The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) recently implemented changes to the home page of its website – www.rrb.gov – to make it easier to navigate and more visually appealing. The new home page became accessible to the general public on May 13.

The new home page organizes information by audience and subject in a clearer, more logical manner, and uses animation in the form of cascading and scrolling menus to make it easier to reach secondary pages. One of the biggest improvements is the addition of a log-in box that will allow customers to access online services directly from the home page.

In addition, the new design includes a new website logo designed by agency staff, and streamlines navigation. The new design also does a better job of highlighting the agency’s toll-free number (1-877-772-5772), which customers can call to be connected to their local RRB office, and offers video-based presentations on topics of interest to railroad beneficiaries and employers. At the same time, consistently popular pages, such as the listing of job vacancies within the rail industry, a list of recent updates to the website and agency news releases, are still accessible from the home page.

Much of the material accessed on secondary pages of the website is now organized under three major categories along the top of the website: Beneficiaries & Railroad Employees, Rail and Labor Employers, and Public. By moving the cursor over any of these categories, a cascading menu lists a variety of links and pages most relevant to that audience. The new design and organization also makes more of a distinction between personalized information and services, as opposed to general benefit information.

Changes to the RRB home page are the direct result of an online survey to gauge overall satisfaction with the site and identify areas for improvement. In July 2010, the RRB began this year-long survey following the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) model designed by the University of Michigan. The RRB worked closely with a consulting firm, ForeSee Results, that specializes in applying the ACSI methodology to electronic commerce and websites, to design and administer the survey process.

RRB staff conducted a systematic review of the survey results and open-ended comments to develop the improvements to the website. A common theme of those taking the survey highlighted possible improvements to navigation from the home page and within the site. The enhancements made to the website address these concerns. To date, satisfaction levels related to the RRB website have compared favorably to other Federal agencies, particularly those which have similar programs and responsibilities.

The website customer satisfaction survey will continue through July 2011. Until that time, the RRB will be monitoring results and comments to measure reaction to the redesigned home page, and hopes to identify similar changes and improvements that can be made to the secondary pages accessed through the home page.

The redesigned home page can be viewed at www.rrb.gov. While not every visitor is given the opportunity to complete the survey, the sample size is such that frequent visitors to the website usually receive an invitation to do so at some point.
 

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