Jonathan Rubin

Author's details

Name: Jonathan Rubin
Date registered: December 1, 2011

Biography

If you've got a video to produce or a government website that needs some TLC, I'm your man. At GSA's Center for Excellence in Digital Government I work in video production and website usability testing. I'm been watching TV since my eyes first opened, and I love producing videos, implementing video strategy and writing educational content about creating videos on howto.gov. For usability testing, I'm a Program Manager of the First Fridays Rocket Team, which two Federal website a month for usability problems. Learn more at www.howto.gov/firstfridays In my non-work existence, I have a fiancee, a master's in journalism from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, and a lot of comic books.

Latest posts

  1. 2012 Year in Review: First Fridays Usability Testing Program — December 28, 2012
  2. Eye-Tracking Usability Tests for Dummies — October 30, 2012
  3. Providing Excellent Customer Experience Through Usability — August 15, 2012
  4. Website Makeover: Dept. of Labor — March 6, 2012
  5. Using Humor to Build Better Websites — March 1, 2012

Author's posts listings

Dec
28

2012 Year in Review: First Fridays Usability Testing Program

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Before and After screenshot of First Fridays usability test

Looking back, it’s clear that 2012 was a big year for the First Fridays Usability Testing Program. Improving the user experience is our game, and that’s what we spent the bulk of the year doing. Besides celebrating our second birthday (huzzah!), we conducted 26 tests on federal websites, mobile sites, intranets and much more. A …

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Oct
30

Eye-Tracking Usability Tests for Dummies

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Eye tracking map

Eye tracking is a way of monitoring the way our eyes interact with something through the use of sophisticated cameras. In government, eye tracking usability tests are often done with web sites or  printed materials. The goal is to find which elements catch our eyes, and where our gaze moves as we search for information. …

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Aug
15

Providing Excellent Customer Experience Through Usability

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Aloha is GSA's new Authorized Leave & Overtime Help Application. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons and Sam Howzit.

You have to feel for web developers, who sometimes work for months on a product, only to hear gripes and complaints mere seconds after it’s rolled out. Fortunately, you can escape hordes of pitchfork-wielding users by involving users from the start. That’s what William Wales and his team of developers in Kansas City did when developing GSA’s …

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Mar
06

Website Makeover: Dept. of Labor

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Picture of the Department of Labor website - before and after a usability test

It feels good to influence change for an agency’s customer experience. GSA’s First Fridays Usability Testing Program has quickly grown from its humble beginnings to testing top-level government websites. We recently observed people using the Department of Labor’s homepage (below). During the test, we noticed a few issues that people were having again and again: …

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Mar
01

Using Humor to Build Better Websites

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Produce a short, creative video to show how your website needs help.

Comedians, Theater and English majors, under-appreciated creative types – lend me your ears: If you’re the funny, clever person in your office who never gets to do anything fun, now is your time. Put your talents to use and enter the First Fridays Video Challenge and win a free usability test for your office’s website. …

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