Process
Vets.gov combines human centered design with agile development to deliver products grounded in customer need and supported through cycles of continuous improvement
This methodology is intended for teams designing new products for vets.gov and for those migrating existing tools and content from VA websites. The framework, while not prescriptive, is a best practice model that aligns human-centered design with the vets.gov development and migration process. The activities of cross-functional teams are detailed out by phase as well as specific VA stakeholder engagement points with the vets.gov team.
Human Centered Design
Discover
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Project definition
An outline of the project’s key components. This should include a description of the current environment.
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Kickoff
The kickoff meeting is conducted after completion of project definition and brings together the entire project team. It creates alignment and shared understanding of the project’s goals, scope, milestones, roles and responsibilities. It builds on the project definition phase by eliciting known business requirements, user needs and technical platform dependencies.
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Discovery
Discovery validates and expands upon the initial project definition. Deeper understanding is developed through design research focused on business and customer needs. Technical investigation also happens in this phase. These activities serve as the foundation for product concept exploration.
Design
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Alpha: Design, Prototype & Plan
iterative cycleAlpha kicks off the iterative design and development process. Here, insights from the discovery phase inform product and concept prototypes. These are tested with real users to validate and refine the approach.
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Beta: Iterate and Build
iterative cycleBeta continues the iterative process, with increasing refinements moving toward a fully functional live product with solid back-end integration.
Deliver Measure Refine
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Pre-Flight
The preflight check ensures critical 508 accessibility and transparency requirements have been met and that business sign-off has occurred before the product is public.
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Go Live
iterative cycleGo Live is the point at which a vets.gov product is pushed to the public. Products undergo a process of continuous improvement in response to ongoing customer feedback and the addition of new capabilities.
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Sunset
Existing VA products will need to be retired after they are re-designed and brought into the platform. Care should be taken to communicate these changes to users and to help them transition as needed.
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Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
iterative cycleOperations and maintenance is the process through which a live product is sustained and enhanced. It includes maintenance cycles and continuous improvement along with a defined workflow to support changes and ongoing requirements.