Who are Orchard Advocates?

Orchard Advocates are highly valuable members of the . Advocates are a vital link between DSGa’s tests and your website’s users. When you recruit your audience to participate in our usability studies, we’ll know our findings will help us improve the user experience of our state websites for all Georgians.

How does it work?

Get a Link

When we have a study that will benefit your users, we’ll send you a link, suggested text, and maybe an image for easy sharing.

Share the link

On whatever channels you already use, share the link! We recommend social media or a newsletter, but you interact with and know how to reach your users best

See the results

You’ll indicate when you sign up whether you’d like to receive test results. Either way, you’ll see the end result in due time on your GovHub website!

Depending on how you interact with users, it might be appropriate to recruit new Orchard Growers outside of specific tests. Maybe you have a digital display in your customer service centers? Maybe you sometimes receive feedback on your site? These would be great places to encourage people to learn more and sign up through the evergreen form at .

Help us help you

When your website works well for your users, it means fewer constituent phone calls and emails for you.

Our usability tests are the most direct way to find out what’s working and what isn’t for millions of people using GovHub websites like yours! We then use the test results to guide our solutions to make GovHub websites even better. 

Ultimately, by helping us get studies out to your users, you fuel GovHub improvements that will make your workday easier. We’ll also keep an eye on new ways to improve the Advocates program so we continue to provide even more direct benefits to you.

Do my users have to be enrolled in Orchard Growers?
Not at all! A user can click on a study link and only take that one test. Every voice is important. Then when they finish the test, we’ll make sure to let them know about the full program in case they’re interested in joining.

Do I have to track anything?
Whenever you send out an email to a mailing list or post to social media, just respond to our email and let us know where you’ve shared it. That's it!

What kinds of tests would I be sharing with my web visitors?

Depending on the goals of the test, it might take one of a few forms. The most common types of tests are:

  • A click test where we present you with a task, and you click where in a screenshot you’d expect to complete the task.
  • An online questionnaire where you select from a list of possible answers or give us your feedback free-form.
  • A moderated performance test where we’ll talk with you over a video call, ask you to share your screen, and walk us through your thoughts on a website or how you would complete a task.

All tests are 100% voluntary, and many take as little as 5-10 minutes. If any of your visitors also sign up for the Orchard Grower Program, they’re letting us know they would like to receive test links, notifications, and possibly swag. The number of tests they take is totally up to them