How To Create Government Websites That Dont Suck

Trent Mankelow How to create government websites that don’t suck

Trent Mankelow How to create government websites that don’t suck rock!

"Despite promises of dramatic change and continuous innovation early on, ...the public sector today looks much as it did when the Internet began its ascendancy" - United Nations e-Government Survey 2008

64% of public sector organisations expected to spend money on a new/upgraded website in 2008/09. 53% expected to spend money on new/upgraded online services in 2008/09. - Government Use of ICT 2008

We are falling behind
We slipped from 19th place in 2007 to 31st in 2008 according to the Global E-Government Report
We were 13th in the UN list, now we’re 18th

The Internet should TRANSFORM government

The Internet should be the number one channel for government agencies
Improve public sector efficiency
Convenience and 24 x 7 availability
Advance democracy

But instead of transforming government, innovation has tended to be small-scale and gradual

How to create government websites that rock 01: Create a citizen-centred culture 02: Create an actionable, citizen-centric 03: Improve findability 04: Follow a user-centred design process online strategy

01: Create a citizen-centred culture

Currently many government departments have a shared accountability model
When something is owned by everybody, it is owned by nobody
This model can't help but trend toward mediocrity

‘ Competing priorities’ was the most commonly cited factor restricting the implementation of new ICT in government

So don't make it compete

Hire a Chief Citizen Officer

Reboot culture

Values for successful web teams
Networking and broad contacts externally and internally
Respect for individuals
Trust
Sharing of ideas and information
Sound underlying systems and procedures
Continuous learning and development
Creativity and innovation

02: Create an actionable, citizen-centric online strategy

Know who your users are and what their goals are

Stop designing for "all New Zealanders"

The trouble is that when you design for everyone, you design for no-one

Better websites start with better understanding

Conduct basic research to segment and understand your audience

One great way to stop designing for “all New Zealanders” this is to use personas

Create a coherent, lightweight online strategy

Use a simple process
Interview stakeholders
Understand your users (user survey, web analytics)
In a workshop:
Agree your key users and their tasks (based on research)
Brainstorm website goals and vision individually and then collate common themes and patterns
Brainstorm future initiatives individually and then collate common themes and patterns
Firm up goals, provide definitions and ways to measure the goals. Research themes and get other example websites
In a workshop:
Finalise goals and vision
Talk through the initiatives
Map the effectiveness of each initiative to achieve each goal
Prioritise initiatives based on their effectiveness across all goals
Finalise strategy

Don't develop the strategy in isolation – create a cross-channel strategy

03: Improve findability

Finding stuff
…and get bigger

In 2020, the amount of info on the web will double every 72 hours

In some government departments, new websites spring up like mushrooms
Governments are broken up into competing agencies and jurisdictions
Too many sites

Citizens shouldn't have to know about the mechanics of government in order to be able to interact with it

Remove redundant content, and consolidate sites to make stuff easier to find

Fix iGovt

Make iGovt seamless

04: Follow a user-centred design process

There are real costs when government websites are unusable

Website use typically doubles when the site is made easier to use

Use ISO13407

Use ISO 13407
Project planning shall allocate time and resources for the human-centred activities. This shall include time for iteration and the incorporation of user feedback, and for evaluating whether the design solution satisfies the user requirements.
Relevant user and stakeholder groups shall be identified and their relationship with the proposed development described in terms of key goals and constraints.
There are four linked human-centred design activities that shall take place during the design of any interactive system
Understand and specify the context of use;
Specify the user requirements;
Produce design solutions;
Evaluate.

"Usability standards are likely to have the most influence when cited in commercial contracts....Require a design and development project to carry out activities that conform with ISO 13407” - International Standards for Usability Should Be More Widely Used, Nigel Bevan, Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 4, Issue 3, May 2009, pp. 106-113

Conclusion

Success stories

The results Original success rate Final success rate Increase Client 38% 74% 36% Provider 44% 69% 25% Business 29% 77% 48% Target increase Actual increase Page views (users) 10% 25% Page views (staff) 10% 32%

How to create government websites that rock 01: Create a citizen-centred culture 02: Create an actionable, citizen-centric 03: Improve findability 04: Follow a user-centred design process online strategy

It shouldn't be “e-Government”. It should just be government

Thanks Trent Mankelow Optimal Usability [email_address]

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How To Create Government Websites That Dont Suck

by Optimal Usability on Aug 17, 2009

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How To Create Government Websites That Dont Suck — Presentation Transcript