GMAS will be converting the Initial Proposal and Competing Renewal entry process and homepages for the May 2017 release.
Goals
There are 2 major goals for this release.
1. Streamlining the entry process for Initial Proposals and Competing Renewals by requiring less data up front. As a result of this effort, the entry process will lessen from a possible 22 screens down to 1.
*Design is subject to change prior to the May 2017 release.
2. Making it easier to identify where the Initial Proposal or Competing Renewal proposal is in the process. To meet this goal, the homepages have been reorganized to
- De-clutter the main sections of the homepage to call out what is important
- Highlight relevant information based on the proposal status (including actions that are needed prior to moving to the next status)
- Suggest the next step in the workflow
- Surface important proposal attributes to point out the proposals risks/complexities
- Provide summary detail of the more important sections of the proposal
*Design is subject to change prior to the May 2017 release.
User Engagement
As part of the release work, the GMAS team will hold 2 - 3 user sessions (in the University Area and Longwood Medical Area), and perform usability testing. The user sessions will gather groups of people in similar roles to review the upcoming release designs and gather feedback. The usability testing will take place closer to the release date. It will include people from across different roles, and will help to determine if the changes are intuitive. All of these sessions will help the GMAS team to confirm design assumptions and redefine areas of the Initial Proposal and Competing Renewal process identified as needing changes prior to the May 2017 release.
Communication
This release will also include participation from the central offices, schools, and departments to help with communication. There is a track to help in reaching out to as many departments as possible, and a track for assistance with communication about the process aspects that may/may not be impacted by the May 2017 release. Both of these tracks include participation from individuals from the University Area and the Longwood Medical Area.
Please visit the May release page frequently for up-to-date information on this release. For any questions, please email contactgmas@harvard.edu.