CHAPTER 3

Snapshot Content and Design Development

Prototype Planning Snapshot

Based on the engagement findings and an analysis of sample formats, the research team drafted an initial layout for the Snapshot products. Key features of this design were as follows:

• Building, Maturing, and Leading: The spectrum initially developed for these Snapshots was divided into three categories:
  • “Building” describes practices, examples, and resources relevant to agencies that are new to the topic area or setting up a new program.
  • “Maturing” describes practices among agencies that are expanding or growing their efforts in a topic area and taking on increasingly complex aspects of the topic.
  • “Leading” describes practices, examples, and resources relevant to agencies that are innovating or establishing national best practices in a topic area.
• Key Practices, Examples, and Resources: The Snapshots initially were split into three distinct pages offering key elements that practitioners said they wanted to see in the Snapshot products.
  • “Key Practices” quickly identifies what agencies in each area of the spectrum are doing. Key practices were divided into three elements common across all columns:
  • Organization, Workforce, and Partnerships: Key practices identified in this category include activities related to the development of relationships internally and externally to advance a policy or program, workforce capacity or training need, and topics related to the structure of the organization itself.
  • Data and Performance Management: Key practices identified in this category include activities related to data collection and management, data sharing, monitoring and evaluation, and performance reporting.
  • Policy and Program Design: Key practices identified in this category include activities related to establishing or expanding programs or policies to achieve the desired outcomes.
  • “Examples” provides a quick overview of a single agency’s practice in an area to orient readers to what a building, maturing, or leading agency looks like.
  • “Resources” offers links to guidance, toolkits, or other agencies’ work products that can help direct and inform agencies’ work, whether they are just building their practices or are a national leader in the topic.

The initial draft Snapshot design used the content developed for the Complete Streets topic; the draft Snapshot design is included in Appendix F.

Revised Snapshot Design and Engagement

Phase II of this project involved in the creation of the revised Snapshot products, consultation with practitioners and the project panel to refine these products, and development of final research products and implementation plans. This work was organized into two major tasks: finalization of the Snapshot prototypes and re-engaging practitioners to collect feedback on the draft.

Revised Snapshot Designs

On July 31, 2024, the project panel and the research team convened for an interim meeting in Washington, DC. At this meeting, the research team presented the first iteration of the Snapshot prototypes and solicited input on these products. The Task 6 memo summarizes key design changes implemented in these updated Snapshots. Key input received was as follows:

• The Snapshots should include content that answers the question “Why is this topic important?”: In response to this feedback, the research team added a new cover page with a “Why?” heading for each topic. This section explains why each topic is important. Adding a cover page provided an opportunity to expand the written and visual content to lay the groundwork for each Snapshot topic.
• The Snapshots should be more visual: The panel felt that there was too much text and too few infographics, images, or other graphics. In response to this, the research team designed the next Snapshot prototype to integrate a visual By the Numbers section on the new cover page and, as available, add a graphic to the same page. The team also incorporated photos into the organizational practices described on the Examples page.
• The current organization may imply a value judgment: The categories Building, Maturing, and Leading, though designed to be somewhat neutral in language, may still be too strong and imply a value judgment. In response to this feedback, the research team considered several alternative naming conventions and adopted the following new category names: Designing, Enhancing, and Advancing.
• There should be greater emphasis on the levers of change and how organizations can choose to optimize for different things: The key practices are divided into three categories, which are the levers of change: Organization, Workforce, and Partnerships; Data and Performance Management; and Policy and Program Design. In response to this feedback, the research team added some explanatory text to the key practices introduction.
• The Snapshots should be expanded to offer more examples and organization types: For example, the research team should seek to include a mix of DOTs, MPOs, and urban/rural jurisdictions. In response to this feedback, the research team incorporated additional examples into the Examples page.
• Snapshots should identify remaining questions or gaps: In addition to highlighting areas for future research or exploration, this would provide something for the leading organizations to look into. In response to this feedback, the research team identified remaining questions in a callout box on the Key Practices page.

Following this meeting, the research team incorporated panel feedback for revised Snapshot products. This effort included:

• Adding a navigation (or cover) page to the Snapshots that provides visualizations and a topic overview and directs practitioners to the Snapshot content most useful to them.
• Expanding “Examples” pages to include more examples that cover a wider range of organization types.
• Incorporating specific content edits to each topic that reflected panel feedback. For example, the economic measures topic name was revised from “Programmatic Economic Measures Evaluate and Prioritize Transportation Projects and Investments” to “Economic Analysis to Support Decision-Making,” and the local freight topic was revised from “Agency Collaboration on Freight Delivery in Local Communities” to “Collaboration on Local Freight Delivery.” These nomenclature changes are intended to simplify and clarify the Snapshot topic focus. The Complete Streets topic was expanded to include more content on freight and public transit.
• Revising the current organization from “Building, Maturing, and Leading” to “Designing, Enhancing, and Advancing” to ensure that the terms used to describe the spectrum do not indicate a value judgment.

Practitioner Engagement

For Phase II practitioner engagement, the project team focused on re-engaging practitioners who participated in Phase I to gather feedback on the key practices, examples, and resources for each of the Snapshot topics and identifying any remaining questions and gaps in the research. Additionally, practitioners were asked for feedback on the Snapshot design and the continuation of the Snapshot series.

The project team engaged practitioners through a multifaceted approach that included a webinar, interviews, and outreach to industry organizations. The sections that follow are organized according to the type of outreach conducted, which included the following:

• Industry Organization Outreach
  • Interviews: Conducting additional conversations with representatives from AMPO and NACTO to discuss Snapshot content and layout.
  • AASHTO Conference on Data Management and Analytics, Planning, and Performance-Based Management (September 16–20, 2024) St. Louis, Missouri: Presented midpoint findings to the Committee on Planning at the AASHTO Conference on September 19th.
• Webinar: Conducting a Snapshots Midpoint Assessment and Feedback Webinar to obtain feedback from interviewees, focus group members, and other interested practitioners.

Industry Agency Outreach

The research team presented an overview of the project and research findings at the AASHTO Committee on Planning meeting on September 19th, 2024. Key points from this presentation and resulting discussion included distribution methods, long-term document storage, and topic identification, including how topics are chosen, specificity, and the production process.

The research team conducted follow-up interviews with representatives of AMPO and NACTO, as these agencies had been interviewed in the Phase I engagement. These organizations were engaged to provide feedback on the Snapshot content and design for all four Snapshot topics. Table 8 summarizes the outreach and key takeaways.

Webinar

The project team organized a webinar to gather insights from practitioners who were involved in the Phase I engagement, including interview and focus group participants. Additionally, the project team engaged committee leaders from AASHTO to distribute invitations to key industry leaders. The invitation included a registration survey that participants could use to indicate the Snapshot topic they were most interested in discussing. In total, the project team contacted 57 individuals or agencies for participation, resulting in 37 total webinar participants. The invitation for the webinar and the discussion guide used for facilitation can be found in Appendix G and Appendix H.

The project team conducted the webinar on October 9, 2024. The presentation began with an overview of the project and research goals, the project progress to date, and an outline of the engagement findings. The key practices and examples for each Snapshot topic were shared, and participants were asked to participate in a discussion on Snapshot content and format. Then, the Snapshot design was shared, and practitioners were asked to weigh in on the effectiveness of the product and Snapshot distribution. Feedback from the webinar discussions is outlined in the next subsection.

Table 9 shows the agencies represented at the webinar.

Key Takeaways

The feedback gathered during the Phase II practitioner engagement was generally positive. Most feedback provided insight into how to distribute the Snapshots and how the Snapshots can continue to be useful to practitioners. Key input that led to Snapshot content changes included

Table 8. Interview dates and summaries.

information that one of the case studies did not quite capture recent changes in the DOT’s current program. Based on this feedback, the research team sent each agency their Snapshot case study blurb to ensure that their work was captured accurately as of the date of the draft final report. The research team received feedback from 10 agencies, nine of which provided updates that are reflected in the final Snapshot content.

A year-long communications campaign was recommended to disseminate the Snapshots. Existing industry conferences and associations, such as AASHTO, AMPO, NACTO, and the

Table 9. Webinar date and attendees.

National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), should be utilized. Additionally, nontraditional, topic-specific groups should be engaged. Participants support continuing the Snapshot series and noted that working on multiple topics at once can highlight connections across the Snapshots. Maintaining relevance is challenging because of frequent changes in agency practices. NCHRP should select topics that are relevant over time while also finding a way to address emerging trends.

Final Snapshot Content and Design

The final Snapshot products reflect the feedback from the project panel and stakeholders. Changes were made based on feedback received during the interim panel meeting (discussed previously) and feedback from individual agencies on their key practice descriptions. The updated and final Snapshot products can be found on the NAP website (nap.nationalacademies.org) by searching for NCHRP Web-Only Document 431: Snapshots of Planning Practices.

Implementation Plan

The Implementation Plan identifies potential strategies for the release and distribution of the Snapshots series to enhance awareness and ensure ongoing relevance. The initial set of Snapshots developed through NCHRP Project 08-36(120) relied on traditional distribution channels and an independent website that was hosted by the contractor.

The objective of this plan is to outline goals for increasing awareness and distribution of the series while addressing challenges, such as the need for active communication, long-term support, and continuous maintenance of Snapshot products online. Through state-of-the-practice interviews, webinars, panel meetings, and conference discussions, the research team gathered insights and documented strategies for dissemination, sustained usage, and sharing to broaden the impact of the Snapshots and ensure long-term success. The Implementation Plan can be found on the NAP website (nap.nationalacademies.org) by searching for NCHRP Research Report 1158: Developing Snapshots for Transportation Planning.

To promote consistency and relevance, the Snapshot format should be institutionalized with a standardized approach to future projects. This will also help practitioners understand and use the Snapshots more effectively moving forward. A feedback mechanism should be developed that enables agencies to report updates, changes, and advancements in their programs. Agencies not originally featured could also request consideration for inclusion in a Snapshot. To maintain accuracy over time, a regular review process should be implemented to periodically assess key practices and resources.

The plan provides a road map for increasing the visibility and sustainability of the Snapshot series. Key strategies include engaging with industry and nontraditional partners, developing a robust communication strategy, and addressing impediments such as technical and hosting challenges, resource constraints, and the need for ongoing updates. Future steps could focus on leveraging industry networks and digital tools to improve search visibility, and on standardizing the Snapshot format for consistency. The immediate next steps would include:

1. Establishing online hosting and maintenance plans;
2. Engaging key stakeholders and identifying any additional organizations necessary to support dissemination;
3. Executing a targeted communications rollout that includes social media outreach, webinars, and presentations at industry events; and
4. Creating a plan to update the Snapshots over time and developing a new set of Snapshots.