Collaboration Cycle - Discovery for bringing the mobile app into Collaboration Cycle

Problem Statement

Governance has been informed that soon, VFS teams will begin building the mobile app version of their products, and not just the web version. Up to this point, the Flagship Mobile team is the only team that has built on the mobile app. As more and more Veterans are using the mobile app each day, it is important that Governance team begin enforcing standards via the Collaboration Cycle for all mobile app products and services. However, the current Collaboration Cycle process, including Kickoff, Design Intent, Midpoint Review, Staging Review, the VA.gov Experience Standards and the QA Standards, are only intended to cover web, and not mobile.

The goals of this initiative are to determine where our process and/or defined standards need to be modified so that the Collaboration Cycle can support mobile app products.

How might we identify the gaps in coverage or knowledge from web to mobile for the various practice areas? How might we modify our VA.gov Experience standards for mobile coverage? How might we modify our QA Standards for mobile coverage? How might we determine if any process changes are necessary?

Artifacts from OCTO:

Roadmap for bringing Mobile App into VA.gov Platform
Mobile App Design System

Notes from refinement 6/13

What is the mobile app used for?
What is the plan if/when the components differ?
How do we test on the mobile app without mobile devices?
"we don't know what we don't know" "this is squishy"
Test, demo, play around with the mobile app in demo mode
Review their documentation
Go in blind or walk through from the team?
In case anyone wants to play with demo mode...
1. Download and open the app
2. Tap on the VA logo 7 times
3. Enter password Zhuzh-it
The do have robust IA documentation (plus!)
Possibly approach it like a DST SR

Notes with Matt 6/14

North star: any team can work across modalities (web or mobile)
will take a while to get there
- teams don't have expertise
- teams struggling to find mobile engineers-
- want to have a team pilot, but having a hard time finding folks to support on the contracting side
- no timeline as of yet
- important, but not a fire drill

Notes from Refinement 8/22

in Mobile app, they have headings but no heading levels. In mobile we have gesture controls - this doesn't exist on the web. Not sure how extensively current mobile app implements said gestures
Keyboard interaction might also differ.
It is possible that web and mobile content might differ.
For IA, how different operating systems behave differently w/ built in navigation. For example IOS and Android have different back buttons that behave differently.
Some things are consistent from web to mobile, such as testing for the happy path and documenting user flows.
All QA standards should apply, but E2E testing would be different. Mobile app would not have cypress testing.
We have to get up to speed on what the standards are for a mobile app. What are the native things to an app? What are the differences between web and app?
We need to have a conversation about devices. Is the expectation that we test on both android and ios? do we only need to test on 1?
Is the decision of whether something gets built for the app going to part of PO sync? YES
Tools: What do we need to have?
Education: What do we need to know?
Process mods: What do we have to do?

Hypothesis or Bet

If we complete research on the differences between web development and mobile development, then we'll understand how our process and/or standards need to change in order to support mobile.

If we document a plan for how we'll modify Collaboration Cycle to support mobile, then we'll be prepared for when VFS teams begin bringing mobile products through Collaboration Cycle.

If we educate ourselves on mobile development, then we'll have the confidence to give VFS teams guidance on building a mobile product that meets our defined standards.

We will know we're done when... ("Definition of Done")

[ ] We have determined what additional education may be needed for our practice area specialists.
[ ] We have identified which VA.gov Experience Standards are not applicable to mobile.
[ ] We have identified which QA Standards are not applicable to mobile.
[ ] We have documented where the gaps are for mobile coverage in our VA.gov Experience Standards.
[ ] We have documented where the gaps are for mobile coverage in our QA Standards.
[ ] We have identified if our process for supporting the Collaboration Cycle Kickoff needs to be modified.
[ ] We have identified if our process for supporting the Design Intent needs to be modified.
[ ] We have identified if our process for supporting the Midpoint Review needs to be modified.
[ ] We have identified if our process for supporting the Staging Review needs to be modified.
[ ] We have determined if our practice area specialists will need access to additional tools and/or resources

Known Blockers/Dependencies

List any blockers or dependencies for this work to be completed

Projected Launch Date

When do you expect to be completed rolling out this initiative*

Launch Checklist

Guidance (delete before posting)

This checklist is intended to be used to help answer, "is my Platform initiative ready for launch?". All of the items in this checklist should be completed, with artifacts linked---or have a brief explanation of why they've been skipped---before launching a given Platform initiative. All links or explanations can be provided in Required Artifacts sections. The items that can be skipped are marked as such.

Keep in mind the distinction between Product and Initiative --- each Product needs specific supporting documentation, but Initiatives to improve existing Products should reuse existing documentation for that Product. VSP Product Terminology for details.

Is this service / tool / feature...

... tested?

[ ] Usability test (TODO: link) has been performed, to validate that new changes enable users to do what was intended and that these changes don't worsen quality elsewhere. If usability test isn't relevant for this change, document the reason for skipping it.
- [ ] ... and issues discovered in usability testing have been addressed.
- Note on skipping: metrics that show the impact of before/after can be a substitute for usability testing.
[ ] End-to-end manual QA or UAT is complete, to validate there are no high-severity issues before launching
[ ] (if applicable) New functionality has thorough, automated tests running in CI/CD

... documented?

[ ] New documentation is written pursuant to our documentation style guide
[ ] Product is included in the List of VSP Products
- List the existing product that this initiative fits within, or add a new product to this list.
[ ] Internal-facing: there's a Product Outline
[ ] External-facing: a User Guide on Platform Website exists for this product/feature tool
[ ] (if applicable) Post to #vsp-service-design for external communication about this change (e.g. customer-facing meetings)

... measurable

[ ] (if applicable) This change has clearly-defined success metrics, with instrumentation of those analytics where possible, or a reason documented for skipping it.
- For help, see: Analytics team
[ ] This change has an accompanying Platform Release Plan.

When you're ready to launch...

[ ] Configure your communication to teams about your work using the Change Communication Guide
[ ] Conduct a go/no-go when you're almost ready to launch.

Required Artifacts

Documentation

PRODUCT_NAME: directory name used for your product documentation
Product Outline: link to Product Outline
User Guide: link to User Guide

Testing

Usability test: link to GitHub issue, or provide reason for skipping
Manual QA: link to GitHub issue or documented results
Automated tests: link to tests, or "N/A"

Measurement

Success metrics: link to where success metrics are measured, or where they're defined (Product Outline is OK), or provide reason for skipping
Release plan: link to Release Plan ticket

TODOs

[ ] Convert this issue to an epic
[ ] Add your team's label to this epic
[ ] Add this initiative to the Digital Experience Product Board using these instructions

department-of-veterans-affairs / va.gov-team