Future State, which includes the re-building of the AHA website, is an implementation of new AHA business rules. This includes customer initiated, real-time, web delivered transactions; automated transactions to eliminate paper and speed up completion; the simplification of all business interactions with AHA by members and customers, and much more.
The Future State project was initiated after an examination of how AHA currently does business, its current business transaction and financial system infrastructure, and the comparison of AHA’s technology and business rules with those of the modern world.
The project is headed by a committee, known as HYDRA, which reports directly to AHA’s Executive Committee (EC). The HYDRA committee members includes Bill Richardson, Future State Program Manager; Jim Lawless, AHA Director of Business Technology; Bruce Johnson, AHA Business Technology Advisory Committee Chairperson; Terry Andreasen, AHA Vice President At-Large; Gerald McDonald, AHA Budget & Finance Committee; and Cynthia Richardson, AHA President. HYDRA will work directly with AHA staff to see the Future State project through to completion.
Future State is projected to last through the year 2018, with many important events and releases occurring at dates along the way. Some of these events include a release of the guest portions of the new AHA website; replacement of an outdated financial system; implementation of member and customer, website-based transactions through a website shopping cart; and the complete release of all pages of the new website.
At Convention, AHA also executed a demo of the new pages of the guest-user portion of the new AHA website. As part of the overall Future State project, these guest pages are scheduled to be released live and to the public on January 11, 2016.
Guest pages, by definition, are pages that guest users of the website have access to - pages that can be accessed without a password or logging in. Some of these new pages include the homepage; the Discover and Youth portals; a leadership section; a Get Involved section and Get Local map for AHA clubs to use as outreach tools; a newly designed Event Calendar and much more.
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The January, 2016 release pages of the new website are designed for marketing and outreach purposes. They will help to pull in newcomers to the breed and show off the navigation and educational opportunities of the new website.
Some of the new pages will link back to old pages of the website, including those pages associated behind the member login screen. The membership portion of the website, including the customized per member pages will be completed later on in the project. This is true of many of the transaction based pages and functions of the AHA website.
New and old website pages will be intertwined, creating a user experience that shows off the new website portions, but is still fully accessible and functional to members and customers.
AHA will continue to provide communication with its members about the progress and events of the Future State project throughout its entirety. Updates will be provided via press release, the AHA Insider, e-blasts and social media.
AHA is excited about the future and wants to make the member and customer experience with AHA the best that it can be.