During FOSE, I was surprised to find that FedBizOpps had completely changed its format, look, feel, and usability.  I found out about this because I had bookmarked several pages to look at responding to potential RFPs, and none of them worked.  So, instantly, I had a predisposition against the new FedBizOpps, even though I consistently complained to colleagues about its lack of functionality.

However, once I got over the initial dissatisfaction of losing ten or so bookmarks to a poor conversion, I started looking into the new website.  Now that I’ve been using it for a couple of days, here are some observations:

• The search agents solve a key missing element.  Instead of having to type in the same searches over and over every day, I can save a search with the criteria that I want and have it scheduled to run on a regular basis, sending me an e-mail with the newest postings.
• Searching by expiration date is a good capability.  I want to see what’s yet to expire, expiring soon, and the like.  However, one element missing in a saved search agent is a dynamic date.  In other words, I can’t say that I want postings which expire tomorrow through eternity and have that date move forward daily.
• This site was not fully tested.  My two biggest pet peeves should have easily been caught in testing: 1) if I open a link (for example, to a posting) in a new tab, it messes up the original tab, and 2) the back button doesn’t seem to work.  I like to return to previous activity by using the back button.  Even “Return to Results” does not work, and there is no obvious internally linked navigation.
• Site visitation does not have permanence.  If I keep a tab open on a posting, it’s probably because I want to come back to it.  If I put my computer to sleep and come back, I can’t navigate from that page anymore.  It’s quite irritating.
• There’s no obvious way for me to provide feedback.  If the government wants to improve and wants to serve its customers, then it should make interaction easier.
• I didn’t see it coming.  If I would have known that this was coming and the effects it would have on my searching efforts, I could have prepared adequately.
• There’s no obvious FAQ or user’s guide.  It’s truly a libertarian site–you figure things out on your own merits, apparently.  No paternalism here!

All in all, as the title implies, I think it’s a step in the right direction.  The transition was poorly not handled, and it’s clear that testing did not incorporate the full cycle of usability testing.  I would be surprised if there was a detailed test plan, and if there was, it wasn’t detailed enough.  However, the concepts of usability are improved; I just hope it’s not another several years before the government decides to take the next step.