CQ Federal Products – Seamless Transition to an Enhanced Platform

Client Background

CQ Federal Products, a long-standing leader in legislative tracking and insights, faced the challenge of modernizing its platform and services. With more than 70 years of experience, CQ offered its clients the CQ Federal SaaS product, catering to a diverse clientele ranging from government agencies to congressional offices. In 2016, CQ, now owned by Fiscal Note, recognized the need to migrate its legacy systems and consolidate its offerings onto a new platform, CQ Plus. This transition was undertaken to address technical debt, improve user experience, and facilitate seamless access to crucial data.

Challenge

The primary challenges included migrating decades of congressional records, legislative data, and 15+ sub-products to a new platform without disrupting user workflows. Additionally, CQ's proprietary alert system required careful handling, as clients heavily relied on personalized news alerts. The 10-year-old platform had not seen substantial changes, prompting concerns among clients about potential information loss.

Solutions

CQ embraced an Agile approach to tackle this complex endeavor. Over a 20-month period, the transition process started with a discovery phase and the prioritization of services. This involved design thinking and storyboarding, enabling rapid product releases that were communicated to clients in advance. A feedback loop was established through marketing and sales teams, connecting clients directly with the product manager for issue resolution.

To ensure user satisfaction, CQ employed rapid prototyping, 5-day design sprints, and regular customer engagement for feedback and adjustments. A learning series was introduced to educate clients about new features. The gradual transition process began with the addition of services on the new platform while maintaining the old one. Clients were defaulted into the new system with access to the old, until each service was gradually sunset.

Results and Achievements

The transition yielded substantial improvements:

• Enhanced Alert System: Up-to-the-second alerts delivered via email or mobile notifications, offering users customized alerts based on a wide range of topics.

• Personalization Tool (My CQ): Users could tailor content based on their needs and share knowledge more effectively within their organizations.

• Robust Bill Comparison Tool: An intuitive interface empowered clients to compare bills or sections, reaching back decades into legislation.

• Real-Time Alerting Engine: Alerts for bills and bill changes in the system were provided in real-time.

• Task-Based Navigation System: User workflows were streamlined with a task-oriented navigation system.

• Subscription Manager:Users could easily manage CQ's newsletters based on subjects of interest.

• Enhanced Benchmarking Tools: Improved tools for accessing CQ data and expertise.

Outcomes

By Q1 2018, over 20 services were transferred to the new platform, with more than half sunset from the old system. A revamped content management system decreased the time needed for content distribution. Interactive graphics and videos enhanced engagement. Customer service noted reduced complaint calls and information requests. Customer satisfaction increased through surveys and reports. The user-friendly alert management system led to increased site traffic and improved analytics, including increased page views, time on page, and more.

CQ's strategic transformation not only modernized its services but also empowered clients, increased engagement, and solidified its position as a competitive industry leader.