[CAIA Intake] Status Page - Placement

[matt4su]

About your team

• Team name: Veteran Status Team
• OCTO-DE product owner: Ryan Thurlwell
• Product manager: Matt Reilly
• Designer: Courtney Stubbert
• Accessibility specialist: n/a
• Content writer: n/a
• Slack channel: # veteran-status

CAIA Support Request

Describe what you need in a few sentences: - We’re launching a new Veteran Status page page to VA.gov and need support with our page placement.

Examples

• We’re updating a form and want to confirm we’re doing it correctly.
• We’re launching a new online tool to VA.gov and need support with our user flows.
• We need to make sure the content we’re using in our tool is written in plain language and follows the style guide.

Which are you doing?

• [x] Launching a new page, tool, form, or app
• [ ] Making changes to an existing page, tool, form, or app

Types of Support

What areas does your team need support in? Check all that apply.

Content

• [ ] Collaboration on content written by your team’s dedicated content writer
• [ ] Collaboration on content if your team does not have a dedicated content writer

  Accessibility

• [ ] Accessibility review of wireframes and/or prototypes
• [ ] Accessibility issue (general request)
• [ ] Accessibility PDF review request
• [ ] Accessibility user research support (submit a separate, additional request)
• [ ] DST component or pattern
• [ ] Something else

  IA

• [ ] User Flows
• [x] Page placement
• [ ] URLs
• [ ] Breadcrumbs and Left Nav placement
• [ ] Redirects

  Multilingual content

• [ ] Translating content

Timeframe

We guide and work alongside teams across nearly every OCTO digital product. We also work with partners across VA to lead content migration and manage all unauthenticated content on VA.gov. And we're always working to expand the VA.gov content style guide and our IA and accessibility documentation. We need to prioritize all intake requests based on our overall workload and VA and OCTO priorities.

Tell us about your product's timeline. And we'll work with you to meet timeline needs as best we can. We just went through Design Intent and are ready to start coding once we can nail down page placement.

Have you worked with CAIA before?

• [ ] Yes
• [ X] No

What's your team’s next step and its timing?

• Our next step is .... start coding our page
• Provide date if available: xx/xx/xxxx

Timing for your next step:

• [ X] Next week
• [ ] This month
• [ ] Next month
• [ ] This quarter
• [ ] Next quarter
• [ ] 6 months
• [ ] 1 year

Is this timing related to a specific event or Congressionally mandated deadline?

• [ ] Yes
• [ x] No

If you're conducting research, when is that starting?

Provide date if available: xx/xx/xxxx

• [ ] Next week
• [ ] This month
• [ ] Next month
• [ ] This quarter
• [ ] Next quarter
• [ ] 6 months
• [ ] 1 year

Will you release this new product incrementally (for example, release to 25% of users to start)?

• [ ] Yes
• [ ] No TBD Note: If you checked yes, we’ll reach out to discuss details about the content in the react widget (we use these widgets to display entry points for new products to a certain percentage of users who visit our static pages).

When do you expect to launch your product to 100% of users?

Please provide an estimated date so our team can create other relevant tickets.

• We expect to launch our product to 100% of users on:TBD

Collaboration Cycle

Will this work be going through the Collaboration Cycle?

• [ X] Yes
• [ ] No

If no ...

• Skip to the supporting artifacts section, below.

If yes ...

Please provide the link to your Collaboration Cycle ticket: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/69732

• Ticket (number): 69732
• Collab. Cycle Ticket Opened (date): 11/20/2023

Please check all of the phases in the Collaboration Cycle you have completed:

• [ X] Design Intent
• [ ] Midpoint Review
• [ ] Staging

For planning purposes, please check all of the phases in the Collaboration Cycle you feel you might need CAIA support and guidance:

Design Intent

• [ ] Accessibility
• [ ] Content
• [ ] IA
• [ ] Translation
• [ ] Already completed, no assistance needed
• [ ] Unknown at this time

  Midpoint

• [ ] Accessibility
• [ ] Content
• [ ] IA
• [ ] Translation
• [ ] Already completed, no assistance needed
• [X ] Unknown at this time

  Staging

• [ ] Accessibility
• [ ] Content
• [ ] IA
• [ ] Translation
• [ ] Already completed, no assistance needed
• [ X] Unknown at this time

Supporting artifacts

Please provide links to supporting artifacts as available.

• Product outline: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/blob/master/products/veteran-status/product.md
• User flows: https://app.mural.co/t/departmentofveteransaffairs9999/m/departmentofveteransaffairs9999/1700157113185/4fe345e1daecbd361cadbadb1b38342c994dd3ef?sender=ud143866fd5369378295a0267
• Prototype or mockups: https://www.figma.com/file/UwSvhj9Yn5trM5L5W3UgH0/VA-Status---Wireframes?type=design&node-id=86-446&mode=design&t=kF3RL4ySTI5Tocbm-0
• If this is in Sketch, which version or specific page should we focus on?
• Content source of truth:
• Research plan:
• Any epics/issues that may be helpful: https://app.zenhub.com/workspaces/veteran-status-6526f98f141b6f0ed1e059c4/issues/gh/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/68863
• Link to testing accounts (please do not paste them in this ticket):

Additional Support: Collaborative Sessions

Have you already worked with someone from OCTO leadership?

• [ ] Danielle
• [ ] Beth
• [ ] Mikki
• [ ] Martha

How do you plan to work with us on this request?

• [ ] I’ll take this to Beth or Danielle’s office hours.
• [ ] I’d like to schedule time to talk about this.
• [ ] Let’s work async and meet as needed.
• [ X] Schedule a kick-off call with your team and CAIA for your project (Recommended)

Accessibility Help in Slack

The #accessibility-help channel in the DSVA Slack, is also available to you as a resource. Everyone is welcome to ask questions or get help from our a11y (accessibility) specialists. Tag @Terry Nichols to get a11y help asap.

Next steps

Once you’ve submitted this ticket, please post a link to this issue in the #sitewide-content-ia Slack channel and tag @Terry Nichols.

• If you also need engineering support from the Public Websites team, fill out their intake request form.

• If you need a page/URL redirected, a URL changed or a vanity URL set up, please submit a Redirect, URL change, or vanity URL request

  • If you are creating an experimental design, please also contact the DST.

• If you are requesting a11y support for user research, please complete this form, next.

Kickoff Recording

Recording Link Passcode: +yIFnX6v

Tasks

### CAIA Ops
- [x] Schedule kickoff meeting - Terry/Lily FOR 11/29/2023 at Noon ET
- [ ] Waiting on next steps from the Veteran Status Team post-Kickoff Meeting 11/29/2023
- [x] Kick off meeting [recording](https://coformaco.zoom.us/rec/share/1uycnlsu-5i4h1nGULx23Hhx7cE0NT_FBBm6z2h51NOVtIzOPrPkOPeJfg2wyrYJ.hWTQH4sX-MXJhs-u) **Passcode**: CU*b#*.7
- [x] Kickoff meeting recording

### Tasks
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/70756

### a11y Tasks
- [ ] [CAIA a11y Research]: Veteran Status (Jan. 2024) - Pending Form Submission (Form linked in `Veteran Status Team Task List` in this ticket)
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/71534

### Veteran Status Team Task List
- [ ] During Kickoff on 11/29/2023, your team mentioned potential research, if approved, in six weeks or so, which is January 2024. CAIA can provide [a11y support for user research,](https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/new?assignees=coforma-terry%2Cangelafowler82&labels=508%2FAccessibility%2C+sitewide+CAIA%2C+sitewide+accessibility%2C+CAIA-a11y-research&template=caia-a11y-research.yaml&title=%5BCAIA+A11y+Research%5D%3A+Team+name%2C+product+name) please complete this form, next. 

### Tasks
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/83897

[coforma-terry]

Kickoff scheduled for 12:00 - 12:20 Wed 29 CC @strelichl

[kristinoletmuskat]

Hey team, just putting the link to some early IA thinking here: https://app.mural.co/t/departmentofveteransaffairs9999/m/departmentofveteransaffairs9999/1700157113185/4fe345e1daecbd361cadbadb1b38342c994dd3ef?fromVisitorModal=true&sender=ua641db233dc545173f8d9816

Feel free to leave comments and stickies in the doc.

[laurwill]

Hi @matt4su and Veteran Status Team! I saw the updates in the mural about the potential shift to a card instead of a page. If that's the plan, it sounds like there may not be much new content here beyond labels like "Period of service" — and I think you're using the existing labels from the mobile status page for those, right? If you're using the same content that's currently in mobile, that seems like a solid approach for the initial findability study. Is there any other content you're developing for this study that you'd like us to collaborate on?

One thing to confirm is how we'd refer to this card in link/download text. I think I saw language (that I now can't find:) like "Download your Veteran status," but that omits the noun I'd expect to see there, like "card" or "page" or "proof of...." You wouldn't normally "download your status" as a standalone item. Let me know if you want to chat about this!

Also noting 2 questions I had as I was poking around some internet threads about Veteran discounts. You may have already asked and answered these somewhere I didn't see, so apologies if I'm duplicating:

• Is the specific disability rating needed for discounts, or is "100% totally and permanently disabled" the only % distinction that changes discount eligibility?
• Is rank information ever needed for discounts?

[matt4su]

Hi Laura: Thanks for your comments. Would like to answer your questions and share a few updates with you. Below are the latest versions of our mocks after incorporating your and PO feedback. And to answer your specific questions (1) Yes, we are using the existing labels from the mobile app (2) Good point on the download text, we added "card" (3) Regarding discount questions, we did see disability rating needed for a certain tier of discounts at Disney but it varies by provider and we did not see rank in any of the research we reviewed. Note there is one additional are where we are considering adding content. Today on the military information page there is currently a dropdown providing guidance to the Veteran on the case "What if I don't think my military service information is correct?" We're suggesting appending to the bottom of this text a few use cases relevant to the appearance of Veteran status to help mitigate the risk of confusion. The text would be along the lines of "If your Veteran status card does not appear the information we're pulling into VA.gov is incomplete or indicates you are ineligible due to discharge status." We are also considering adding a link to a page that discussed how they can proceed on issues around discharge status, such as https://www.va.gov/discharge-upgrade-instructions/ There is one particular use case related to this where the Veteran has service history but have a discharge code of "unknown". For this use case we'd like to at least consider providing additional feedback on possible next steps for the Veteran. One proposal for this is in the attached screenshot, this verbiage would conditionally appear under the Proof of Veteran Status heading only for this use case.

current mockups:

Hub screen with udpated copy and link language. Option 1: Big version with all the things Option 2: Basic version with just some explanatory text and download link.

[Samara-Strauss]

Adding my notes here that were originally shared in Slack:

• Probably most important: I agree with the overall approach of having a downloadable PDF.
• IMO, we don't need to mention this on the hub page to start. I am curious about what kind of traction this gets through general discoverability and its mention on the content page.
• I'm partial to the option that shows a sample of the card. I think showing an example of the card will (1) prevent people from downloading the PDF just to see what it is and (2) help people who truly want to print the card know what they are getting. But this is an opinion, and I could see the less-is-more approach being better, especially as we are in the process of adding more information to the military info section.
• I am partial to the treatment below for letting people know about the mobile app. The one thing I feel pretty strongly about is that this should only show at mobile breakpoints, since clicking it won't do anything meaningful on desktop. BUT I know hiding/showing things could be an accessibility issue, so I would default to the accessibility folks on what best practices are here.
  • Note: Ryan mentioned the callout I preferred is not accessible, so I defer to you all on which callout to use.
• Otherwise, my only request is that you review these with Liz/Pam, since they will be able to get you feedback on design/styling specifics.

[matt4su]

Our final mockups are at link below. Only the mockup titled "Option 1- all content" and the card image next to it are relevant. The secondary use cases mentioned in the comment above related to the dropdown "What if I don't think my military service information is correct?" have been de-prioritized and moved for the backlog to be reconsidered after MVP. "https://www.figma.com/file/UwSvhj9Yn5trM5L5W3UgH0/VA-Status---Wireframes?type=design&node-id=793-4306&mode=design&t=9nXx8zm9m93Du3fH-4

[strelichl]

Closing this out since the team went through staging, thanks all