ForeSee E Government Satisfaction Index Q3 2015

THE FORESEE
E-GOVERNMENT
SATISFACTION INDEX
(Q3 2015)
NOVEMBER 2015
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS BY:
Dave Lewan
Vice President, ForeSee
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY:
Cody Haro
Associate Client Analyst,
Usability, ForeSee
© 2015 ForeSee

WWW.FORESEE.COM | CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ANALYTICS
2 THE FORESEE E-GOVERNMENT SATISFACTION INDEX (Q3 2015)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About This Report 2
How Are Your Mobile Initiatives Going? 3
How E-Government Is Performing Overall 12
Top Gainers 16
Satisfaction by Website Functional Category 17
Federal E-Commerce and Transactional Websites 17
Federal News and Information Websites 18
Federal Portals and Department Main Websites 20
Federal Career and Recruitment Websites 22
Satisfaction with Mobile Sites and Apps 23
Why Satisfaction Matters 24
Why Government Agencies Rely on ForeSee 26
About the Author 27
About ForeSee 27
ABOUT THIS REPORT
The ForeSee E-Government Satisfaction Index is a comprehensive reflection of the citizen experience with federal government
websites, and it serves as a critical checkpoint for evaluating the success and performance of the federal government’s
online initiatives. Over 170,000 responses were collected across the federal government websites for the quarter measured
in this Index. This demonstrates that citizens are willing to share their voices to help agencies and departments improve.
With an eye to the future steps citizens may take as a result of their online experience with federal digital properties, the use
of the ForeSee methodology and technology enables agency leaders to determine specifically which desktop and mobile
improvements will have the greatest impact on future usage and recommendations.

HOW ARE YOUR MOBILE INITIATIVES GOING?
For the past couple years, the E-Government Satisfaction Index has not only served as a checkpoint to see how the federal
government is performing in the eyes of the citizen with digital initiatives, but it has also served as a constant reminder of the
growth and importance of the role mobile plays in driving the overall success agencies have in serving and meeting the needs
of citizens.
Mobile growth has been tremendous. Today, according to a recent Pew Research report (October 2015), 92% of adult
Americans own cell phones, 68% of those being smartphones, up from 35% in 2011. Tablet ownership has also shot up to
45% from just 3% in 2010. While the growth in mobile continues to climb, the Pew Report reveals that computer usage is flat.
Some 73% of adult Americans own a desktop or laptop computer, a number similar to the 71% of those who owned a desktop
or laptop in 2004 and down from the high of 80% in 2012.
When we look at specific demographics, the numbers are glaring: 86% of those ages 18-29 have a smartphone, as do 83% of
those ages 30-49 and 87% of those living in households earning $75,000 and up annually. When we look to the future, aided
by the convenience and constant access provided by smartphones, an April 2015 Pew report titled “Teens, Social Media and
Technology Overview 2015” points out 92% of teens report going online daily, including 24% of teens reporting they are online
“almost constantly.”
So what does this mean for the state of E-Government? To start with, many of our customers are reporting 30, 40 and even
50% of internet traffic is coming from mobile devices. This is a significant number of constituents you are serving. It is
paramount to meet and, whenever possible, exceed their high expectations.
When we don’t perform at expected levels, frustrated citizens may call the contact center, go stand in line or head to a private
sector site to get information. This is counter to government’s overall objective. Citizens want to get information from their
government from digital channels to leverage the greater access, availability and consistency of information the internet
provides, while government would prefer delivery through digital channels to benefit from a lower cost to serve.
As citizens (you and I) traverse various apps and sites with mobile devices, we form opinions and have expectations of how we
should be able to interact with the information. Those expectations are higher than ever. I should be able to access information
easily and intuitively navigate with familiar menus. Content should be optimized for mobile, and I shouldn’t have to pinch,
zoom or pan.
As I have said often before, digital managers need to be focused on outcomes versus just outputs. The importance is not how
many have downloaded the app or what your “star rating” is, or if they were able to complete their task for this visit (that
doesn’t mean they were pleased and will come back). The focus needs to be on predictable, measureable outcomes. As a
result of his or her visit today, how likely is he or she to return to the app or site (think first-time visitors), to recommend the
app or site, to use the app or site as a primary resource of information versus the channel more costly to government, e.g.,
contact center? So how do you improve the experience so constituents will do more of the things you want them to do?

The first step to improvement is measurement. If you want to lose weight, you have to start by stepping on the scale. Want
to improve your golf game? Keep score; yes, count every stroke! When it comes to measuring success of your mobile
channels, ForeSee uses the same credible, reliable, accurate precise, predictable and actionable methodology as we do for
measuring websites.
There are some nuances for collecting data (text back, bit.ly links, etc.) designed specifically for mobile. We still deconstruct
the experience to understand satisfaction drivers (just using fewer elements), and we use the same benchmarkable
satisfaction questions (overall satisfaction, satisfaction compared to expectations and satisfaction compared to your idea of an
ideal mobile experience). For the respondent, the survey is shorter and very efficient to complete. The result for our customers
is an overall diagnosis of how they are performing, where they should focus improvement investment and again, with their eye
on outcomes, the future behaviors they are looking for, e.g., return, recommendations, primary source of information.
Many of our customers have moved to a Responsive Design code base. Responsive Design helps developers leverage the
same code base for desktop, tablet and smartphone. However, the key to remember is that from YOUR customers’ point of
view, these are three distinctly different experiences. You should measure all three to develop roadmaps and action plans
specific by channel and understand how each are used as separate standalone channels or how one contributes to the other
by understanding customer journeys.
We realize all of you are in different stages of mobile development. Often the questions we hear are, “What specifically are
agency digital teams doing to increase scores?” “What are some best practices we could implement?” As I mentioned in last
quarter’s commentary, the label best practice may be overused. I prefer to offer design alternatives that may work for your
apps, sites and objectives.
At ForeSee, we offer usability auditing services. These allow our clients to leverage degreed, human computer interaction
experts to heuristically review wireframes, sites, apps or specific areas of the experience to deliver the most optimal,
satisfactory experience to your constituents.
Cody Haro is a ForeSee Usability Client Analyst who works with both public and private sector organizations. In our continuing
effort to share usability ideas for mobile, Cody has outlined some design alternatives that may serve as launch point or
comparative while you map out design and development plans for your mobile apps or sites.

VISITOR SEGMENTATION
Large government sites that attract a diverse range
of visitors need to effectively segment them on the
site’s homepage. For example, the FDA site provides
specific navigation channels for visitors based on
their role (although this design could be improved by
locating it higher on the page).
SURFACING KEY FUNCTIONALITIES
For comparison, the FDA’s visitor segmentation elements are placed at the top of the homepage on the desktop site.

In addition, the mobile site surfaces key functionalities that may be difficult to locate on
a mobile device such as Latest Recalls and Report an Adverse Event. Sites should use
visitor navigation data to identify resources and functionalities popular among visitors but
overlooked on mobile devices. In addition, using large buttons to link to key functionalities
helps visitors easily find and select them.
ORIENTATION
Orientation elements, such as navigation highlighting and consistent labeling, help to inform visitors of their location within a
site’s structure. This is especially true for large, information-heavy government sites that contain multiple levels of content.
These elements are also helpful for visitors who have reached the site from an external source, such as a search engine result,
and are unsure of where they are within the site or where they should navigate to next for related information.

SECTION NAVIGATION
Government sites should also consider how they design pages to facilitate navigation within a site section. For example,
Athena Health includes a section selector at the top of the page as well as a prominent and explicitly labeled Next button at the
bottom of the page to navigate between sections. These two action mechanisms make it clear that related information will be
found on a following page, while providing clear and prominent pathways to reach this related content.

GLOBAL NAVIGATION
The Explore VA site uses an effective global navigation menu that provides easy access to top level pages as well as to each
of their subsections. Visitors can either navigate directly to top level pages or expand and select subsections by tapping on the
arrow icon. This design offers visitors access to top level pages and their corresponding subsections from any page of the site.
TOUCH INTERACTION
When viewed on a mobile device,Time Warner Cable’s responsive site adapts to offer
visitors improved touch interaction within its global menu.While the desktop site uses
closely spaced links within its menu, the mobile menu reorganizes itself to offer visitors
larger links that are appropriately spaced to facilitate touchscreen interaction.

NON-MOBILE PAGES
In order to offer visitors a consistent
mobile experience that follows
usability best practice, mobile sites
should avoid directing visitors to
non-mobile pages. In situations,
such as the one shown, visitors
must pinch, zoom, and pan to the
side to properly read and interact
with the content on the page due to
its small size.
As you continue to embark on delivering the best mobile experience for your constituents, Cody also points out some
reminders for your mobile teams:
SIZING AND SPACING
»» Text sizes must be appropriate for the device
»» Buttons and links must be sized and spaced for touchscreen interaction
»» Zooming and panning should not be required
LINKING TO NON-MOBILE PAGE
»» Mobile pages should avoid linking to non-mobile content
»» Remove links that do not open in mobile devices
GET THE MOST FROM YOUR MOBILE SEO EFFORTS
Google uses mobile usability metrics as part of its algorithm to determine a site’s ranking within search results. Here are some
useful links for maximizing your mobile SEO efforts.
http://searchengineland.com/google-may-add-mobile-user-experience-ranking-algorithm-205382
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-mobile-friendly-search-ranking-factors-19926.html
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/03/assessing-mobile-usability-google-webmaster-tools/

MOVING FORWARD WITH MOBILE
The future of mobile is clear: it is here to stay, and it is an important channel for citizens when they need to get information
from their government. It is critical for agency managers to deliver on citizens’ high expectations. So far, the returns are
positive (as I will discuss later in this report), but agencies need to start or continue to measure to ensure they are making the
right investments of time, money and resources.
SATISFACTION REBOUNDS SLIGHTLY
The ForeSee E-Gov Satisfaction Index rebounded insignificantly this quarter, coming in with an aggregate score of 75.1 up
from 74.5 in Q2 2015. This is the 49th consecutive quarter that ForeSee has reported on the state of E-Government beginning
in the third quarter of 2003.
ForeSee measures satisfaction on a 0-100 scale. Scores 80 and above are recognized as the threshold of excellence (highly
satisfied visitors), and scores below 70 reveal there is much room for improvement (dissatisfied). ForeSee customers have
the ability to compare how they are doing relative to their peers and, most importantly, how their channels are performing
over time. Scores in this quarter’s index range from 54 to 90. We often applaud the efforts of the high scoring sites. However,
we recognize all for being sensitive to the fact that the customer experience is more important than ever before, and
measurement is the first step towards improvement.
ForeSee measures the digital experience for nearly 300 web and mobile sites and the E-Government Satisfaction Index is a
measurement of 101 sites who volunteer to be transparent and share their scores. Some additional details on this quarter’s index:
»» Citizens will provide their opinion. Over 170,000 responses were collected for this third quarter Index. This
demonstrates that citizens are willing and able to provide feedback to government site managers to help
agencies and departments, with the use of ForeSee’s methodology, to determine which site improvements will
have the greatest impact on future usage and recommendations.
»» E-government outperforms overall government in citizen satisfaction. Average citizen satisfaction with
e-government (75.1) versus 64.4, according to the ACSI Federal Government Report 2014.
»» Highlighting the sites with stellar performance. Once again, Social Security Administration leads the pack with
Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs (socialsecurity.gov/i1020), SSA Retirement Estimator
(ssa.gov/estimator) and SSA iClaim (socialsecurity.gov/applyonline) all coming in with a 90 for the quarter.
»» SSA was not the only organization meeting or exceeding the excellence threshold. Thirty-one sites (31%) had
scores of 80 or higher.
»» Top gainers for the quarter include Federal Railroad Administration main website (fra.dot.gov), Pension Benefit
Guarantee Corp., My Plan Administration Account site (egov.pbgc.gov/mypaa/), Veterans Affairs main website
(va.gov), Bureau of Economic Analysis main website (bea.gov) and Department of Transportation Research and
Innovative Technology Administration website (rita.dot.gov).

WHY DOES SATISFACTION MATTER?
If agencies can deliver a satisfactory experience, the likelihood of desired outcomes is increased. For example, for this
quarter’s index, highly satisfied website visitors were 88% more likely to use the website as a primary resource (versus a
more costly channel like the contact center) and 82% more likely to put their trust behind the agency. For mobile, those that
were highly satisfied with their experience were 73% more likely to return to the site or app and a whopping 107% more likely
to recommend the site or app! Mobile matters!
If you’re responsible for the digital channel, you’re probably interested in what’s driving satisfaction. Navigation and
functionality are top drivers of satisfaction in this quarter’s index, followed closely by search, content and online transparency.
It’s important to note, online transparency (providing thorough, easy-to-find information on a site) has been proven to be a
driver of increased trust in the agency. Each site is different, so it’s key to prioritize improvements that will have the greatest
impact on satisfaction for your site in order to drive the outcomes your organization desires.
Thank you for taking the time to review the ForeSee E-Government Index for this third quarter of 2015.As always, at ForeSee, we
continue to be committed to federal government organizations in their continued efforts to deliver customer service excellence.
Best,
Dave Lewan
Vice President, ForeSee
ForeSee, an Answers solution
Dave.Lewan@Answers.com

HOW E-GOVERNMENT IS PERFORMING OVERALL
ForeSee has been measuring e-government since the third quarter of 2003, when the average score was 70. The lowest the
score has been during this time is 69, which occurred in the fourth quarter of 2003.
Figure 1 provides a summary of e-government customer experience performance for the most recent 12 months, as measured
by the ForeSee Satisfaction Index.
FIGURE 1
Q3 2015 Q2 2015 Q1 2015 Q4 2014
Number of Sites Measured 101 100 101 100
Average E-Government Satisfaction Score
(Out of 100)
75.1 74.5 74.7 75.1
Highest Satisfaction Score 90 91 90 90
Lowest Satisfaction Score 54 55 55 56
Number of E-Government Sites Achieving
“Excellent” Rating (80 or Higher)
31 (31%) 27 (27%) 30 (30%) 31 (31%)
Number of E-Government Sites Rated 69
or Below
25 (25%) 22 (22%) 24 (24%) 21 (21%)
Figure 2 displays scores for all participating federal websites in the ForeSee E-Government Satisfaction Index this quarter. The
agencies whose Satisfaction scores are noted in blue text represent those that have reached or exceeded a score of 80, the
threshold for excellence in this study. Later pages of this report show scores by category.
FIGURE 2
Q3 2015 E-Government Satisfaction Scores
Department Website Satisfaction
SSA Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs—socialsecurity.gov/i1020 90
SSA SSA iClaim—socialsecurity.gov/applyonline 90
SSA SSA Retirement Estimator—ssa.gov/estimator 90
SSA SSA - my Social Security 89
HHS MedlinePlus en español—medlineplus.gov/esp 88
Treasury Electronic Federal Tax Payment System—eftps.com 87
DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Resource Center—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/citizenship 85
SEC U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—investor.gov 85
SSA Social Security Business Services Online—ssa.gov/bso/bsowelcome.htm 85

Q3 2015 E-Government Satisfaction Scores (continued from page 12)
Boards, Commissions,
and Committees
American Battle Monuments Commission—abmc.gov 84
CIA Recruitment website—cia.gov/careers 84
HHS MedlinePlus—medlineplus.gov 84
HHS National Cancer Institute Site en Español—cancer.gov/espanol 84
PBGC U.S. PBGC My Plan Administration Account—egov.pbgc.gov/mypaa/ 84
DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Español—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis-es 84
HHS CDC main website—cdc.gov 83
HHS AIDSinfo—aidsinfo.nih.gov 83
NIH National Institute on Aging - Go4Life—go4life.nia.nih.gov 83
HHS NIDDK—www2.niddk.nih.gov 83
SSA SSA.gov iClaim – Disability—ssa.gov/applyfordisability 83
HHS National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC) main website—womenshealth.gov 83
FTC FTC Complaint Assistant website—ftccomplaintassistant.gov 82
DOC National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website—ngs.noaa.gov 82
HHS National Library of Medicine Genetics Home Reference website—ghr.nlm.nih.gov 82
DOD arlingtoncemetery.mil 81
NASA NASA main website—nasa.gov 81
HHS SAMHSA Store—store.samhsa.gov 81
HHS infosida.nih.gov 80
HHS National Cancer Institute main website—cancer.gov 80
DOI National Park Service main website—nps.gov 80
DOC NOAA NWS—weather.gov 80
DOS Department of State - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs—alumni.state.gov/ 79
DOD DoD Navy—navy.mil 79
DOJ FBI main website—fbi.gov 79
HHS NIAMS public website—niams.nih.gov 79
HHS National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research—nidcr.nih.gov 79
SSA SSA iAppeals - Disability Appeal—ssa.gov/disabilityssi/appeal.html 79
NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission website—nrc.gov 79
OPM Recruitment website—applicationmanager.gov 77
DOS Recruitment website—careers.state.gov 77
PBGC MyPBA—https://egov.pbgc.gov/mypba 77
HHS National Library of Medicine main website—nlm.nih.gov 77
SBA SBA main website—sba.gov 77
HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—ahrq.gov 76
Agencies
Scoring
80+

DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—uscis.gov/e-verify 76
DOS Department of State blog website—blogs.state.gov 76
DOD DoD Air Force—af.mil 76
DOT Federal Aviation Administration—faa.gov 76
DOJ National Institute of Justice—nij.gov 76
DOC NOAA Tides and Currents 76
SSA Social Security Online main website—socialsecurity.gov 76
DOI U.S. Geological Survey—usgs.gov 76
DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics—bls.gov 75
FTC FTC main website—ftc.gov 75
OPM Recruitment website—usajobs.gov 75
USDA ERS main website—ers.usda.gov 74
HHS U.S. Food and Drug Administration main website—fda.gov 74
FDIC FDIC Applications—www2.fdic.gov 74
FDIC FDIC main website—fdic.gov 74
HHS National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—www3.niaid.nih.gov 74
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology main website—nist.gov 74
HHS ClinicalTrials.gov—clinicaltrials.gov 74
DOD DoD Marines—marines.mil 73
GAO GAO main public website—gao.gov 73
PBGC U.S. PBGC main website—pbgc.gov 73
USDA Recreation One-Stop—recreation.gov 73
DOJ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention—ojjdp.gov 72
Treasury U.S. Mint Online Catalog and main website—usmint.gov 72
DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis 72
DOD Department of Defense portal—defense.gov 71
DOT U.S. Department of Transportation—fhwa.dot.gov 71
Treasury Making Home Affordable—makinghomeaffordable.gov 71
SEC U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—sec.gov 71
GSA GSA main website—gsa.gov 70
HHS SAMHSA website—samhsa.gov 70
DOS Bureau of Consular Affairs—travel.state.gov 70
DOT DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration website—rita.dot.gov 69
DOT Federal Railroad Administration main website—fra.dot.gov 69
GSA GSA Auctions—gsaauctions.gov 69

HHS Health Resources and Services Administration main website—hrsa.gov 69
DOC BEA main website—bea.gov 68
USDA FSIS main website—fsis.usda.gov 68
DOC NOAA Fisheries—nmfs.noaa.gov 68
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—epa.gov 67
USDA NRCS website—nrcs.usda.gov 67
DOE U.S. Department of Education—ed.gov 67
DOS Department of State main website—state.gov 66
DOC U.S. Census Bureau main website—census.gov 66
DOC U.S. Patent and Trademark Office—uspto.gov 66
USDA Forest Service main website—fs.usda.gov 65
NARA NARA main public website—archives.gov 65
ITC U.S. International Trade Commission main website—usitc.gov 65
Treasury Treasury main website—treasury.gov 64
Treasury U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau—ttb.gov 64
HHS HHS—grants.gov 63
VA VA main website—va.gov 63
DOJ Bureau of Justice Statistics—bjs.gov 62
DOL Disability—Disability.gov 61
DOD TRICARE—tricare.mil 59
DOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration main website—fmcsa.dot.gov 58
Treasury IRS main website—irs.gov 54

TOP GAINERS
Anytime a federal government department, agency or program website shows significant improvement in satisfaction
(three points or more), it should be noted as a success, as it is sometimes difficult to keep pace with ever-changing citizen
expectations. These organizations are definitely doing something right. Other organizations, whether in the same category or
not, should take note of how they are achieving this success.
Figure 3 shows the websites that demonstrated significant increases in citizen satisfaction since the last quarter.
FIGURE 3
E-Gov Top Gainers (Quarter-to-Quarter)
Department Website Satisfaction Gain
DOS Department of State - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs—alumni.state.gov/ 3

SATISFACTION BY WEBSITE FUNCTIONAL CATEGORY
In this report, federal government websites are organized by both functional category and organizational structure to allow for
benchmarking against peers. The functional website categories include: e-commerce and transactional, news and information,
portals and department main websites, and career and recruitment.
Since missions can vary greatly by category, it is useful to benchmark government websites against other sites in the same
category, in addition to comparing scores against the overall aggregate average. To provide the most accurate and precise
data, the ForeSee standard requires that a category consist of at least five websites before an average is calculated. Because
the career and recruitment category consists only of three websites, an average isn’t calculated for it.
Federal E-Commerce and Transactional Websites
FIGURE 4
Q3 2015 Q2 2015 Q1 2015 Q4 2014
Aggregate Satisfaction Score
(100-point scale)
82 81 79 79
Federal E-Commerce and Transactional Websites
SSA Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs—socialsecurity.gov/i1020 90
SSA SSA iClaim—socialsecurity.gov/applyonline 90
SSA SSA Retirement Estimator—ssa.gov/estimator 90
SSA SSA - my Social Security 89
Treasury Electronic Federal Tax Payment System—eftps.com 87
SSA Social Security Business Services Online—ssa.gov/bso/bsowelcome.htm 85
SSA SSA.gov iClaim – Disability—ssa.gov/applyfordisability 83
FTC FTC Complaint Assistant website—ftccomplaintassistant.gov 82
HHS SAMHSA Store—store.samhsa.gov 81
SSA SSA iAppeals - Disability Appeal—ssa.gov/disabilityssi/appeal.html 79
PBGC MyPBA—https://egov.pbgc.gov/mypba 77
Treasury U.S. Mint Online Catalog and main website—usmint.gov 72
GSA GSA Auctions—gsaauctions.gov 69

Federal News and Information Websites
FIGURE 5
Q3 2015 Q2 2015 Q1 2015 Q4 2014
(100-point scale)
75 74 74 75
Federal News and Information Websites
HHS MedlinePlus en español—medlineplus.gov/esp 88
DHS
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Resource Center—
uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/citizenship
85
SEC U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—investor.gov 85
Boards, Commissions,
and Committees
American Battle Monuments Commission—abmc.gov 84
HHS MedlinePlus—medlineplus.gov 84
HHS National Cancer Institute Site en Español—cancer.gov/espanol 84
HHS AIDSinfo—aidsinfo.nih.gov 83
NIH National Institute on Aging - Go4Life—go4life.nia.nih.gov 83
HHS National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC) main website—womenshealth.gov 83
HHS NIDDK—www2.niddk.nih.gov 83
DOC
National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website—
ngs.noaa.gov
82
HHS National Library of Medicine Genetics Home Reference website—ghr.nlm.nih.gov 82
DOD arlingtoncemetery.mil 81
HHS infosida.nih.gov 80
DOC NOAA NWS—weather.gov 80
DOS Department of State - Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs—alumni.state.gov 79
DOD DoD Navy—navy.mil 79
NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission website—nrc.gov 79
HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—ahrq.gov 76
DOS Department of State blog website—blogs.state.gov 76
DOD DoD Air Force—af.mil 76
DOT Federal Aviation Administration—faa.gov 76
DOJ National Institute of Justice—nij.gov 76
DOI U.S. Geological Survey—usgs.gov 76
DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics—bls.gov 75
USDA ERS main website—ers.usda.gov 74
FDIC FDIC Applications—www2.fdic.gov 74

Federal News and Information Websites (continued from page 18)
HHS National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—www3.niaid.nih.gov 74
HHS ClinicalTrials.gov—clinicaltrials.gov 74
DOD DoD Marines—marines.mil 73
DOJ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention—ojjdp.gov 72
DOT U.S. Department of Transportation—fhwa.dot.gov 71
Treasury Making Home Affordable—makinghomeaffordable.gov 71
SEC U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—sec.gov 71
DOS Bureau of Consular Affairs—travel.state.gov 70
HHS Health Resources and Services Administration main website—hrsa.gov 69
USDA FSIS main website—fsis.usda.gov 68
DOC NOAA Fisheries—nmfs.noaa.gov 68
USDA NRCS website—nrcs.usda.gov 67
DOC U.S. Census Bureau main website—census.gov 66
Treasury U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau—ttb.gov 64
HHS HHS—grants.gov 63
DOJ Bureau of Justice Statistics—bjs.gov 62
DOD TRICARE—tricare.mil 59
DOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration main website—fmcsa.dot.gov 58

Federal Portals and Department Main Websites
FIGURE 6
Q3 2015 Q2 2015 Q1 2015 Q4 2014
(100-point scale)
72 72 73 73
Federal Portals and Department Main Websites
DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Español—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis-es 84
HHS CDC main website—cdc.gov 83
NASA NASA main website—nasa.gov 81
HHS National Cancer Institute main website—cancer.gov 80
DOI National Park Service main website—nps.gov 80
DOJ FBI main website—fbi.gov 79
HHS NIAMS public website—niams.nih.gov 79
HHS National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research—nidcr.nih.gov 79
HHS National Library of Medicine main website—nlm.nih.gov 77
SBA SBA main website—sba.gov 77
DOC NOAA Tides and Currents 76
SSA Social Security Online main website—socialsecurity.gov 76
FTC FTC main website—ftc.gov 75
HHS U.S. Food and Drug Administration main website—fda.gov 74
FDIC FDIC main website—fdic.gov 74
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology main website—nist.gov 74
GAO GAO main public website—gao.gov 73
PBGC U.S. PBGC main website—pbgc.gov 73
DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis 72
DOD Department of Defense portal—defense.gov 71
GSA GSA main website—gsa.gov 70
HHS SAMHSA website—samhsa.gov 70
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—epa.gov 67
DOS Department of State main website—state.gov 66
DOC U.S. Patent and Trademark Office—uspto.gov 66
NARA NARA main public website—archives.gov 65
ITC U.S. International Trade Commission main website—usitc.gov 65

Federal Portals and Department Main Websites (continued from page 20)
Treasury Treasury main website—treasury.gov 64
DOL Disability—Disability.gov 61
Treasury IRS main website—irs.gov 54

Federal Career and Recruitment Websites
To provide the most accurate and precise data, the ForeSee standard requires that a category consist of at least five websites
before an average is calculated. Because this category consists only of four websites, an average isn’t calculated.
FIGURE 7
Federal Career and Recruitment Websites
CIA Recruitment website—cia.gov/careers 84
OPM Recruitment website—applicationmanager.gov 77
DOS Recruitment website—careers.state.gov 77
OPM Recruitment website—usajobs.gov 75

SATISFACTION WITH MOBILE SITES AND APPS
With more and more citizens wanting to gain information using mobile devices to access the government’s digital channels,
the federal government and ForeSee launched the Mobile Federal Government Benchmark in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Figure 8 shows the average aggregate Satisfaction score for the government’s mobile sites and apps for the last 12 months,
as well as how the scores from this relatively new index compare with scores from other indexes.
FIGURE 8
Mobile Sites and Apps
Q3 2015 Q2 2015 Q1 2015 Q4 2014
(100-point scale)
76 76 79 77
Q3 2015 Scores
90
74
57
90
75
36
91
68
21
90
75
55
88
76
62
Maximum
Average
Minimum
ForeSee Mobile
Benchmark
ForeSee E-Gov
Sat Index
Q3 2015
ForeSee
Mobile Content
Benchmark
(Public/Private)
ForeSee
Mobile Fed Gov
Benchmark
ForeSee
Website Index
Key:

WHY SATISFACTION MATTERS
When the ForeSee customer experience measurement methodology is used, satisfaction has been shown to have a direct
impact on behavior. Every quarter, this Index compares highly satisfied visitors and users (with Satisfaction scores of 80 or
higher) to less-satisfied website visitors and mobile users (with Satisfaction scores of 69 or lower) and calculates likelihood
scores that indicate actions citizens may take in the future.
For example, Figure 9 shows the range of Satisfaction this quarter for each measured future behavior. Here, a “Recommend
Site” likelihood score of 101% indicates that a highly satisfied website visitor is 101% more likely than a less-satisfied visitor
to recommend the website.
FIGURE 9
Why Satisfaction Matters: Websites
Highly Satisfied
Citizens (80+)
Dissatisfied
Citizens ( 70)
Likelihood
Scores
The Impact of Higher Website Satisfaction
Future
Participation
67 47 43%
Citizens are more likely to participate with and express their
thoughts to their government, which strengthens the democratic
process and may provide useful feedback.
Return to Site 96 61 58%
Government departments and agencies have an ongoing channel
to provide information and services to citizens efficiently and
relatively inexpensively.
Recommend Site 96 48 101%
Use of government websites will grow as citizens recommend
them to their friends, family, and colleagues.
Use Site as
Primary Resource
93 49 88%
Cost-savings for departments and agencies can result as
citizens are right-channeled to web; citizens get information
from a credible government source, rather than another online/
offline source (in cases where options exist, e.g., health-related
information).
Trust 90 49 82%
Citizens believe the agency is trustworthy and acting in their best
interests, which fosters faith in the democratic process.
Why Satisfaction Matters: Mobile Sites and Apps
Highly Satisfied
Citizens (80+)
Dissatisfied
Citizens ( 70)
Likelihood
Scores
The Impact of Higher Mobile Sites and Apps Satisfaction
Recommend Site
or App
95 46 107%
Citizens are more likely to participate with and express their
thoughts to their government, which strengthens the democratic
process and may provide useful feedback.
Return to Site or
App
97 56 73%
Government departments and agencies have an ongoing channel
to provide information and services to citizens efficiently and
relatively inexpensively.

If federal government agencies focus on improving the priority areas for their websites and mobile sites and apps, citizen
satisfaction should also improve.
ForeSee also helps the government measure a number of elements, or drivers, of satisfaction. Although there are variations
in the set of elements that are relevant to each website (and fewer in general for mobile), the most common elements for
websites are: Navigation, Search, Functionality, Look and Feel, Online Transparency, Site Performance and Content.
By measuring these elements, federal organizations can pinpoint and prioritize areas of improvement from the citizens’
perspective, which leads to increased satisfaction. Figure 10 shows the priority elements identified in the most recent Index.
FIGURE 10
Common Elements of the Website Experience
Element What It Measures Priority for Improvement
Navigation The organization of the site and options for navigation. Priority 1 = Top Priority
Functionality
The usefulness, convenience and variety of online features and tools available on the
website.
Priority 2
Look and Feel The visual appeal of the site and its consistency throughout the site. Priority 3
Search
The relevance, organization and quality of search results available on the site. (Although
this element is not applicable universally, it is often extremely impactful for sites where
it is relevant.)
Priority 3
Content The accuracy, quality and freshness of news, information and content on the website. Priority 3
Site Performance The speed, consistency and reliability of loading pages on the website. Priority 3
Online Transparency
How thoroughly, quickly and accessibly the website discloses information about what
the agency is doing.
Priority 3
Common Elements of the Mobile Site or App Experience
Element What It Measures Priority for Improvement
Navigation The organization of the site and options for navigation. Priority 1 = Top Priority
Site Information The accuracy, quality and freshness of news, information and content on the mobile site. Priority 2
Look and Feel The visual appeal of the site and its consistency throughout the mobile site. Priority 3
Functionality
The usefulness, convenience and variety of online features and tools available on the
mobile site.
Priority 3
Site Performance The speed, consistency and reliability of loading pages on the mobile site. Priority 3

WHY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES RELY ON FORESEE
Today, there are more ways than ever for the public sector to interact with citizens. In particular, websites—and more recently,
mobile sites and apps—are helping federal departments and agencies and state and local governments increase transparency
and deliver information and services more cost-effectively. But with constantly evolving citizen expectations, it’s difficult to
know where to invest often-limited resources to create a better citizen experience and a more effective government.
ForeSee’s predictive customer experience analytics help leaders understand citizen satisfaction, from the citizen perspective;
quantify the impact each element of the experience has on satisfaction and future behaviors; and understand where to focus
resources for the best return.

FS-1477-1115
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dave Lewan is responsible for managing the organization focused on the public sector, including federal and state government
departments and agencies, non-profit organizations, associations and higher education institutions. He is charged with defining
strategy and leveraging internal resources to initiate new business opportunities while delivering to existing ForeSee public-sector
clients. Dave is also responsible for ForeSee’s Canadian business and cxMeasure for Stores in the private sector. Over the past 25
years, Dave has led organizations in a number of different areas including sales, marketing, product management, operations and
technology. Prior to joining ForeSee in 2009, Dave held leadership roles at ADP, SalesLogix, Ultimate Software and Ceridian. Dave
graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in speech communications.
ABOUT FORESEE
ForeSee continuously measures satisfaction with the customer experience across customer touch points and delivers critical
insights on where to prioritize improvements for maximum impact. Because ForeSee’s superior technology and proven
methodology connect the customer experience to the bottom line, executives and agency managers are able to drive future
success by confidently optimizing the efforts that will achieve organizational and mission objectives.The result is better
efficiencies for organizations and a better experience for constituents.Visit www.foresee.com for customer experience solutions.

ForeSee E Government Satisfaction Index Q3 2015

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ForeSee E Government Satisfaction Index Q3 2015