Deanna Stephens

Five years ago, the Federal Communications Commission updated its website, but most users said they did not like the design or how the site functioned.

That’s where Deanna Stephens stepped in. She embraced her new role as a web technology specialist by managing the preparation, planning and execution of extensive rounds of user research. That collaborative effort revealed how the FCC could improve the website’s information architecture to make content easier to find by the more than 1 million unique monthly visitors who go to FCC.gov to research telecommunications issues and voice their opinions.

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The new design resulted from the FCC’s efforts to identify how government users and the public interact with the site, why they come and where they click. As a result of all that research and testing, user satisfaction rose from 23 percent for the old website to a whopping 88 percent for the new one.

The redesign also included improving the back-end functionality of the website to better meet the needs of external website users and internal content publishers and developers.

Stephens was involved in every aspect of the project, from contract kick-off to website launch, and colleagues say her leadership played a critical role in ensuring its success.