Defense Acquisition University Contracting Subway Map
Description
This visual was created as a learning tool to help United States Government employees better understand how the Federal Acquisition Regulation (a major set of procurement rules) works. Each step of the process is shown as a "station" on the map which has a corresponding number, and an information booth with links to other learning resources.
This visual was created as a learning tool to help United States Government employees better understand how the Federal Acquisition Regulation (a major set of procurement rules) works. Each step of the process is shown as a "station" on the map which has a corresponding number, and an information booth with links to other learning resources.
Story
The idea for creating this visual came about when a coworker of mine came to me and showed me these large poster-sized line drawings of how the Federal Acquisition Regulation process works. She asked me if I could help her do something with them for the website and we began working together on turning her idea into a reality.
The idea for creating this visual came about when a coworker of mine came to me and showed me these large poster-sized line drawings of how the Federal Acquisition Regulation process works. She asked me if I could help her do something with them for the website and we began working together on turning her idea into a reality.
I began sketching them up, originally in PowerPoint for starters, and realized that it kind of looked like a Subway strip map you see when you are riding in a car. I then began working on a large size map in Illustrator which gave me a large canvas to work on. We eventually completed the full size map with three lines to represent the different phases of government acquisition. I then exported the file to SVG and linked up each of the buttons on the drawing to different government resources to make it interactive using Dreamweaver as my code editor.
Reception
The map received strong positive reviews from students and others in the DoD because it takes a 2000 page document and makes it easier to understand at a glance. The interactive design also allows members of our workforce to quickly find which related learning resources DAU offers depending on the task they are working on and is currently used a reference tool in the classroom.
The map received strong positive reviews from students and others in the DoD because it takes a 2000 page document and makes it easier to understand at a glance. The interactive design also allows members of our workforce to quickly find which related learning resources DAU offers depending on the task they are working on and is currently used a reference tool in the classroom.
Here's what students are saying about the subway map:
"Outstanding tool. I have already shared with my younger, less-experienced contracting colleagues to give them a useful reference tool."
"Excellent and creative representation of contract lifecycle. I been looking for a way to understand this topic, and being new to the DoD, I was looking for such information. I am going to share with my teammates. Thank you!"
"Very logical approach to the content covered in the course. This is not only interactive, but it's also worthy of a print-out for a reference. I am highly impressed by the hyperlinks and accessibility of plain language explanations which have immense benefit. Overall, I look forward to using this tool as I proceed as I expect to be engaged in each part of the process during my contracting career."
Full length of map
Welcome screen with navigation information
Information window with details about the map and links to downloads
