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GSA – Per Diem Rates

This website was selected as a finalist for the 2008 Web Managers Best Practice Awards. Members of the Web Managers Forum will vote for winners, to be announced at the Government Web Managers conference May 5, 2008, in Washington, DC.

Below is this finalist's nomination form, so Forum members can learn more about the website before they vote.

Describe the top customer task you're nominating:

Find government per diem rates

URL of the top customer task:

http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentId=17943&contentType=GSA_BASIC

Describe how you identified your top customer task.

We identified our top task by using a comprehensive web improvement model that includes quantitative and qualitative web metrics and visitor feedback. We use the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a pop-up survey for visitors. For example, a custom question on the ACSI asks survey respondents to indicate their purpose for visiting gsa.gov. Compared to several other tasks (e.g., buying supplies online from GSA, getting information about public buildings, policy, etc.), survey results have consistently shown that finding per diem rates is the most frequent reason visitors come to gsa.gov. We average 7 million visits to the per diem page per year. We use web traffic statistics derived from WebTrends, gsa.gov's web traffic tool. Web traffic reports include top pages visited on gsa.gov and top search terms typed into external search engines. These web traffic reports show that per diem is consistently the most visited page and the most frequently requested external engine search term. Other sources of data indicating that per diem is the top task on gsa.gov include reports of top search terms from gsa.gov's internal search engine and visitor emails to gsa.gov.

Describe how you made this task easier to complete.

We make the task easier to complete by making continuous improvements to the per diem page based on several data sources. Improvements made include:

• A clickable colored state map
• Important information displayed above the map
• A shortened page
• A search enhancement that allows visitors to search for a city's per diem rate and get instant results from the per diem database
• Putting the per diem link in bold at the top left
• Adding it to the "Most Requested" box on the home page
• Moving the per diem site to the gsa.gov portal where it could be easily found.

Data used to make improvements include:

• ACSI visitor satisfaction scores and comments
• Visitor emails
• Web traffic statistics
• "Rate This Page" visitor comments
• Usability studies.

Web metrics show that our visitors know where to start the task. The majority of visitors have the page bookmarked and/or click on tabs and links on gsa.gov to find the rates. Only one click on the per diem map is required to get rates. A link for GSA employee contacts is on the page for visitors to get further help.

How do you routinely monitor the success of this task?

The success of the task is continuously monitored by:

• Usability studies
• ACSI visitor satisfaction scores and verbatim feedback
• Web traffic trends
• A "Rate This Page" assessment
• Visitor emails and calls to gsa.gov.

Usability studies were performed using samples of GSA customer segments (federal employees, general public). Results showed that finding per diem rates was the easiest task to accomplish and took the least amount of time. The current FY 08 1st Quarter ACSI score for those wanting per diem rates jumped up to 85 out of 100 points as compared to the FY 05, 1st Quarter score of 59.

Success has been demonstrated by:

• A fast completion rate for getting per diem rates
• Fewer email questions from visitors
• Consistent high traffic to the page
• An enormous increase in overall satisfaction.

Improving this task has helped meet GSA's strategic goals of providing efficient and effective service and the best value to our customers and taxpayers. In addition, as we develop new and better ways of conducting business, we see results in more productive and effective federal policies and administrative operations.

Extra Credit: Describe what you've done to improve other critical tasks and promote critical tasks within your agency.

Other critical tasks have been improved and promoted on gsa.gov. A "Most Requested" box including the top tasks visitors want to accomplish was added to the home page. The website was reoriented around customer segments (i.e., federal, state, local government customers, vendors, citizens, military, and GSA employees) and tasks relevant to GSA's strategic goals (e.g., getting per diem rates and travel information, supplies and services, contract award information, government property for sale, government assistance, forms, jobs, and contacting GSA employees via telephone and emails when visitors need help). Tasks are coordinated with other agencies. For example, per diem information is coordinated with the IRS. Web content is distributed via multiple channels (e.g., GSA customer demonstrations and conferences, telephone, video, RSS feeds, and listservs).

Examples of other improvements made to make it easier for visitors to accomplish tasks include:

• A search enhancement making it easier to get products and services by sending customers directly to GSA's online acquisition tool, GSA Advantage!
• Development of a site allowing customers to pay rent on the web
• A world class events presentation tool
• Strategic marketing of GSA online billing information and "green" environmental initiatives
• Improved presentation of catalogs, publications, email notifications, as well as the Forms library.

 

Page Updated or Reviewed: April 15, 2008