your working hours now. Also, DOITalent is down right now so I will add myself as you supervisor when it's back up.