Re-Charging Consumer Outreach at Energy.gov
NOTE: This project reflects my experience while working as a federal employee at the Department of Energy.
CHALLENGE
Before founding Emerald Strategies, Inc., I was recruited to open a Consumer Affairs office at the Department of Energy. In March 1999, Secretary Bill Richardson assigned me to help establish a better connection between the public and his agency.
He believed that too many people didn’t know what the Department did or how it was relevant to them, and he wanted to rectify this breach. He believed that focusing on a consumer agenda would help, and gave me wide latitude to tackle the problem and forge a solution.
When I arrived, the site’s name was www.doe.gov, and the information architecture largely followed the agency’s organizational chart. Frustrated content providers within the agency’s multiple sub-units had retreated to the comfort of operating their own websites, with little to no interaction with each other or the owner of the agency’s home page.
SOLUTION
I began my mission by validating the assumptions made by my boss. I led focus group research and a new analysis of existing data that examined the opinions of three core audiences – the average citizen, energy professionals, and the “neighbors” of DOE facilities.
This research verified that Secretary Richardson was correct. Contrary to critics who claimed the problem was that DOE wasn’t relevant and did not produce information that mattered to the American people, I found that key audiences told me the agency was, in fact, creating a lot of valuable and interesting consumer information. The barrier the Secretary faced in reaching a bigger audience was that the information was too difficult to find. Our mission became clear: we needed to develop more effective delivery systems.
I spearheaded a cross-cutting team of Web publishers to create the first generation of www.energy.gov. At our prototype site, information in a consumer-friendly topical navigation replaced the government-centric voice of the site. In consultation with the stakeholder team, I created a new information architecture and content strategy. The key to the project was a content inventory across websites operated by the agency’s business, which allowed me to identify the content most relevant to a broader audience, and selectively curate the gems.
At every stage of the next-generation Web project, the Web forum participated in decisions: from choosing a design and navigation system to identifying content and designing the information architecture. By the time we were ready to vet the final website, the 25-member Web Forum had grown to 80 senior managers at the Department, who weighed in on the look, feel, and content of the final product.
Users tested the new design, layout, navigation, and content structure. The project team and Departmental leadership reviewed the site and provided their inputs before the new consumer portal website launched. Shortly afterwards, Internet traffic from doe.gov was redirected to the new energy.gov, giving the agency a new front door on the web.
To solidify the project’s results, I negotiated a new approach to managing the department’s web resources with the Chief Information Officer and the Public Affairs Officer. This document, called the “Web Council Charter,” was widely accepted across the agency’s sub-units during the negotiation because it replaced a closed vertical management system with an open horizontal management system.
The Web Council revolutionized website management by creating a re-engineered process that empowered front-line workers to create a vibrant site. At the same time, it put the power to develop systems-wide standards for our content and governance in the hands of the Web Council.
The Web project occurred in parallel with a first-of-its-kind Management Review of the agency’s departmental document clearinghouses, toll-free hotlines, and call centers. The review’s goal was to build a foundation for integrating one-stop-shop access to consumer resources. One outcome of the evaluation was the launch of 1-800-dial-DOE. This new toll-free line gave the agency an easy consumer gateway to the most popular clearinghouses at DOE.
The new look and feel told the story of a friendly agency dedicated to working for America’s consumers. The new URL made it easier and more intuitive to find online.
Once the site launched, the marketing effort for the cyber destination began in earnest. A creative marketing campaign featured a humorous PSA about energy efficiency and posters that appeared in mass transit systems in ten major cities.
The core theme of the website and the marketing effort was the tagline: “Put energy.gov to work for you.” The story we told addressed perceptions that the agency was irrelevant to people’s lives and was not functioning correctly.
The PSA ad campaign consisted of three spots and had nationwide distribution. Today, the PSA can be viewed via YouTube (see below). The video begins with two spots focused on power outage awareness, the first of which is in Spanish. The last spot features Norm the “helpful energy guy” with energy-saving tips. The feel of these PSA ads was fun, relevant, and friendly.
RESULTS
Before the launch of energy.gov, the majority of the agency’s inbound traffic originated from government servers. After the dot-com traffic quadrupled, it was shown that inbound traffic was mainly from the public. By recharging the Department of Energy site with a usability focus, we successfully promoted the delivery of existing services to a larger audience at a reduced cost.
AWARDS
The site won two prestigious awards. This included being named one of 20 “Best Feds on the Web” by Government Executive Magazine in November 2000. It was the only cabinet-level site recognized that year. Additionally, I received a reward from the Association for Federal Information Resource Managers (AFFIRM) that recognized my leadership on the project.
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