1. Standing Out In a Crowd: Improving Customer Utility on a Centrally Administered, Shared Web Site Barry Johnson Barry.W.Johnson@irs.govBarry.W.Johnson@irs.gov Statistics of Income, U.S. Internal Revenue Service The opinions presented here are those of the author alone and may not represent the official position of the Internal Revenue Service or the U.S. Treasury Department.

2. Statistics of Income: Tax Stats irs.gov is the official source of U.S. tax filing information  Includes forms, publications, frequently asked questions, etc.  Only permitted web presence for IRS business units irs.gov design is administered centrally  Look and feel strictly controlled  Web programming restricted through Content Management Application (CMA) Tax Stats pages on irs.gov are the primary source of tax data for the U.S.  4,700 tables and articles currently available  Major reorganization 2004-2005

3. Web Site Redesign Involve Customers  Surveys and informal feedback  Card sort exercise  User testing Research best practices Focus on improving products Educate irs.gov administrators  Specific Tax Stats customer needs  Best practices of other statistical organizations Form a web users’ group Continuously monitor user experiences and web practices

4. Tax Stats Home Page Links also serve as descriptions Items grouped by user-provided topics

5. Topic Menus with Descriptions Sub-topic Links Brief Descriptions Links to related items Quick navigation to other topics

6. Content Pages Free Readers Brief Descriptions

7. Future Plans Improved product formats  Easier to use tables  Improved formats for research papers Meta data Table Wizard Pilot Continuously look for opportunities to improve