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**Nomination Form**

**Web Content Managers Best Practice Awards (2005)**

[Best Practice Being Nominated:]{.underline}

**Website URL:** <http://www.gsa.gov/usabilityuniversity>

Co-sponsored by GSA, HHS, Federal

Web Managers Advisory Council

[Best Practice Category]{.underline} (You can nominate the same website
or agency in more than one category). Read [descriptions of each
category]{.underline}

1.  Website Design

2.  Website Content

3.  Citizen-Focused Online Services

4.  Services for Defined Audiences

**X** Governance and Web Management

[Describe the Best Practice]{.underline} : Please be specific about what
it is, why it\'s a best practice,

evidence that's it's been successful, and how it could be replicated at
other agencies.

(limit one page)

Usability University (UU) is an educational and professional development
program that provides free seminars and low cost courses in user
experience topics to Federal Government staff and contractors.

Launched in April, 2004, by the U. S. General Services Administration
(GSA) and the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
Usability University was created to provide much-needed, hands-on
usability training to Federal staff and contractors.

Usability engineering training in the Washington, DC area was sporadic,
expensive, and often not tailored to Federal information technology
needs. UU has filled an important gap in knowledge and practice by
providing the tools, training, and expertise required to fulfill the
Presidential and legislative mandates to make Federal government online
communications citizen-centric...i.e., to make them usable, useful, and
accessible.

In April, 2005, the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Interagency
Committee for Government Information (ICGI) Web Content Standards
Working Group added its support as a co-sponsor of the program.

**Usability University Results:**

Since its origination in April, 2004, thru July, 2005, Usability
University has, in 3 "semesters":

-   Presented 16 in-depth courses and 18 seminars in user experience
    topics. (UU course/seminar topics attached.)

-   Trained 1024 individuals in improving the usability of Federal
    information products and services:

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-   905 Federal staff from 36 Federal agencies/organizations

-   119 contractors from 32 private industry and nonprofit organizations
    (often those who are implementing Federal work)

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-   Increased attendance by 72% in the Spring 2005 semester (from 271
    attendees to 467 attendees)

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-   Received high ratings from the attendees of the low-cost Usability
    University [courses:]{.underline}

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-   90% rated the courses as highly relevant or relevant to their
    work/job

-   86% strongly agreed or agreed that the course objectives had been
    achieved

-   83% said their learning on the subject increased to an expert level
    in the course subject area

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-   Received high ratings from attendees of the free Usability
    University [seminars:]{.underline}

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-   83% rated the seminars as highly relevant or relevant to their
    work/job

-   84% strongly agreed or agreed that the seminar objectives had been
    achieved

-   71% said their learning on the subject increased to an expert level
    in the seminar subject area

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-   Comments from UU attendees have been overwhelmingly positive (see
    attachment).

Usability University has been a successful collaborative effort by the
Web Managers Advisory Council, HHS, and GSA. We identified a need and
cooperatively worked together to find a way to provide a valued service.
Our goal in the upcoming fiscal year is to expand the Usability
University to provide user experience training to U. S. Federal
Government staff located in regions outside the Washington, DC area and
to provide UU seminars online to increase the reach and shelf-life of
this valuable training.

Note: If you're nominating someone for the Community Leadership Award,
you need to use the [Leadership Award nomination form]{.underline}
instead.

**Attachments below:**

**Usability University Topics for Courses and Seminars (Spring 2005
semester)**

## Seminar: Writing for the Web

Presenter: Ginny Redish, PhD, Redish, Inc.

Date/Time: Tues & Wed, March 15-16, 2005 -- 9:30 a.m. -- 3:30 p.m.

Course**: Usability Basics**

Instructor: Hal Miller-Jacobs, Human Factors International, Inc.

Date/Time: Wed & Thurs, March 23 - 24, 2005 -- 9:30 a.m. -- 3:30 p.m.

Course: **Usability Testing that Gets Results**

Instructor: Cari Wolfson, Focus on U

Date/Time: Tues & Wed, May 19-20, 2005, -- 9:30 a.m. -- 3:30 a.m.

Course: **Advanced Usability Topics 2005: A Summary of the Research**

Instructor: Bob Bailey, PhD, Computer Psychology, Inc.

Date/Time: Wed & Thurs, May 25 - 26, 2005 -- 9:30 a.m. -- 3:30 p.m.

Course: **Making Public Information Channels Usable: Optimizing Web,
Telephone, and Email Services for Citizens**

Instructor: Whitney Quesenbery, Whitney Interactive Design

Date/Time: Thurs. & Fri., June 16 -- 17, 2005 -- 9:30 a.m. -- 3:30 p.m.

Course: **Usability Metrics: How to Measure Performance and Progress**

Instructors: Tom Tullis, Fidelity Investments, Inc., Bob Bailey,
Computer Psychology, Inc.

Date/Time: Mon & Tues, July 11-12, 2005 -- 9:30 a.m. -- 3:30 p.m.

## Seminar: Effective Use of Personalized E-mail Alerts to Increase Website Usage\-- A Case Study from USDA

Presenter: Scott Burns, GovDocs Inc. and Janet Stevens, United States
Department of Agriculture

Date/Time: Tues, March 22, 2005, 10 a.m. - Noon

Seminar: **Developing Statements of Work for Usability Engineering
Services**

Presenter: Janice Nall, Usability Solutions Group, General Services
Administration (GSA)

Date/Time: Tues, April 12, 2005, 1:30 p.m. -- 3:30 p.m.

## 

## Seminar: Universal Design: The Case of Lower Literacy Populations 

Presenter: William Gribbons, PhD, MS in Human Factors in Information
Design, Bentley College

Date/Time: April 15, 2005, 1:30 -- 3:30 p.m.

Seminar: **Designing Usable Surveys**

Presenter: Kath Straub, Human Factors International; John Bosley, Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Date/Time: Fri, May 13, 2005, 10 a.m. -- Noon

Seminar: **Determining the Optimal Number of Usability Test
Participants**

Presenter: Bob Bailey, PhD, Computer Psychology, Inc.

Date/Time: Fri, May 27, 2005, 10 a.m. -- Noon

## Seminar: Usability Test Reports: A Common Industry Format

Presenter: Mary Theofanos, Visualization and Usability Group, National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Date/Time: Wed, June 15, 2005, 10 a.m. -- Noon

## Seminar: Plain Language

Presenter: Annetta Cheek, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Date/Time: Tues, July 19, 2005, 10 a.m. -- Noon

**UU Positive Comments from Spring 2005 Semester Attendee Evaluations**

**Spring 2005 (Courses)**

\"Great Course!\"

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \"Ginny is knowledgeable and good at sharing what she knows.\"

  \"Very useful course\"

  \"Ginny gave time for questions and we did good work activities for
  better understanding.\"

  \"Good examples\--apply well to audience.\"

  \"Dr. Redish is an excellent instructor.\"

  \"I was very impressed with the creative, encouragement and
  presentation.\"

  \"One always learns something, I\'ll take several points back to the
  team I\'m on.\"

  \"Excellent delivery and content\...hands on...very helpful...Thank you
  very much!\"

  \"Very well organized and clearly presented\-\--boiled down to basic,
  useful information\"

  \"Class was too short- another day and a half would be great!\"

  \"Hal is a great instructor...my only suggestion is to offer this as a
  3 or 4 day course instead\"

  \"Engaging and well done\"

  \"Nice Course!\"

  \"Good course, perfect basics course\"

  \"Hal was wonderful, entertaining and knowledgeable.\"
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

\"Instructor clearly knows a great deal about usability testing."

\"Instructor was very knowledgeable."

\"Great class\--best one I\'ve been to regarding usability.\"

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  \"Facilitator seem very knowledgeable.\"

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

\"Excellent Course...thanks a million!\"

+------------------------------------------------------------------+---+---+
| \"Great data, specific to government workers, great tools and    |   |   |
| references to take away and use.\"                               |   |   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+---+---+
| \"Cari did a terrific job.\"                                     |   |   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+---+---+
| \"Instructor did a great job of infusing a real report (FEMA)    |   |   |
| into course. Made the course                                     |   |   |
|                                                                  |   |   |
| more relevant.\"                                                 |   |   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+---+---+
| \"More Bob!\"                                                    |   |   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+---+---+
| \"Great job! Love the info...will use it on the job.\"           |   |   |
|                                                                  |   |   |
| > "This course was helpful to gather basic understanding about   |   |   |
| > usability metrics...the bibliography will be quite helpful."   |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Great course...thanks!"                                       |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Excellent seminar....very engaging"                           |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Interesting....instructors were well-prepared and dedicated   |   |   |
| > to the subject area"                                           |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Course was fascinating but they need more time!"              |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Great content....keep it coming....we need it"                |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Tom is great at making complex information                    |   |   |
| > understandable...excellent presentation"                       |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Very knowledgeable and interesting instructor"                |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Great, great, great"                                          |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Good class interaction, facilities convenient...questions of  |   |   |
| > classmates helpful!"                                           |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Need more of this kind of info"                               |   |   |
| >                                                                |   |   |
| > "Enjoyed hands on examples in EXCEL"                           |   |   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+---+---+

**Spring 2005 (Seminars)**

> "Great into to Handheld Device usability."
>
> "A full course would be very helpful."
>
> "Speakers were very good and presented their information well."
>
> "This was a very timely and useful presentation...Please consider
> repeating it."
>
> "I'm so pleased to know that what we have been doing intuitively is,
> in fact, borne out by research and more purposefully developed
> projects."
>
> "Exceeded my expectations."
>
> "Thank you so much for sponsoring today's program."
>
> "My first UU Program...I'll be back! Thank you!"
>
> "As a contractor, I look forward to having an easier time doing
> usability work on the GSA Schedule."
>
> "Thank you."
>
> "Great presentation. Please try to offer this topic again. Also
> recommend this session for an e-govt. conf."
>
> "Extremely practical, Thank you! Would appreciate samples on
> Usability.gov (SOWs, sample deliverables, etc.)."
>
> "Wonderful and happy to have interpreter here."
>
> "Excellent b/c you can feel his passion -- advocating for this
> neglected population...sadly he is right...no money, no attention."
>
> "I'm glad that I attended."
>
> "Excellent presentation -- appropriate length for a free presentation
> with no breaks. But I'd love to hear him for a longer period."
>
> "Very interesting. Sounds like the tip of the iceberg. Lots of good
> thought-provoking information for all aspects of one's day-to-day
> life."
>
> "This presentation was wonderful, it raised for me, more things I need
> to learn. This is a good thing! Thank you."
>
> "It was really a great seminar. I never knew that the illiterate
> groups suffered so much with technology. It inspires me to want to
> make it easier for them through my job."
>
> "I liked that they brought up the major challenges immediately, didn't
> waste time on background."
>
> "I like the PhD credentials and the references provided."
>
> "Presenters were well-informed and knowledgeable about surveys. This
> should really be a 4-8 hour class."
>
> "Excellent presentation"
>
> "Thanks for a good seminar...useful and informative."
>
> "Thanks so much for expanding the number of people who could
> attend...presenters were outstanding!"
>
> "Good topic...nice to get a non-Nielson perspective on the usability
> subject."
>
> "Very useful and informative overall."
>
> "I'm really glad that someone sent me notice of this seminar. It was
> really useful for me and my job even though I am not applying this to
> Web site usability."
>
> "This was an excellent room and location- should use again if
> available."
>
> "Distribution of slides to participants is very helpful to federal
> agencies/ business. Please continue to do so."
>
> "Bob is great...Please bring him back again. Have him talk to OMB and
> set them straight."
>
> "Thank you this is a great seminar."

"Great presentation style"

"Great course"

"Usability is still new to me...I think the presenter, Mary, was great
and has a lot of valuable knowledge about usability."

"Enjoyed listening to other organizations discuss their Web sites"

"Keep this programming for us!"

"Great presentation...thanks!"

"Cheek was very engaging and knowledgeable on the subject matter...great
presentation."

"Very interesting...great points"

"I liked the room lay-out it made it easier to learn and follow the
speaker"

"Excellent!"