Interactive Website Redesign
Interactive Website Redesign
Digitizing the Press Briefing Book
The Spokesperson of the State Department is charged with conducting daily press briefings to answer questions on global events for members of the press. Each morning, the spokesperson is provided new guidance from regional experts. In the past, paper copies of the press guidance were handed to the spokesperson and filed into a large binder. My team was asked to find a way to lighten the load and take the information digital.
My Role
user research
information architecture
Results
new workflow for guidance collection
digital press guidance platform
The problem was twofold. First, flipping through the book when press members asked questions was time-consuming and an inefficient way of finding the information. There were times that the spokesperson could not find the correct piece of guidance as there were many related tabs it could have been filed under. Second, it was just so darn big! This binder goes everywhere with the spokesperson and has about 500 pages. No one would be excited to lug that around.
To start, we needed to understand how the Spokesperson received press guidance, studied it, and used it during press briefings. However, with little direct access to the Spokesperson, we strategized to work closely with her top aide. We also sat in on guidance collection sessions and press briefings to observe the Spokesperson's process.
The second part of the problem was easier to solve. We connected with the Secretary of State's technology team and decided to use a platform they had created for the Secretary to read guidance and policy documents on an iPad. This platform allowed for the Secretary's team to push content onto his iPad. He could then read, highlight text, and write notes right onto the pdf with a stylus.
We studied the Spokesperson's binder and organized the digital platform to mirror the structure she was used to using. As an added bonus, she could search keywords if she wasn't sure in which folder to find a topic. We also worked with the regional bureaus and press team to rework the guidance collection process. Instead of handing paper copies of guidance to the Spokesperson each morning, regional bureaus were asked to email the document(s) with clear, formatted titles. The press team would then push the content onto the Spokesperson's iPad. It was a change that took a lot of cooperation among many, but with some dedication and flexibility, we now have an easier, faster press guidance process. And look how happy she was to get rid of that heavy binder! Priceless.
