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Collaboration cycle

The Collaboration Cycle is where teams who are building products/features on VA.gov get feedback and guidance on their product/feature to ensure it meets VA.gov experience standards for design, content, information architecture, quality assurance, accessibility, and research. Teams engage with the Collaboration Cycle throughout their product’s/feature’s lifecycle.

How it works

The Collaboration Cycle is a series of touchpoints during which VFS team members get guidance on the following areas:

  • Design

  • Content

  • Information Architecture

  • Quality Assurance

  • Accessibility

  • Research

  • Analytics

  • Privacy & Security

  • Contact Center

The below illustration maps out a high level view of when Collaboration Cycle touchpoints occur in a product’s/feature’s lifecycle. Teams should engage with the Collaboration Cycle when they begin building or iterating on their product/feature.

To see a more in-depth understanding, open the Collaboration Cycle touchpoint flow.

Platform Collaboration Cycle. A process flow begins with Prioritize, passes through four phases, and ends with Evolve. Phase 1 is Define, and includes the Collaboration Cycle Kick-off, Design Intent, and Sitewide Content and IA Intake Request. Phase 2 is Discover, and includes Midpoint Review, Research Review, and Analytics Request. Phase 3 is Build, and includes Contact Center Review, Staging Review, and Privacy, security, infrastructure readiness review. Phase 4 is Validate, and includes TBD.

Platform Collaboration Cycle flow image

The “Define” phase

The “Discover” phase

The “Build” phase

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