Performance.gov: Long-Term Strategy Needed to Improve Website Usability
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), General Services Administration (GSA), and the Performance Improvement Council (PIC) took several steps to improve the usefulness of Performance.gov, a website intended to serve as the public window to the federal government's goals and performance. However, their actions do not fully meet selected Digitalgov.gov requirements for federal websites (which are based on relevant statutes, regulations, and executive orders) and do not fully meet provisions of the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA):
- In accordance with Digitalgov.gov, GSA, on behalf of OMB, issued a usability test in September 2013. The test identified issues with the website's accessibility, purpose, data visualizations, and search function. However, OMB and GSA have not addressed all of the test's findings.
- OMB and the PIC are tracking 18 of 24 website performance measures required by Digitalgov.gov, but have not set goals for those measures. In June 2013, GAO recommended they track measures and set goals for those measures. However, those recommendations remain open.
- OMB has not met all of the GPRAMA public reporting requirements for Performance.gov. In particular, GAO identified several areas where OMB is not fully meeting agency priority and cross-agency priority goal public reporting requirements. OMB and PIC staff told GAO they are aware that Performance.gov is not fully GPRAMA compliant, but in moving forward, are focused on ensuring its compliance.
According to OMB and PIC staff, limited resources have prevented them from taking actions to address the 2013 usability test and setting goals for measures. By not fully implementing Digitalgov.gov requirements and GAO's recommendations on GPRAMA requirements, Performance.gov will continue to have difficulty serving its intended purpose as a central website where users can easily locate government-wide performance information.
OMB does not have a strategic plan for the website that will help guide staff in the future. Specifically, OMB does not have a customer outreach strategy that incorporates, as appropriate, information about how OMB intends to (1) inform users of changes on Performance.gov, (2) use social media as a method of communication, and (3) use mobile devices and applications. OMB also lacks an archiving plan to retain data and content on Performance.gov. Agency-wide strategic planning practices required under law can serve as leading practices for planning at lower levels within federal agencies, such as individual programs or initiatives. Consistent with these practices, strategic plans should contain goals and objectives, approaches, and resources. OMB staff said they had not developed a strategic plan for Performance.gov because they wanted to allow transition time for the operations and website maintenance contractor hired in August 2015. OMB staff also said that, in February 2016, they hired a Digital Services Director to develop a strategic plan and manage the website's long-term development. Without a strategic plan, OMB will not know the resources it needs or the steps to take to meet requirements, and to ensure the site provides useful information to the public.
Why GAO Did This Study
Congress took steps to improve federal performance reporting through GPRAMA by requiring that OMB provide performance information via a publicly available central website, Performance.gov. In June 2013, GAO reported on the initial development of Performance.gov. GPRAMA includes a provision for GAO to periodically review its implementation. This report assesses OMB's (1) effort to ensure Performance.gov's usefulness, and (2) strategic plan for the website. GAO compared elements of Performance.gov to GSA's Digitalgov.gov requirements for federal websites. GAO summarized prior work on OMB's implementation of selected GPRAMA requirements. GAO also interviewed OMB, PIC, and GSA staff about recommendations GAO made on developing the website and Performance.gov's strategic plan.
Recommendations
GAO is making three recommendations that OMB work with GSA and the PIC to 1) ensure the information presented on Performance.gov consistently complies with GPRAMA public reporting requirements for the website's content; 2) analyze and, where appropriate, implement usability test results to improve Performance.gov; and 3) develop a strategic plan for the future of Performance.gov that includes goals, objectives, and resources needed to meet website requirements; a customer outreach plan; and a strategy to manage and archive data. OMB staff agreed with GAO's recommendations and provided technical clarifications, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Management and Budget | The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Performance Improvement Council and General Services Administration, should ensure the information presented on Performance.gov consistently complies with GPRAMA public reporting requirements for the website's content. |
As of July 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Performance Improvement Council, and General Services Administration (GSA) had taken some steps to address this recommendation. In February 2018 and March 2022, OMB and GSA launched updated versions of Performance.gov. According to information provided by OMB staff in July 2022, they continued to take action to address this recommendation, but did not provide further details. However, our work has continued to identify ways in which Performance.gov is not meeting content requirements. For example, in April 2023, we found that OMB had not designated cross-agency priority (CAP) goals for information technology and real property management, as required. OMB is to report information about CAP goals on Performance.gov. Moreover, we found that OMB did not release the current set of CAP goals on time, and had not been consistent in reporting progress on Performance.gov. In July 2024, we reached out to OMB for updates, but they provided no additional information on actions to address this recommendation. We will continue to monitor OMB's actions.
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| Office of Management and Budget | The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Performance Improvement Council and General Services Administration, should analyze and, where appropriate, implement usability test results to improve Performance.gov. |
In February 2018, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and General Services Administration (GSA) launched an updated version of Performance.gov, with plans to continue making enhancements to the site over time. In a March 2018 report, GSA staff described the results of their efforts to interview and test new Performance.gov prototypes with different user groups. Through the testing, they sought to identify ways to improve navigation, visual communication, and the accessibility of performance data in future versions of the site. Since then, OMB and GSA staff have updated Performance.gov to address this user feedback. For example, the March 2018 report on user testing results identified a need to strengthen the visual presentation of data on the website, and make it easier to access and download datasets. In December 2019, OMB and GSA added new features that allow users to access interactive dashboards with enhanced data visualizations, and download the underlying data.
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| Office of Management and Budget | The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Performance Improvement Council and General Services Administration, should develop a strategic plan for the future of Performance.gov. Among other things, this plan should include: (A) the goals, objectives, and resources needed to consistently meet Digitalgov.gov and GPRAMA requirements; (B) a customer outreach plan that considers how (1) OMB informs users of changes in Performance.gov, (2) OMB uses social media as a method of communication, and (3) users access Performance.gov so that OMB could, as appropriate, deploy mobile applications to communicate effectively; and (C) a strategy to manage and archive the content and data on Performance.gov in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration guidance. |
In March 2019, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) staff shared a strategy that they plan to use to guide the development of Performance.gov through 2022. The strategy, and related OMB actions to implement it, address our recommendation. The strategy outlines three objectives for the website, and identifies the resources needed to support the website and achieve the objectives. The strategy also outlines how OMB plans to use social media platforms and more user-friendly webpage designs to provide users with regular updates on content available through Performance.gov. It further describes how OMB will use analytics and user testing to collect insights into how users access and navigate through the website. Lastly, to better manage and archive content, the strategy highlights a change in format that began in February 2018. Each quarter since then, key content and data have been presented and updated in PDF reports. Content from prior quarters remains available and accessible on the site in that format.
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