Booz Allen Hamilton
Chief Digital and AI Office
Advana
Community Space Website Design, Development, and Implementation
Define
Advana is the DoD’s enterprise-wide, multi-domain data, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) platform that provides military and civilian decision-makers, analysts, and builders with unprecedented access to enterprise tools and capabilities - all in a scalable, reliable, and secure environment. As part of the Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), this platform offers market-leading tools to perform data exploration, analysis, model development, data visualizations, and more. Advana also hosts hundreds of curated applications providing analytics for over a dozen lines of business such as logistics, financial management, people and health, and more. Using one central platform with right-time, tools, and other self-service products, Advana puts the power of data, analytics, and AI in the pocket of every DoD analyst and decision-making authority.
A Community Space is a customer-facing website engaging Advana users of a specific government workforce. Where customers use applications on Advana to engage with their data visualizations, a Community Space is an Advana-branded website that hosts resources, announcements, and information about said Community Space’s tailored applications. For example, the United States Air Force A4 (Logistics, Engineering, and Force Protection Community) owns a Community Space called BLADE, and their users use web applications on Advana; they can find information or links to these applications on their customer-facing website.
Project Overview
Role: Lead UX Strategist
Tools: Adobe Xd, A2ET Jira/Confluence, Mural Board, Notebook, Access to DoD systems and imagery
Team Members: Brandi Shapiro
Project Length: 3 years
Methods Used: Agile, Design Workshops, Card Sorting, Interviews, Prototype Design,
Problem: Community Spaces need a customer facing website that is accessible from a NIPR environment and provides various resources for that community’s tailored applications.
With the sale of more Community Space products on the Advana platform, there is a need to streamline the process for designing and developing these websites through the use of newly designed templates, as well as implementing a content management system to help manage dynamic content on the website.
The purpose of the Community Space Template is to streamline the development process for these products as well as setting a tone of uniformity throughout all of the Community Space websites.
Explanation/Discovery
Within the DoD, organizations are built upon separate enclaves focusing on particular tasks and subject matter for their respective organizations. These different communities spread throughout the DoD are looking to modernize their processes through the power of modern advanced data analytics.
In the beginning, these communities would onboard the Advana platform and begin working with the design team to build a Community Space website that was tailored just for them.
Very quickly, we soon had a growing need to streamline the development process of each website, as well as standardize the design and functionality of components shared across different spaces. A design template was created and implemented for the Community Space project that would do just that.
Research
The research process included a brand design workshop and an IA/content strategy workshop, conducted with stakeholders and users. These workshops, comprised of card sorting and facilitated discussions, not only helped produce a logo and identity for the new Community Space, but helped us articulate their mission, vision, and values as well. Card sorting helped us determine trends across Community Spaces that would lead to a standardized sitemap for future websites to come.
Design Decisions
Various design decisions were made to keep the products in line with our business goals and client requirements.
Impact
Easily replicated components that can be customized to fit any branded Community Space.
Conclusion and Reflection
Within the DoD, organizations are built upon separate enclaves focusing on particular tasks and subject matter for their respective organizations. These different communities spread throughout the DoD are looking to modernize their processes through the power of modern advanced data analytics.
In the beginning, these communities would onboard the Advana platform and begin working with the design team to build a Community Space website that was tailored just for them.
Very quickly, we soon had a growing need to streamline the development process of each website, as well as standardize the design and functionality of components shared across different spaces. A design template was created and implemented for the Community Space project that would do just that.
We utilize a working design system to keep our design solutions consistent across various platforms and clients. Employing this design system, I have designed custom applications and websites that directly address our client’s various usability needs.
Check out what we are doing at Advana and the Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Office.