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<Pre-Need Self Service, Pre-Need modernization and CaMEO Integration> from <BAH-MBS-SelfServ> #58437

Open CatherineHughes202 opened 1 year ago

CatherineHughes202 commented 1 year ago

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### Content tasks
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/61517
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/59745
kristinoletmuskat commented 1 year ago

Looked into the IA for this, and tracked findings in this internal google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JrcGCtR-qmZWq8-Nf-Ob_N_9Fmyf21mwEsCYFHrvi8Q/edit#heading=h.cj7t67f7zwn0

On the IA side, we don't have any feedback separate from what Sara already mentioned in design intent for pre-integration. If ya'll want a second eyes on your integration flows, just let me know! @ccruzgra

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@RLHecht @laurwill Here's the link for the Pre-Need Pre-Integration usability testing prototype. We will be providing you with the research readout after we complete our synthesis and recommendations, and we'll work on the content document, as well. The week of June 19th is the earliest we could update the content document.

laurwill commented 1 year ago

Hi @MichelleDieudonne and @ccruzgra , do you know when you'll have research findings ready to share? We planned to start this work in our current sprint, but let us know if you'll need more time. Thank you!

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

Hi @laurwill We've been short-staffed so we're a little behind, but we have the research readout drafted. We are planning on working on updates to the content document this week. Would you have enough with the prototype and the research readout? You are free to leave comments in the prototype, if that is easier for you all. Study readout Testing Prototype

laurwill commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra , if you have an existing content document, it might make sense for us to suggest updates in that existing documents based on the study findings. Or is the document not up to date with the prototype?

Tagging @aliyahblackmore here for awareness. Aliyah's a writer on our team who'll be working on this content.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore @laurwill Here's a link for the content doc. Do you need this to be in a Word document instead?

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra thanks so much for sharing the GitHub file with the content. I can get the content in to SharePoint/a word document.

And just tracking here that we're planning to meet on Wednesday (7/5) afternoon to review some of the form label challenges.

Looking forward to it.

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Thanks for meeting today @ccruzgra - just tracking some of the links we reviewed in our meeting today.

Field Diagram Pre-Integration Process Flow (aligns to testing prototype) Study readout Testing Prototype

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

Linking here to separate content request ticket for Pre-Need static page updates: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/61517

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra - I finished up my edits and adjustments to the pre-need eligibility form content and passed it to Laura (our managing editor) to review.

There are a few questions that came up while working on this. I've organized them based on where they're appearing on the screens - some of the questions apply to content across various screens/fields.

Nothing that I'll be OOO until August 10, but once you have replies to these questions Laura will adjust the content as needed and will pass the document over to you all. When you reply, please tag @laurwill

Thanks so much and thanks for your continued collaboration on this!

Questions

Follow up questions from our Slack thread

Thanks so much for providing more information about the supporting documents via our slack thread. For additional supporting documents that need to be uploaded for the preparer or for a child living with a disability, The PDF version of the application only mentions what the documents need to show/state.

Can you all provide examples or a list of the types of documents that can be uploaded or submitted?

On the intro page

Question # 1: The live application intro page currently mentions the military service number and VA claim number in the list of information folks should have ready. The content that you all shared doesn't include this information - does this no longer need to be included in the "Prepare" step?

Question # 2: (the answer to this question applies throughout the application) The PDF version of the form has “VA national or state/tribal cemetery." The static page says that the application is only for VA national cemeteries and the applicant would need to contact their state or tribal cemetery for information on their pre-need program. Can you all confirm if this application is only for VA national cemeteries? If someone is interested in determining eligibility for burial in a state or tribal cemetery, are there any additional steps they'd need to follow aside from what's on the static page?

Question # 3: The static page mentions that a preparer would need to fill out a VA Form 21-22 or VA Form 21-22a and submit that. If so, is that a supporting document that’ll need to be submitted with the pre-need application or is that submitted separately and before they submit this application on behalf of someone else?

Question # 4: The PDF version of the form mentions that minor children may be eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery as well (based on certain criteria). You’ve also mentioned that parents can apply (based on the Corey Shea Act). If a Veteran can apply for a minor child or a parent, are there any other documents they’d need to submit with this application or do those family members only need to meet the eligibility requirements?

Applicant information screens

Question # 5: In the static page intake request you flagged that there’s no mention of the Corey Shea Act on the pre-need static page. “There is no guidance provided regarding Corey Shea Act applicants [parents].” In a search on Google, I found this NCA presentation PDF (from 2011 - see page 7) with information about eligibility and it says “eligibility determination at the time of need.” Can you all confirm if eligibility is determined pre-need or at the time of need?

Also, you all are using "Other" as a category for who can apply - from my understanding the other person here would be a parent. Is this accurate?

Question # 6: What is a full time course of instruction for an adult unmarried child? And what is an "approved education institution?" Would this be high school, college, and vocational school?

Question # 7: If someone selects that they’re the Veteran or service member on the applicant screen, does the chapter title change (Step 1 of 7 to Step 1 of 6) while they’re completing the screen or does this change on the next screen?

Question # 8: As mentioned above, "minor child" is included in the PDF version of the form, but there's no content/family option for a child under 18 years old on the content from you all.

This is what the PDF form says: Note: Minor children of eligible Veterans are eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery. The minor child of an eligible Veteran is a child who is unmarried and who is under 21 years of age; or who is under 23 years of age and is pursuing a full-time course of instruction at an approved educational institution.

Can you all confirm that "child" would be needed on this application (different from unmarried adult child) and whether the use of "dependent" is accurate? Dependent child is used on the static page.

Question # 9: For the "Place of birth" field are you all asking for the city and state or territory? For example - Brooklyn, New York. Content has (city, state, or territory) - so we'd likely want to clarify this a bit more.

Military history screens

Question # 10: For the current military status field. What does "current" mean here? This seems to be slightly different than what's on the content in the PDF version of the form - "military status used to apply for eligibility determination "

Question # 11: For the military status options should "Reserve and National Guard" be the same option. These are separate on the PDF version of the form. Also, the PDF version of the form only has "Retired Reserve and National Guard." Should the retired and non-retired options both be in the application?

Question # 12: There's an "other" option here. From my understanding this note from the PDF applies to this option, "If eligibility derives from a status not listed, or if the individual is not certain of the status, check “Other” and submit evidence of service and VA will provide appropriate assistance." If someone selects "other," do they just need to submit supporting documents? And what will VA provide assistance with?

Question # 13: For the applicant's service history screen, what is the autosuggest component? Will this complete the word when someone begins to enter their branch of service (typeahead)? I reached out to our accessibility specialist and they mentioned that if this is the typeahead component, a question is what will this experience be on a mobile device?

Question # 14: If the applicant's character of service is "other" - are there supporting documents that the applicant needs to submit?

Question # 15: In my review I suggested some explanatory text for the question "Did you serve under another name?" Is it accurate to say that the current name that someone uses in a legal name, like the name on a state-issued photo ID?

Burial benefits screens

Question # 16: When you all use "Is there anyone currently buried under the Veteran's eligibility" is it accurate to ask if anyone is currently buried in a VA national cemetery based on the Veteran's burial benefits eligibility?

Question # 17: For the VA national cemetery selection (whether preferred cemetery or selecting where someone may be buried) will this auto suggest VA national cemetery locations when someone starts to enter certain details? What details would they need to enter for the autosuggest to populate locations - like state, city, zip code, name of cemetery? Also, question # 13 applies here as well - will this complete the word when someone begins to enter their location?

Question # 18: When someone selects "Add new name of deceased" will they get the same "Name of deceased person" screen?

Supporting documents screens

Question # 19: What are some of the reasons why someone wouldn't be able to submit their supporting documents online? Based on the instructions in the content document, it sounds like someone would have to submit their entire application by mail or by fax, along with the supporting documents. Is this the case?

Preparer information screens

Question # 20: Will the VA call the preparer for questions about this application (that they're submitting on behalf of someone else) or for questions about the their information?

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore Thank you so much for your work on this! @laurwill Here are the responses:

Questions Follow up questions from our Slack thread Thanks so much for providing more information about the supporting documents via our slack thread. For additional supporting documents that need to be uploaded for the preparer or for a child living with a disability, The PDF version of the application only mentions what the documents need to show/state.

Can you all provide examples or a list of the types of documents that can be uploaded or submitted? On page 3 of the paper form, for items 23/24c, it goes into details for supporting documents. Also on the pre-need static page under What information do I need to apply? section. Note that users don't need to upload anything to apply for pre-need.

On the intro page Question # 1: The live application intro page currently mentions the military service number and VA claim number in the list of information folks should have ready. The content that you all shared doesn't include this information - does this no longer need to be included in the "Prepare" step? We tried to make the content more concise overall on the intro page to account for higher exit rates and lengthier content overall on the page. Since those two fields fall under military/service history, that was accounted for that way. These are also two optional fields, whereas SSN number is required in the form.

Question # 2: (the answer to this question applies throughout the application) The PDF version of the form has “VA national or state/tribal cemetery." The static page says that the application is only for VA national cemeteries and the applicant would need to contact their state or tribal cemetery for information on their pre-need program. Can you all confirm if this application is only for VA national cemeteries? If someone is interested in determining eligibility for burial in a state or tribal cemetery, are there any additional steps they'd need to follow aside from what's on the static page? This Pre-Need form is only for VA national cemeteries.

Question # 3: The static page mentions that a preparer would need to fill out a VA Form 21-22 or VA Form 21-22a and submit that. If so, is that a supporting document that’ll need to be submitted with the pre-need application or is that submitted separately and before they submit this application on behalf of someone else? From the guidance we've received, users aren't required to upload documents to apply. If they did submit this, it would need to be uploaded with the pre-need application or mailed/faxed in, but we will look further into the requirements for these two specific forms.

Question # 4: The PDF version of the form mentions that minor children may be eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery as well (based on certain criteria). You’ve also mentioned that parents can apply (based on the Corey Shea Act). If a Veteran can apply for a minor child or a parent, are there any other documents they’d need to submit with this application or do those family members only need to meet the eligibility requirements? _The guidance in the PDF is referring to adult unmarried children under 21 or 23 years of age with a disability. For children under 18 specifically, I believe they are automatically eligible and don't need to apply for pre-need. For parents, the Corey Shea Act has specific requirements in that it only applies to a parent whose serving child died in the line of duty. See statute 124 and type in pg. 2909 for Sec 502 to bring up the legal text for the Corey Shea Act. Also slide 7 here summarizes some of that._

Applicant information screens Question # 5: In the static page intake request you flagged that there’s no mention of the Corey Shea Act on the pre-need static page. “There is no guidance provided regarding Corey Shea Act applicants [parents].” In a search on Google, I found this NCA presentation PDF (from 2011 - see page 7) with information about eligibility and it says “eligibility determination at the time of need.” Can you all confirm if eligibility is determined pre-need or at the time of need? We had been advised that we did need to include it for pre-need, but we will double check and get back to you on this.

Also, you all are using "Other" as a category for who can apply - from my understanding the other person here would be a parent. Is this accurate? Yes, we'd been advised to focus this language on Corey Shea Act applicants as opposed to for preparers like how it is right now.

Question # 6: What is a full time course of instruction for an adult unmarried child? And what is an "approved education institution?" Would this be high school, college, and vocational school? I believe this is for higher education courses that are taken at the full time rate for that specific school as opposed to part time. The "approved educational institute" bit, I will make note to follow up on that and get back to you to see if it's specific to one type of school vs. others.

Question # 7: If someone selects that they’re the Veteran or service member on the applicant screen, does the chapter title change (Step 1 of 7 to Step 1 of 6) while they’re completing the screen or does this change on the next screen? It changes while they're on the same screen.

Question # 8: As mentioned above, "minor child" is included in the PDF version of the form, but there's no content/family option for a child under 18 years old on the content from you all. As mentioned above, I believe children under 18 are automatically eligible and don't need to apply for pre-need, so this content specifically is referring to adult children based on the PDF.

This is what the PDF form says: Note: Minor children of eligible Veterans are eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery. The minor child of an eligible Veteran is a child who is unmarried and who is under 21 years of age; or who is under 23 years of age and is pursuing a full-time course of instruction at an approved educational institution.

Can you all confirm that "child" would be needed on this application (different from unmarried adult child) and whether the use of "dependent" is accurate? Dependent child is used on the static page. I think it would be beneficial to include guidance specifically for children under 18 because it is a question that some Veterans would have, but we would not want for users to have the option to select a child under 18 as the applicant since they are automatically eligible and wouldn't need to apply. Dependent in this context is referring to those adult unmarried children who became incapable of self-support and depend on the Veteran.

Question # 9: For the "Place of birth" field are you all asking for the city and state or territory? For example - Brooklyn, New York. Content has (city, state, or territory) - so we'd likely want to clarify this a bit more. Will get back to you on this.

Military history screens Question # 10: For the current military status field. What does "current" mean here? This seems to be slightly different than what's on the content in the PDF version of the form - "military status used to apply for eligibility determination". Will look into this further to see if there's specific reasons for the use of "current".

Question # 11: For the military status options should "Reserve and National Guard" be the same option. These are separate on the PDF version of the form. Also, the PDF version of the form only has "Retired Reserve and National Guard." Should the retired and non-retired options both be in the _application? For pre-integration, we're limited in changing the options allowed. Here are the options we'll need for Integration phase with Salesforce for Veterans filling out the form: Active Duty; Reserve/National Guard; Retired Active Duty; Retired Reserve/National Guard; Veteran; Other. And for sponsors: Active Duty; Death Related to Inactive Duty Training; Died on Active Duty; Reserve/National Guard; Retired Active Duty; Retired Reserve/National Guard; Veteran; Other.

Question # 12: There's an "other" option here. From my understanding this note from the PDF applies to this option, "If eligibility derives from a status not listed, or if the individual is not certain of the status, check “Other” and submit evidence of service and VA will provide appropriate assistance." If someone selects "other," do they just need to submit supporting documents? And what will VA provide assistance with? Yes, I believe they can submit supporting documents like the DD214 where their status would be evident, although NCSO would be able to request service history files if they don't upload anything.

Question # 13: For the applicant's service history screen, what is the autosuggest component? Will this complete the word when someone begins to enter their branch of service (typeahead)? I reached out to our accessibility specialist and they mentioned that if this is the typeahead component, a question is what will this experience be on a mobile device? Yes, Branch of Service is a text box with autosuggest that would start completing the words users type. We made some improvements to its appearance on mobile and desktop based on a 508 issue that was opened for this page a while back by the accessibility team.

Question # 14: If the applicant's character of service is "other" - are there supporting documents that the applicant needs to submit? No specific documents that we know of, mainly their DD214 is the most important one if they can upload it.

Question # 15: In my review I suggested some explanatory text for the question "Did you serve under another name?" Is it accurate to say that the current name that someone uses in a legal name, like the name on a state-issued photo ID? Yes, it would be their legal name that is the current name. For previous name, I think this would be more applicable to people that had a previous name due to marriage or divorce, for example.

Burial benefits screens Question # 16: When you all use "Is there anyone currently buried under the Veteran's eligibility" is it accurate to ask if anyone is currently buried in a VA national cemetery based on the Veteran's burial benefits eligibility? Yes, I feel it would be more accurate to say this, but I'm wondering if it would be more confusing to users.

Question # 17: For the VA national cemetery selection (whether preferred cemetery or selecting where someone may be buried) will this auto suggest VA national cemetery locations when someone starts to enter certain details? What details would they need to enter for the autosuggest to populate locations - like state, city, zip code, name of cemetery? Also, question # 13 applies here as well - will this complete the word when someone begins to enter their location? Currently, this only populates cemetery names, nothing else. We are including a link to find a VA national cemetery for users to help them make this decision since some mentioned during testing it's a big commitment.

Question # 18: When someone selects "Add new name of deceased" will they get the same "Name of deceased person" screen? It would be adding another gray card to the page for them to enter another person, similarly to the service periods page.

Supporting documents screens Question # 19: What are some of the reasons why someone wouldn't be able to submit their supporting documents online? Based on the instructions in the content document, it sounds like someone would have to submit their entire application by mail or by fax, along with the supporting documents. Is this the case? We heard from one of our participants that some older Veterans, which are the majority of applicants, tend to sometimes prefer to manually do things like mailing or faxing things, or they may run into a tech issue that doesn't allow them to submit.

Preparer information screens Question # 20: Will the VA call the preparer for questions about this application (that they're submitting on behalf of someone else) or for questions about the their information? The preparer's phone number is being collected, yes, in case they need to answer questions about the application.

cc: @barron-charles @CatherineHughes202 for awareness

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Thanks for these response @ccruzgra ! Just a quick follow up question re: supporting documents when someone is applying on behalf of someone else/for an unmarried adult child:

The PDF form mentions that the preparer would need to submit documents or a statement if they're applying on behalf someone else or on behalf of an adult unmarried child living with a disability. From my understanding, the PDF form is stating what the document or statement (for an unmarried adult child) would need to include, but doesn't specify the document type. Including a screen capture here!

And for the supporting documents for an unmarried adult child, would the "statement" (used in the PDF) be in the form of a letter that the doctor would need to sign, including the information listed (i.e. the marital status of the child, etc.)? Are there any other requirements for the statement, like does the statement need to be on a doctor's letterhead?

We're hoping to get a bit more clarity about the type of documents in addition to the information that should be in the document.

And also, you mentioned that users "don't need to upload anything for pre-need," but do these documents support their application in any way?

Thanks so much for your replies, Cindy! Tagging @laurwill FYSA re: the above replies.

Screen Shot 2023-07-26 at 3 56 22 PM

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore @laurwill Will get back to you on this, but yes, they aren't required to upload anything. Providing documents can speed up the processing of their application.

Further updates:

Question # 9: For the "Place of birth" field are you all asking for the city and state or territory? For example - Brooklyn, New York. Content has (city, state, or territory) - so we'd likely want to clarify this a bit more.

For integration, this field will be updated to two fields: Birth state or territory and Birth city or county.

Question # 10: For the current military status field. What does "current" mean here? This seems to be slightly different than what's on the content in the PDF version of the form - "military status used to apply for eligibility determination".

Whatever their military status is at the precise moment in time they are applying to see if they are eligible

We will be able to have more answers to questions 5, 6, and the additional questions above regarding the supporting documents pretty soon depending on our client's response.

kristinoletmuskat commented 1 year ago

Following up about the ordering of questions and review of the user flow. Here is the convo that @ccruzgra and I had in slack!

Screenshot 2023-07-31 at 10 03 59 AM Screenshot 2023-07-31 at 10 04 08 AM Screenshot 2023-07-31 at 10 04 15 AM

Screenshot 2023-07-31 at 10 05 30 AM

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@laurwill @aliyahblackmore Here are assets for our integration phase. We have usability testing commencing on 8/14, and are hoping to have the research readout for you by 8/25.

Pre-Need Integration v0.1 MVP Prototype Pre-Need Integration Research Plan Pre-Need Integration Process Flow Pre-Need Integration Content Document Pre-Need Integration Conversation Guide

We received answers from the client regarding the pending content questions above, and I provided Laura with the document.

laurwill commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra and team, Thanks for syncing on Friday to discuss the labeling issues for the different use cases in this form. As we discussed, I prioritized labels and other key content guidance on the Integration prototype that you're testing with next week. We'll plan to provide more complete content guidance after you share your testing findings (planned for 8/25).

I'm adding comments to the Sketch files for the Integration prototype, and have listed the key items here. I recognize that you'll need to prioritize which changes to make ahead of testing — I'm happy to hop on another sync to discuss, if that would be helpful!

Priority content changes to integration prototype

1. Answer options for "What's [your/the applicant's] relationship to the Veteran or service member?"

Suggested options for these answers in Sketch

2. Adjust language describing people with disabilities to follow VA.gov site style and content best practices.

3. Adjust demographics questions about birth sex and race/ethnicity to follow VA.gov site style and content best practices for collecting this information

Labeling suggestions for 4 use cases

Veteran applying for self

Veteran applying for someone else

Non-Veteran applying for self

Non-Veteran applying for someone else

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@laurwill @aliyahblackmore Sharing our integration usability study readout. Let us know if you have any questions!

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Thank you @ccruzgra ! We'll pick up this work again in our upcoming sprint!

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@laurwill @aliyahblackmore Here's a link to the latest content doc for the Integration designs.

Integration prototype v0.1 - Includes updates from usability testing, from the midpoint review feedback, and content updates as suggested by Laura.

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra thanks for sharing this updated content document. I'll start to work on this later this week and next week!

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra - there were a few content items that I had to prioritize over the past two weeks, so I'm returning to this form review and static page content now and next week.

As I'm getting started again, can you confirm if the label suggestions from Laura (here) were the ones used in testing? I see the in research readout that "most participants understood the various rolls in the application, although a few had challenges with the terminology." I just want to confirm the fields that were shown to them.

Thanks so much!

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

Hello @aliyahblackmore! Yes, we tried to follow Laura's advice closely where we could. Some things we couldn't do per limitations for integration.

Priority content changes to integration prototype

  1. Answer options for "What's [your/the applicant's] relationship to the Veteran or service member?"

Go back to using gender-neutral terms here. VA.gov site style uses "spouse" and "child" — we don't use "wife," "husband," "son," or "daughter." If there's a reason this form needs to capture the gender of a spouse or child, happy to discuss that! If the child vs. stepchild distinction isn't important for determining eligibility, we should remove the stepchild options. There was an open question about parents using this form — if parents are the only group in the "Other" category, we should say "Parent" instead of "Other." If only Veterans/service members, spouses, and dependent children can use this form to apply for pre-need, we should remove the "Other" option completely. Suggested options for these answers in Sketch

We couldn't go back to using the gender neutral terms here per integration limitations and needing the choices to align to our modern system

  1. Adjust language describing people with disabilities to follow VA.gov site style and content best practices.

Suggested content for additional info component on the "Are you applying for yourself or someone else?" screen Suggested content for additional info component on the "What's [your/the applicant's] relationship to the Veteran or service member?" question (this will need SME accuracy review)

This was fixed and the additional info copy was updated to focus on the adult dependent per Laura's copy suggestions.

  1. Adjust demographics questions about birth sex and race/ethnicity to follow VA.gov site style and content best practices for collecting this information

Race, ethnicity content in Sketch screen based on VA.gov design system guidance

Unfortunately, we need to keep the race/ethnicity questions separate for integration.

Birth sex content in Sketch screen based on USWDS guidance

We are limited in the options that we can include for gender/sex, as well.

Labeling suggestions for 4 use cases Veteran applying for self

Use "you/your" throughout (for example "Your personal information") Veteran applying for someone else

Continue using "the applicant" for the person applying for pre-need eligibility Use "you/your" to refer to the Veteran filling out the form, as in "What is the applicant’s relationship to you?" Non-Veteran applying for self

Use "you/your" for the person filling out the form, who is also the person applying for pre-need eligibility Use "the Veteran or service member you’re connected to" for what the form currently calls "sponsor" Non-Veteran applying for someone else

Use "you/your" for the person filling out the form Continue using "the applicant" for the person applying for pre-need eligibility Use "the Veteran or service member the applicant is connected to" for what the form currently calls "sponsor"

For the above, we tried to make the changes where possible to personalize the flows for the individual filling it out. In other areas, it wouldn't be possible at this time, but we did incorporate as much as possible of Laura's suggestions.

Laura also left many comments within our Sketch design for the Integration prototype file that we took into account. We appreciate that you'll get a look at this soon!

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Thanks for outlining what went to testing @ccruzgra!

It sounds like you all were able to make the changes to use "you/your" for testing. Is that correct? If so, were those areas where users had "challenges with terminology?" And if not, could you share the specific areas where users were having trouble with terminology?

And can you confirm that this content source of truth document is still the best document to review?

Thanks for your continued collaboration on this, Cindy!

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore Yes, we did get those changes in and they tested well. We saw overall less confusion with users going through the longer flows that needed to enter in the details for multiple people. The grouping of pages also helped with confusion.

Our readout is attached here below: Pre-Need Integration Study Readout - August 2023.pdf

and in our research repo.

It talks about areas where users experienced copy confusion. One of them was the relationship to Veteran field, but we made further updates since then to help with that.

For more specific results, please see our synthesis mural. :) There's a group for "Understanding terminology" that might be helpful. And yes, that should be the latest content document, but there might be a few things that aren't aligned to the prototype.

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

@ccruzgra Thanks for pointing out the copy confusion in the readout. I'll take a closer look at the pages in the readout (apologies for missing those sections before) and will look at the synthesis mural for more specific results!

And re: the content source of truth document, would reviewing the document as it is now be okay for your teams purposes? Or would it be possible for you all to get the document aligned or updated to match the prototype (if the prototype has the most up to date changes)?

I know that we previously chatted about using the content document for our review, so I want to be sure I'm reviewing a source of truth with the most up to date information so that I can provide accurate feedback.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore Just had a final look and the content doc and the prototype are aligned, so it should be ok to review.

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Thanks for confirming @ccruzgra - I'll move forward with reviewing the content document as the source of truth.

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra thanks so much, again, for meeting with our team to get aligned on timelines for this work!

I want to circle back to a previous conversation that I flagged in my pre-testing review. You mentioned that you all would follow up about this.

The static page for the pre-need form currently mentions that someone filling out the form on behalf of someone else would need to fill out a VA Form 21-22 or VA Form 21-22a and submit that with the pre-need application. And in the new content in the source of truth document, I see that these forms are listed on the supporting documents screen.

Form 21-22 is for a Veterans Service Organization (VSO) help you an applicant with their benefit or claims. Form 21-22a is to have an individual help an application with their benefit or claims.

We also wanted to flag that there is a VA Form 21-0972. This form is if someone is signing a VA benefits application or related form on behalf of someone else.

These are the questions:

  1. Did you all confirm with stakeholders that the person filling out the form on behalf of someone else needs to submit a supporting form that confirms they can submit the form on someone else's behalf? And if so, can you confirm if the person would be required to submit only the VA Form 21-22 or VA Form 21-22a OR if they'd have the option to submit VA Form 21-0972 as well?

  2. And if a supporting form is required, and because this information is now on the supporting documents screen in the content source of truth doc, these forms can be submitted online with the pre-need application, yes?

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra - I'm circling back here about the above question in this comment. Were you able to get an answer?

And a follow up on the race and ethnicity question in the application.

You mentioned previously that you all need to keep the questions separate for integration. Does the modern integration system require that these are separate questions to match the back end? And if these questions are only for statistical purposes, is NCA using their own system to track this data?

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

HI @aliyahblackmore I've been out sick so couldn't get to your question, but thanks for following up!

Did you all confirm with stakeholders that the person filling out the form on behalf of someone else needs to submit a supporting form that confirms they can submit the form on someone else's behalf? And if so, can you confirm if the person would be required to submit only the VA Form 21-22 or VA Form 21-22a OR if they'd have the option to submit VA Form 21-0972 as well?

Yes, we confirmed that and that is why the decision was approved to include those two forms on the supporting files page guidance. I can follow up with them regarding if VA Form 21-0972 would be an option, as well.

And if a supporting form is required, and because this information is now on the supporting documents screen in the content source of truth doc, these forms can be submitted online with the pre-need application, yes?

Yes, they should be able to upload those completed forms. Are you recommending that the 21-0972 is included or should be required to complete if they are a preparer? Would you say that this form could replace the other two forms?

And a follow up on the race and ethnicity question in the application.

You mentioned previously that you all need to keep the questions separate for integration. Does the modern integration system require that these are separate questions to match the back end? And if these questions are only for statistical purposes, is NCA using their own system to track this data?

Yes, the system requires that the questions remain separate for race and ethnicity. They do track this data to partially be able to identify if there are any underserved communities, for example.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra

Thanks for replies to those questions. And thanks for your message this morning via Slack to follow up about timing on this.

As we’ve chatted, I’ve done a full review of the form (via the content in the content source of truth document) and will need to pass it to Laura for her review before we share the feedback with you all.

These are a few last questions that came up. Once we have these answers I’ll need to adjust the content.

Thanks so much for you continued collaboration and I hope that you’re feeling better!

cc@ @laurwill and @strelichl

Question 1 For the person applying on behalf of someone else, does the confirmation email go to the person applying on behalf of someone else or the applicant?

Question 2 Is the only other person who is eligible a parent of a service member?

Question 3

This is live language in the household financial section of the 1010EZ form that seems to be describing the same requirement for an adult dependent child living with a disability - is this language accurate for the pre-need application?

And is enrollment in full-time school at the time that the disability started or current enrollment?

Question 4

For birth city/country and state/territory fields

In the design system we see that state/province/region uses a select field not a text input field.

Also, what’s the reason for the city/county option here? From our understanding, and usually, a city is in a county.

Question 5:

Why does NCA contact the Veteran or service member? Would they only be asking for more information about the Veteran or service member's details?

Question 6

The military service number and VA claim number fields are in the PDF version of the form and in the content source of truth document. Laura just wanted to confirm, are these fields are required?

Question 7

And in response to this question “Are you recommending that the 21-0972 is included or should be required to complete if they are a preparer? Would you say that this form could replace the other two forms?” We're wondering if this from would be required by NCA stakeholders, in addition to the other forms (VA Form 21-22 or VA Form 21-22a). It’s our understanding that the alternate sign form may be a form that could be used here, but we’re not sure and want stakeholders to confirm if that would be the case for this application.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

Hi again @aliyahblackmore! Thank you, and please see the below. We'll work with our analysts and client to get you answers to the pending questions.

Question 1 For the person applying on behalf of someone else, does the confirmation email go to the person applying on behalf of someone else or the applicant?

Currently, confirmation emails are sent to the applicant only since the Preparer's email address is not collected. This is changing for integration, and their email will be collected, and a confirmation email sent to them when they are filling out the form on behalf of someone else. If it's an applicant filling it out for themselves, it will go to them, as usual.

Question 2 Is the only other person who is eligible a parent of a service member?

Yes, but this has very specific requirements for eligibility under the Corey Shea Act. The other eligible applicants would be the usual spouses, adult disabled dependent children (children of a Veteran/service member who are under 18 are automatically eligible if they pass away so pre-need isn't intended for them), but you can take a look at the paper form for more specific requirements.

Question 3 They’re living with a disability that happened before they turned 21 years old and receive support from family members, or They’re living with a disability that happened before they turned 23 years old and are enrolled as a full-time student in high school, college, or vocational school This is live language in the household financial section of the 1010EZ form that seems to be describing the same requirement for an adult dependent child living with a disability - is this language accurate for the pre-need application?

It seems to be. Here the definition from the paper form: "24c. An unmarried adult child of the Veteran is an individual who became permanently physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support before reaching 21 years of age, or before reaching 23 years of age if pursuing a full-time course of instruction at an approved educational institution. Before VA can approve a claim for an unmarried adult child, we will require statements from both the Veteran, spouse of the Veteran, and/or authorized representative AND the current attending physician (on physician's letterhead) stating the nature of the disability, date of onset of the disability, degree of dependency on the Veteran or Veteran's family, and the marital status of the child. Please provide photocopies of these statements with the application. Note: Minor children of eligible Veterans are eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery. The minor child of an eligible Veteran is a child who is unmarried and who is under 21 years of age; or who is under 23 years of age and is pursuing a full-time course of instruction at an approved educational institution."

And is enrollment in full-time school at the time that the disability started or current enrollment?

We were advised by the client that it’s vague for a reason, may have a broad definition of full-time course of instruction, and don’t want to limit them to full-time college or vocational school.

Question 4 For birth city/country and state/territory fields

In the design system we see that state/province/region uses a select field not a text input field.

Also, what’s the reason for the city/county option here? From our understanding, and usually, a city is in a county.

Yes, these are a bit different than the standard va.gov State field dropdown. For the city/county, they can input either/or, but both of these fields are required for Veterans/sponsors (not available for non-Veterans) for integration and they are currently set to be text input fields, not dropdowns. I can follow up on these questions and try to dig further for you.

Question 5: Why does NCA contact the Veteran or service member? Would they only be asking for more information about the Veteran or service member's details?

NCA would need to contact the Veteran or service member if they have further questions about their application, or potentially if they need clarification on something, but I can get specifics for you.

Question 6 The military service number and VA claim number fields are in the PDF version of the form and in the content source of truth document. Laura just wanted to confirm, are these fields are required?

These are not required fields. You can see them in our prototype under the Military History and Sponsor Military History sections.

Question 7 And in response to this question “Are you recommending that the 21-0972 is included or should be required to complete if they are a preparer? Would you say that this form could replace the other two forms?” We're wondering if this from would be required by NCA stakeholders, in addition to the other forms (VA Form 21-22 or VA Form 21-22a). It’s our understanding that the alternate sign form may be a form that could be used here, but we’re not sure and want stakeholders to confirm if that would be the case for this application.

Ok, thanks for clarifying, and I'll follow up with the stakeholders.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore One more question. You had mentioned you'd be working on the static page updates, too. Is that part of what will be handed to Laura for review, as well? See static page content story: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/61517

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

@ccruzgra thanks so much for these replies! And great, I'll look out for the other answers.

And just to clarify Laura's question on the military service number and VA claim number fields, does the pre-need application need to include these fields?

And yes, I'll be turning to the static page updates early next week and pass to Laura to review when I'm done.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore Thank you! Yes, the pre-need application needs to include them, but they are not required to complete, only optional. They can be found in the integration prototype under the Military History and Sponsor Military History sections.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore @laurwill Checked with our analysits and there's nothing further to add for questions 4 and 6 above, but for question 7, we will follow up with the client to get you back a final answer.

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Awesome - thanks @ccruzgra !

laurwill commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra , Here's the sharepoint document with our suggested updates to the pre-need form content. We've left notes in the comments, along with a couple of remaining questions. I'll be mostly OOO this week, but you can reach out to Aliyah with any questions about the updates. Thank you!

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

Thank you so much, @laurwill and @aliyahblackmore! We'll take a look.

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra - as mentioned via Slack, I'm tracking the questions that you have here. Replies are here.

Question 1:

For the preparer flows, specifically the Applicant Information section, we want to confirm if that's the final recommendation for the labels to remove, for example, "Applicant's" from "Applicant's first name" and the other related fields. We had gotten feedback from Laura last time to make the flows more specific to the scenario/use case.

Reply: Yes. The recommendation, as reflected in the edits in the SharePoint document, is to remove "Applicant's" ahead of the field options for "First name, Middle name, etc." After reviewing this again, we've decided that it's okay to leave "Applicant" in the chapter title and, where applicable, the page title. We wouldn't also need it ahead of the field labels (i.e. first name, middle name, etc.).

Question 2:

The other question is for the suggestion to use supporting "documents" language on the Confirmation page. We had been advised for a bug we inherited to avoid using the word “documents” and instead stick to “files”. See issue here: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/48297#issuecomment-1638158522

Reply: Thanks for sharing the ticket that outlines that issue. From that ticket, it's my understanding that the issue identified is on the upload screen itself. As Laura mentioned, we're fine to keep "file" on pages where Veterans are uploading files (so only the upload screen). On the submission confirmation screen of the form, we'd use "documents."

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

And @ccruzgra I'm tracking one other update that's in the SharePoint document.

I chatted further with the content team and we made an adjustment to the hint text for the "VA file number" field across the screens. I've made the adjustment across the screens where this field exists and I'm tracking here for awareness.

Option 1:

If you don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank [on screens for someone applying on behalf of a Veteran or for applying for someone applying for self or someone else and non-Veteran] If they don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank

Option 2:

If you don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank. We may be using your Social Security number instead.

[on screens for someone applying on behalf of a Veteran or for applying for someone applying for self or someone else and non-Veteran] If they don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank. We may be using their Social Security number instead.

We'll leave it up to the designers which version of our recommendation works here.

And we recommend removing the additional info component.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore We got feedback on question 7 above regarding the use of the alternate signer form. Our client said we shouldn't use it.

For your comment regarding the VA claim number, did you mean to have the same hint text for both suggestions?

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

@aliyahblackmore Another question for you. For the memorable date field hint text, we're seeing three versions:

VA.gov Pattern Library default component: Please enter two digits for the month and day and four digits for the year.

Design System Guidance examples: Please enter 2 digits for the month and day and 4 digits for the year.

Feedback in Word document: Enter 2 digits for the month and day and 4 digits for the year.

We want to be consistent with other forms for this language, so which would be best to follow? Thank you!

cc: @CatherineHughes202 @kelby-stewart

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra replies to your questions here:

Question 1: For the VA claim number feedback, my apologies - I accidentally copied the same text twice. I just adjusted that above and I'm posting here as well. The first option is shorter and the second option is longer. As mentioned in the SharePoint document and above, we're leaving it up to the designers to decide which version (option 1 or 2) would be best.

Option 1:

If you don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank [on screens for someone applying on behalf of a Veteran or for applying for someone applying for self or someone else and non-Veteran] If they don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank.

Option 2:

If you don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank. We may be using your Social Security number instead.

[on screens for someone applying on behalf of a Veteran or for applying for someone applying for self or someone else and non-Veteran] If they don't have a VA claim number, leave this blank. We may be using their Social Security number instead.

Question 2: Yes - we recommend what's in the SharePoint document. We generally don't use "Please" in our content guidance. And we generally use numerals instead of writing out numbers.

Question 3: And great, thanks for confirming that the Alternative Signer form won't be an option. As mentioned in the SharePoint document, we recommend just using “Your” throughout when we’re talking about the person who is filling out the application on behalf of someone else (i.e. in the page or chapter titles).

Question 4 (11/15): Regarding the change for "Other categories comment," We recommend getting rid of the hint text and changing "Other categories comment" to "Enter the race that best describes you/the applicant/the Veteran or service member" The text would change depending on the screen (i.e. the applicant or the Veteran or service member).

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

Hi @aliyahblackmore @laurwill We have a question from the client regarding the "Please note" message in this screen and in the other flows. Desired cemetery

They were curious why we're not removing "please" from here, but we needed to remove it from other parts of the form. Please advise on your thoughts here on if we need to update the messaging to remove that if it was missed. Thank you!

cc: @kelby-stewart

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra - I'll take a look at the SharePoint document and will send you a reply soon!

aliyahblackmore commented 1 year ago

Hi @ccruzgra circling back here - in our SharePoint document we did previously track the recommendation to remove "Please" on the desired cemetery screen.

This is a screen capture of the word document with that recommendation. "Please" is deleted with tracked changes. Screenshot (31)

While taking a look at the desired cemetery content, I did notice on the service period content that "Please" wasn't remove. I just adjusted that in the SharePoint document and tagged you.

ccruzgra commented 1 year ago

Gotcha! Thank you for following up.