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Self-Service Product Guide Template

Purpose: a template for VFS teams to create product guides for VA.gov contact center. VFS teams should use this template as a guide for describing the use and functionality of a new tool or a significant update to an existing tool or feature.

All product guides should be created and saved as a Word document. You will need to use screenshots as well as text to demonstrate the key functionality of your product. A Word template for VA.gov Product Guides can be downloaded for use at https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/blob/master/VA.gov%20Product%20Guide%20Template%2006142022.docx

A complete product guide will include the following:

Important Items/Notes:

  • Use a Title Page. Ideally with VA logo, issuing department, product guide name, product guide edition, and launch date.
  • Please use Arial font only and be consistent with font sizes of headers, subheads, figure captions, and in-text references to figures.
  • Regarding figure captions and in-text references, use 9-point italic for figure captions ONLY, and bookmark them for the Clickable Table of Figures (see below).
  • Figure caption example: "Fig. 1. This is a caption."
  • Figures must always be referenced in the body text in regular font size, linked to the appropriate bookmarked figure caption.
  • Figures should be of the highest resolution possible, then cropped as needed.

Table of Contents:

  • This is the roadmap to each portion of your writing. Please inclue the following sections in your Table of Contents and link each to its corresponding location in the Product Guide:

    • Clickable Table of Contents
    • Product Overview
    • User Access
    • Navigation
    • Functionality
    • Major Issues and Error Messages
    • Clickable Table of Figures

Clickable Table of Contents:

  • Each header and subheader should be cross-linked within the Table of Contents to the items in text. Thus, each item in this Table of Contents will be clickable for easy access and improved usability. The page numbers for each section should appear, right-justified.

Product Overview:

  • This is a brief description of the product. Please include a few sentences regarding what the product is, how it works, and who it is for.

User Access:

  • User access refers to what types of users can use your product. Please indicate whether the user has to have a certain type of VA.gov account (i.e. LOA1 vs. LOA3 vs. no account needed) to use the product. You can also describe any additional requirements or criteria a user must meet in order to use your product successfully.

Navigation:

  • This section should describe how the user finds the product on VA.gov. If you incorporate screenshots, please ensure that they are large enough to see the words on the screen. Please provide the actual URL for your product as well as other locations that link to your product. Below are a few examples of what you might show in this section:
    • URL and screenshot if a link to your product is shown on the VA.gov homepage
    • URL and screenshot if a link to your product is shown in a benefits hub
    • URL and screenshot if your product can be accessed by a another feature like the VA profile
  • You do not need to list out all access points for your product but please provide details for the most relevant pathways.

Functionality:

  • This section will go over the actual functionality of your product. Depending on the complexity of your product, this section will be the longest part of your product guide. We know it is difficult to point out every single feature of the product, particularly for an application, but please provide as much detail as possible because it helps contact center agents better address Veteran questions. If your product has different stages or sections, we recommend breaking this section into subsections to cover the different parts of your product (i.e. wizards, different sections of an application, etc).

Major Issues and Error Messages:

  • Error messages or alerts SPECIFIC to your product are an important tool for contact center representatives trying to triage an issue. Please provide screenshots and descriptions of ALL error or warning messages that are specific to your product. For each of these error messages, please provide the following:
    • Screenshot of the error message
    • Explanation of what might be causing the problem
    • Suggestions for what might resolve the error message
    • If available, please include any known work arounds

Clickable Table of Figures: