VA.gov and VA Profile Drive Personalized VA Website Experience

It should not be difficult to do something as simple as updating your address, but for too long this was the case for Veterans using VA services and benefits. Needlessly complicated processes like this do not reflect an organization focused on our customers’ experience, so we are changing a few things.

On November 7, 2018, the new VA.gov launched as a key step in our digital modernization. Part of a VA websites consolidation working group, VA’s Veterans Experience Office, the Digital Service, OIT, VBA, VHA, Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA), and Veteran Outreach office teamed up to gather feedback from thousands of Veterans, service members, their families, caregivers and survivors. What we heard won’t shock most. Many of our customers said they were having a frustrating experience, encountering a complicated collection of websites, forms, logins and tools. In other words, our customers struggled to find what they need. We listened. By working across VA organizational boundaries, we created the new VA.gov website as a visible shift from a process-focused organization to a user-focused one.

“Veterans, their families, caregivers and our many customers have successful online transactions in their day-to-day lives,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “They should expect the same exceptional digital experience when coming to VA. Our customers will receive a more simple and intuitive experience when accessing our online front door – the new VA.gov.” To hear more from Secretary Wilkie about VA.gov, listen to his message to staff about VA’s commitment to customer service and what the new VA.gov means for our customers.

The new VA.gov contains homepage content that focuses on the top 20 tasks that 80 percent of VA’s customers need, the ability to login to receive a personalized experience, and easy-to-understand, plain language content. Logged in customers will find a dashboard summarizing the status of services they receive from VA, whether those services are provided by the Veterans Health Administration – such as prescription refills, or by the Veterans Benefits Administration – such as claim status. Customers can also update their contact information in one location, rather than visiting multiple VA websites or making multiple phone calls.

New VA.gov homepage

Within the first week of the launch, VA.gov:

• Had 498,000 unique users visit an average of 4.6 pages per session for an average session duration of 4:49
• Handled 145,701 successful login events from DS Logon, MyHealtheVet and ID.me account holders
• Supported 80,900 claims and appeals status lookups 
• Received 9,100 education benefits forms
• Received 3,700 healthcare enrollment application forms (10-10EZ)
• Processed 10,400 profile updates (e.g. updates to mailing address, email, phone)

VA is demonstrating that it is possible for Federal agencies to give the American people the online experience they expect and deserve—starting with our Nation’s Veterans. And VA is proud to be identified as the “co-lead” of the White House cross-agency priority goal on improving customer service.