Co-evolution of user and organizational interfaces: A longitudinal case study of WWW dissemination of national statistics

The data systems, policies and procedures, corporate culture, and public face of an agency or institution make up its organizational interface. This case study describes how user interfaces for the Bureau of Labor Statistics web site evolved over a 5-year period along with the larger organizational interface and how this co-evolution has influenced the institution itself. Interviews with BLS staff and transaction log analysis are the foci in this analysis that also included user information-seeking studies and user interface prototyping and testing. The results are organized into a model of organizational interface change and related to the information life cycle.