User Experience Task Force
Section 7.3 – Cost Estimating Methodology
Directive
By March 1, 2014, a complete recommendation must be submitted to the Governor, Chief Financial Officer, President of
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The recommended website(s) design must provide an
intuitive and cohesive user experience that allows users to move easily between varied types of related data. The
recommendation must also include a cost estimate for implementation of the design.
Methodology
In the January 21, 2014 meeting, the UETF adopted a recommended design intended to result in a cohesive and intuitive
website presentation. In order to complete the recommendation report, the impact and cost of the recommended
design must be determined.
To accomplish this task, two cost approaches will be considered.
Approach 1
The managers of the state-managed websites that have been identified to be in scope will be provided the
recommended design and asked to provide a cost estimate to accomplish the desired improvements. Specifically, the
managers of the 11 state-managed websites will be contacted (see Appendix A) and requested to consider the design
recommendations, provide comments or/and assumptions, and provide a cost range to accomplish the recommended
design. A summary of the costs provided will be considered as part of the final recommendation report.
Approach 2
The 2013 U.S. PIRG “Following the Money 2013” report published in March 2013 gathered costs from several
states on the costs to start up and maintain a transparency website. An average of the information provided in that
report, applicable to the State of Florida, will also be considered as part of the final recommendation report (see
Appendix B).
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Appendix A – Request to Website Managers
Memorandum
To:
<insert name>
<insert website>
From: Maureen Olson, Staff Director
User Experience Task Force
Date:
February 5, 2014
RE:
Request for Transparency Website Modifications Cost Estimates
Priority: HIGH- Information needed by February 10, 2014
I.
ACTION ITEM – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Please complete the attached checklist (Appendix A) and return to Dawn Creamer at
Dawn.Creamer@MyFloridaCFO.com no later than February 10, 2014.
II.
BACKGROUND
During the 2013 legislative session, the Florida Legislature enacted CS/HB 5401, which was approved by the Governor.
Chapter 2013-54, Laws of Florida modifies and amends the Transparency Florida Act, Section 215.985, F.S. In addition to
making many changes and updates to existing transparency website, the legislation also created the User Experience
Task Force.
The four member User Experience Task Force(UETF) is charged with reviewing all relevant state-managed websites,
providing options for reducing the number of transparency websites without losing detail data, and providing for linking
expenditure data with related invoices and contracts. The UETF must submit a recommended website design that
includes a cost estimate for the implementation of the design as part of the complete recommendation due March 1,
2014.
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III.
IN SCOPE WEBSITES
At the initial meeting of the UETF, a work plan was developed to accomplish the mission of the Task Force directed in
the Transparency Florida Act. The first task on the work plan was to develop an inventory of the websites meeting the
prescribed criteria.
CRITERIA
The “in-scope” websites are defined as existing state-managed websites that provide public access to state
operational and fiscal information.
Using this criteria, the UETF determined that your agency’s transparency website, identified above, was identified to be
included in the scope of the Task Force.
IV.
REQUEST – IMPACT and COST ESTIMATE
In order to complete its assignment, the UETF must produce a cost estimate for the implementation of the
recommended design.
The efforts of the UETF over the last few months have resulted in the recommendation of one “landing page” to be
linked to the websites with in-scope information. The UETF has developed a list of high-level design requirements for
this landing page, intended to reduce the number of duplicative websites, link the expenditure data with invoices and
contracts, and provide an intuitive and cohesive user experience. These requirements will have varying impacts to the
11 in-scope websites, as they may need to be incorporated into the individual in-scope websites linked to the landing
page.
As these requirements are general requirements, the UETF understands that some assumptions will be made by the
website owners to provide the requested cost information. However, the UETF requests that you give the best estimate
of the costs or other impact to your agency to implement these high-level requirements. If any changes to statute are
needed, please note this in the impact.
To assist you with estimating the costs, a brief check list is provided in Appendix A. Please complete this check list and
return to Dawn Creamer no later than February 10, 2014.
SUMMARY
This request does not ask you to initiate any changes or modifications to your agency website(s), only to assess the
impact of potential changes listed in the recommendation. The information received from this request will be
incorporated in the final report that will be submitted to the Governor, the Chief Financial Officer, the President of the
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on March 1, 2014.
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Please contact Dawn Creamer at 850-413-1522 or Dawn.Creamer@MyFloridaCFO.com if you have any questions or
would like further information.
Thank you,
Maureen Olson
Cc: Jason Allison, UETF Chair
Information Technology Policy Advisor, Executive Office of the Governor
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Appendix A - Impacts and Cost Estimate
No.
1
Requirement
Category
Navigation
2
Navigation
3
Navigation
4
Navigation
5
Navigation
6
Navigation
7
8
Navigation
Data
9
Data
10
Data
11
Data
12
Data
13
14
Features
Features
15
16
Features
Features
17
18
Features
Technical
High Level Requirement
Assumptions
and Comments*
Cost **
The user should not have to drill down more than 6 clicks
from the main page on any topic.
The user should be notified if the selected link will transfer
then to another site and be provided the option to
return/remain within the site.
Identify similar or like information and group that
information in one area within the site.
All headings, lists, graphics, and other design
considerations such as color schemes, fonts and spacing
should be consistent throughout the site.
There should be a consistent and predictable layout from
page to page as related to the function and location on the
page.
Breadcrumbs should be provided throughout the
navigation of the site.
The organization (content map) should be provided.
All data currently provided on the website should be
provided in a uniform format.
All data currently provided should be provided in a
download standard format such as CSV.
All data currently provided should be provided in a
browser readable format such as PDF.
All data currently provided should be searchable on the
site.
All data currently provided should be displayed in a
graphic format relative to the topic.
HELP should be provided on the main page.
Contact information, site ownership, and last update date
should be provided as appropriate.
An option for FEEDBACK should be provided on all pages.
Social media resources currently available should be
accessible.
Sites should consider subscription based alerts.
Website should be compatible with major web browsers
and the list of support browsers should be published and
readily accessible.
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* This column is provided to allow the agency to qualify, through assumptions or general comments, the cost
information provided.
** Cost information should be provided in terms of a range. This should be a total cost estimate, including software,
hardware, contract resources, state resources, etc., that is anticipated to meet the requirement. The cost range
should include a minimum and a maximum based on the assumptions provided.
Considerations:
It is the intent of the design to provide consistent and intuitive navigation that includes:








Responsive Design
Verified though User Testing
Include site analytics
Provide Browser compatibility with current versions of Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.
Consistent Navigation
Professional copyrighting
Content Management
Feedback forms
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Appendix B – Excerpt from US PIRG “Following the Money 2013” Report
March 2013
Online Transparency Costs Little
The benefits of transparency websites have come with a surprisingly low price tag, both for creating and maintaining the
websites. Several states – including Delaware, Georgia, Ohio and Oregon – created and update their websites with funds from their
existing budgets. For websites that required a special appropriation or earmark, the cost is usually less than $300,000 to create the
website and even less to keep it updated. (See Table 1.) For states that are concerned about the costs of contracting out to
expensive information technology programmers, New York City this spring will also provide its top-notch code for free in an open
source format.
Table 1
State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
Start-Up Costs
$125,000
$5,000
$72,000, plus existing staff time
$558,000
$200,000 from existing budget, plus existing staff time
Existing budget
Existing budget
Existing budget
Existing budget
Existing budget
Approximately $28,000 from existing budget
Approximately $100,000
Less than $75,000
$150,000 from existing budget
$150,000
$325,000
$30,000
$65,000
$540,000
Existing budget
Existing budget
$2,200,000
$293,140 from existing budget
Existing budget
$30,000-$60,000
$78,000
Existing budget
User Experience Task Force
Annual Operating Costs
Less than $12,000
“Nominal”
Approximately $83,000
$175,000
$169,400 from existing budget
Existing budget
Existing budget
Existing budget
Existing budget
Existing budget
Approximately $10,000
$6,000
Existing budget
$10,000-$15,000
“Minimal”
$5,000
$431,000
Existing budget
$400,000
Less than $5,000
Existing budget
Approximately $10,000
$30,000
Existing budget
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New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Existing budget
$230,000
Existing budget
$624,000
$231,000
Existing budget
$8,000, plus existing staff time
Existing budget
Approximately $300,000
Existing budget
$30,000 in existing staff time
Not tracked (nominal)
Existing budget
$310,000
$192,800, plus existing staff time ($100,000)
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Existing budget
$500,000 from existing budget
$300,000
Existing budget
$30,000
$1,600
User Experience Task Force
$125,000
$80,600
$30,000
Existing budget
Approximately $3,600
Existing budget
Primarily existing staff time
Existing staff time
Existing budget
Existing budget
$63,400, plus existing staff
time ($133,400)
Existing budget
$400,000 from existing budget
Existing budget
$11,300
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