VBA Design Iteration #4

[kmariepat-cityfriends]

• [x] Review designs up until this point with Dave Conlon
• [x] Determine if these designs will go through a midpoint review OR design intent meeting
• [ ] @kmariepat-cityfriends to talk to Tanekwa about main phone vs. VA benefits hotline
• [x] Update prepare for your visit to include information about the ability to set a virtual or in person appointment or have no appointment at all + tell Veterans to refer to accordion for additional information
• [ ] Make a note that there is a security screening, need to confirm with @davidmpickett where that note should be
• [x] Confirm VBA times follow this: https://design.va.gov/content-style-guide/dates-and-numbers
• [x] Confirm the new fields requested to be shown are implemented in designs:

Field label	Machine Name	Example values for this Field	Field type - label
Non-VA location official name	field_non_va_official_name	Joint Base Andrews	Text (plain)
Non-VA location URL	field_non_va_location_url	https://www.jba.af.mil	Link
Shared VHA location	field_shared_vha_location	PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic (1471)	Entity reference

[davidmpickett]

Some content things to consider @mmiddaugh

• Intro paragraph: is the information at parity with Vet Centers and VAMC systems
• Facility operating status: what type of information do we want to have in this for the usability test? Weather alert? Current copy is about a parking garage
• Prepare for your visit: do we need an accordion about "How to find us in the building"? Could address the Security checkpoint in the lobby and directions to the the Public Contact Office on 2nd floor and VR&E Office on the 3rd floor. Or does this information belong up with hours/address?
• In the spotlight at Boston regional office: the plan for this content is to be all national, nothing local, is that the right way to frame this?

[davidmpickett]

Additional notes from the Cindy/Jordan/Dave call yesterday

• Add something under Service accordions - Don't see the benefit service you're looking for? Search all VBA locations in your area. [link to facility locator with VBA pre-selected as the facility type]
• Jordan to iterate on how to distinguish multiple service locations within a Service accordion. Hierarchy is unclear on existing VAMC product. See Gastroenterology at Pittsburgh for live example

[mmiddaugh]

Intro paragraph parity: I reviewed intro content on existing VBA pages and modernized VAMC and Vet Center pages and made a quick VBA intro content Mural with my findings.

In summary, modernized VAMC and Vet Center pages and existing VBA pages have some variation of the following pattern:

Our facility offers type of services to recipients, including examples of services. Below, you'll find information you need to know before visiting and other services we offer. Click on a service below for more details.

I think we can leverage this pattern not just to introduce the facility but also to emphasize the importance of reviewing service-specific details prior to visiting. We'll want to get some content expertise/input but as a suggestion:

The Boston Regional Office administers a variety of benefits and services, including compensation, education, insurance, loan guaranty, pension and Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) to Veterans, service members, and their families. Below you'll find our address and hours, parking and transportation information, and other information you need to know before visiting. Click on a service below to learn whether it is available in-person, by phone, or virtually, whether or not you need an appointment, and about available online self-service tools.

[mmiddaugh]

Prepare for your visit

We should be able to leverage the "Prepare for your visit" section for wayfinding and access details.

Vet Centers were allowed to include information about entrances, finding the building on a campus or in a complex, security, or other critical wayfinding/landmark info, especially since some locations are difficult to anticipate through a single facility photo. We encouraged them to rename the "Parking" accordion with a meaningful label, such as "Parking and building information".

Examples:

• San Bernardino Vet Center
• Oakland Vet Center
• Boston Vet Center

I'm concerned about the potential conflict between the details shown under Location and contact information and those appearing in the service accordions. We may need to consider some method to direct Veterans to review the location specifics and hours of availability in the service accordions.

Similar: non-traditional hours caveat on Vet Center pages.


[mmiddaugh]

Spotlights

I don't know the background on the current plan for national spotlights but wonder if we should consider a mix of national and local content. The space might be particularly useful for event promotion, until that feature becomes available. If that is possible, I'd lean toward some sort of default national content in the absence of local content to avoid valuable real estate from being unused.

[mmiddaugh]

Facility operating status

I agree the current content is a bit of a mismatch with the operating status level. Looking at other VBA facilities using "Limited services and hours", something like "We’re open with modified hours and services. Our staff is also available by phone and by our online customer service tool." might be more aligned.

(and given the end to the COVID-19 public health emergency)

[davidmpickett]

@mmiddaugh some content thoughts / questions from the meeting Jordan/Cindy and I had today:

• The banner at the top of the page - what are we interested in tested for banners vs operating status from a Veteran perspective? What content should go in the banner to support that?
• Top tasks - can we drop (Ask VA) from that link? Doesn't seem to add veteran value
• Contact Us - What is a good example of a comment on the hours field that we want to get Veteran response to?
• Appointments - need clear copy for a summary that can fit under Contact Us + appointment details in the appointment accordion - @thejordanwood is iterating this

[davidmpickett]

@kmariepat-cityfriends @mmiddaugh Re the three fields requested to add to the design:

• Non-VA location official name
• Non-VA location URL
• Shared VHA location

Based on the VBA Facility Naming Schema some of this information would be embedded in the H1 of VBA pages (e.g. Alaska RO and Satellite office at Fort Campbell). It might also show up in the address block (ala JFK Federal Building in Jordan's design).

What other ways are you thinking this information would need to be surfaced to Veterans? Is this really a FE design problem, or a Drupal data flow issue? (e.g. Facility Operating Status of Alaska VAMC could cascade down to the Alaska RO since they share the same physical location?)

[davidmpickett]

@kmariepat-cityfriends @mmiddaugh follow up on previous comment

Here's an export of data (that is a bit outdated) that shows a range of values for these fields on the VBA facilities that are in scope for MVP (Regional Offices & Satellite Offices) VBA Facilities-Grid view (1).csv

These three fields are far more likely to be populated for Satellite Offices than Regional Offices:

• Regional Office = 21/58 = 36%
• Satellite Office = 75/84 = 89%

Do we need to a design for Satellite Offices that is different than Regional Offices for this round of usability testing? Or is this something to save for fast follow? We discussed Satellite Offices them mostly being the same, but this is one of the key places they are different from Regional Offices (they almost always have an important relationship with other buildings)

[davidmpickett]

Spotlights

I don't know the background on the current plan for national spotlights but wonder if we should consider a mix of national and local content. The space might be particularly useful for event promotion, until that feature becomes available. If that is possible, I'd lean toward some sort of default national content in the absence of local content to avoid valuable real estate from being unused.

This makes a lot of sense, but I also don't know how much of a lift this would be relative to these being all national. Might need @swirtSJW to weigh in on the architectural feasibility of that idea. Do Vet Centers mix local and national spotlights? Is it worth building this ability out for MVP is Events are already queued up for Fast Follow?

[jilladams]

From scrum:

• Discussion guide for research blocked on more real world content
• Design also needs more real world content to finalize for research purposes
• Dave's ticket in current sprint to lock down VA Services taxonomy, that will help solve content needs.
• Other product guidance is needed: from open questions in thread.
• Next step: scheduling design review with Michelle & Dave to get those questions answered. Kamari to schedule.

[kmariepat-cityfriends]

Design Changes to Review

• [x] Intro paragraph copy change suggested by Michelle.
• [x] Now showing message in the “limited services and hours” component.
• [x] 2 different phone numbers are listed
• [x] Under office hours, 2 different sets of hours, subcopy under the header, and a comment under a date/time are now shown.
• [x] Under the contact info. section, a section about appointments was added to give a high level overview on what type of appointments are preferred at this facility.
• [x] An info alert was added between the Services Offered and Get Updates section that links to the facility locator. This is to help users find a service if there isn’t one offered at this particular location.
• [x] Overall, we still need to determine copy for the Prepare for you visit and Services offered locations.

Open Questions

• [ ] The banner at the top of the page - what are we interested in tested for banners vs operating status from a Veteran perspective? What content should go in the banner to support that?
• [x] Top tasks - can we drop (Ask VA) from that link? Doesn’t seem to add veteran value
• [x] Re: the three fields requested to add to the design: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-cms/issues/13645#issuecomment-1544721012 These don't need to be added
• [x] Do we need to a design for Satellite Offices that is different than Regional Offices for this round of usability testing? Or is this something to save for fast follow? Fast follow is current decision

[kmariepat-cityfriends]

5/19 Meeting Notes:

Design Changes to Make @thejordanwood :

• [ ] drop (Ask VA) from the top task link
• [ ] double set of hours changes: add back in to, show on separate lines, add back in timezone
• [ ] Only keep appointment information in the accordion, remove the high level appointments overview
• [ ] Add phone number instead of facility locator link for don't see the services you're looking for
• [ ] Update get updates from VA benefit section to Veteran Benefits Administration
• [ ] make a separate accordion for arriving at our office
• [ ] Other nearby locations: show the nearest VAMC hospital, nearest vet center, nearest VA national cemetery (in this order) (look at facility locator to pick the example nearest Boston for each)

PM Follow Up:

• Ask of Office of Strategic Engagement; is it a good idea to say all of the main numbers have to be the number, not the hotline (Tanekwa and Kenyana)
• May need to design showing separate hours for the benefits number (look to vet centers)
• content just needs to look at intro paragraph before collab cycle review
• which fields to harden via collab cycle

UX Research Notes:

• what does the Veteran expect when clicking ask a benefit question need to test what their expectation is when clicking this
• See if people open the appointments accordion unprompted and understand that appts. can be virtual or in person
• Test if appointments information belongs below that low on the page, we think they could belong closer to the address information

[thejordanwood]

@kmariepat-cityfriends Closing this and starting the next design iteration ticket.