Treasury takes to Twitter to tout 10

As soon as the Treasury Department announced it was planning to put a woman on the $10 bill, the Twittersphere was abuzz with possibilities. And in the spirit of democracy -- the theme for the new generation of currency -- Treasury is seeking input from we the people through a variety of venues, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To help with social media outreach, digital strategy, and content and visual design of the #TheNew10 website, the Treasury enlisted the General Services Administration’s 18F team for the rollout.

18F consultants worked with the Treasury to consider who would be visiting the site and what the audience’s goals would be. 18F also assisted with information architecture, search engine optimization, visual design, interaction design, how to process feedback from the public and stakeholders, and how to anticipate different reactions on launch day.

“Our goal was to ensure #TheNew10 website made it easy to understand the news quickly, get folks to the information they wanted, and had a clear call to action for people to share their thoughts on ‘the new 10,’” Kara DeFrias, deputy director of 18F Consulting, wrote in a blog post.

The site features a sampling of what people are saying about #TheNew10 on social media and allows users to tweet or write a Facebook post directly on the site with one click rather than navigate away from the page.

“Since Treasury wanted to encourage the public to weigh in on who should appear on the $10 bill, and what democracy means to them (the theme of the new bill and next set of bills), we also provided advice on methods and approaches to maximize the general public’s interaction with the campaign,” DeFrias wrote.

According to the Treasury, the website has two main interactive features: the social media aggregator that collects posts with the #TheNew10 hashtag, and the submission page under "Share Your Ideas" on the top navigation banner. The "History of the $10 Note" page on the website also has an interactive component where users can scroll down the page and see different designs of the $10 pop up. Each bill becomes larger in scale as you hover your mouse around the image.

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew and Treasurer Rosie Rios have participated in multiple round tables, town halls and phone calls with the public, in addition to gathering insights on social media. Treasury said people have also directly emailed Lew, and– in the best tradition of the apparently unappreciated Alexander Hamilton -- have even sent handwritten letters.

Why mess with Hamilton, whose portrait has been on the bill since 1929, rather than the slave-owning, Indian-removing Andrew Jackson, who graces the $20 bill (and preceded Hamilton on the 10)? According to the Treasury website, security is the top priority for choosing a particular currency to redesign, and the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence Steering Committee found the $10 bill should be next.

Besides, the founder of the Federalist Party and the nation’s financial system will not be disappearing right away. One option is to produce two bills, and other possibilities are also being considered.

In any event, the new $10 bill is not expected to enter circulation until 2020, in time for the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.