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USA.gov and USAGov en Español have always taken a human-centered approach to making it easier to find and understand government information and services. As part of the larger effort to reimagine the USAGov websites, our content team developed new data-driven processes and best practices that reshape how we present content for beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español. 

As we’ve been building our beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español sites, our usability (UX) team has been developing new ways to make improvements through usability testing, information architecture, and design elements. Here are five changes we’ve made that are helping us better understand user needs and pain points:

Introducing the Building Beta Series

The USAGov program has been developing a new iteration of our bilingual sites, USA.gov and USAGov en Español. In the process of building beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español, we’ve been rethinking our work style and priorities. Follow the “Building Beta” series to learn how we’re reimagining the way we approach product management, usability, accessibility, content creation, analytics, and outreach. And see our previous post highlighting the ways our beta sites are different from their predecessors.

At USA.gov and USAGov en Español, we’re always looking for better ways to connect people to government information through social media. 

Starting this month, we’re expanding the scope of the USAGov Blog to share best practices and lessons learned not only from USAGov but also from two other programs that are part of our team: Search.gov and Vote.gov.

The USAGov Contact Center is known for its bilingual phone and chat services. Its agents answer questions from USAGov users about government benefits and services. And for decades, the contact center has also helped customer agencies, connecting the people those agencies serve with vital information.

The digital landscape has changed significantly since we launched the Go.USA.gov service in 2009. Over the last two years the team looked carefully at the program holistically, taking into consideration the future of the program, the current landscape related to using shortened URLs and alignment with strategic business goals. In early 2022 we made the difficult decision to initiate steps to sunset the service.

We’ve been on a journey at USAGov to reimagine how we deliver content to our users. And we’re excited to announce that we just released beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español to the public!