Presentation on the Leicester City Council website and the direction for 2015 and what has been achieved and what the next steps are. Presented by Matt Alexander, Content Manager at Leicester City Council, at Really Useful Day: Improving user journeys in Durham on 12 December 2014.

1. leicester.gov.uk in 2015
A new approach

2. Why change?
• Our public website is integral to the smooth running
of the council.
• Citizens, businesses and visitors use it every day to
complete an array of tasks and keep informed of
developments across the organisation and beyond.
• The simpler it is to complete these tasks and digest
information, the more efficient we are and the more
we are valued and respected as an organisation.
• But…

3. Why change?
• The purpose of our website is not always clear.
• Effort goes into maintaining content as an information
repository or supporting content for niche audiences.
• Quality and presentation is variable and it does not
always facilitate online processes.
• Content is structured around organisational
ownership rather than customer tasks – this often
requires knowledge of the council to be able to find
correct information.
• The website lacks focus as an engagement tool.

4. Our customers are frustrated
• “I wasn't able to find the exact information about what I
was looking for”
• “This is a very poor site when compared with ones for
other counties”
• “The navigation of the website is poorly executed and the
content is clearly only updated periodically”
• “Finding information on this council site is difficult. The site
looks dated and the information is generally inadequate”
• “Trying to access planning applications is too complex”
• “Totally cheesed off with the whole thing!”
SOCITIM survey results 2014

5. They have many different goals
But we should focus on primary goals for priority users
User
priority
User type Primary goal Secondary
goal
Tertiary goal
1 Resident Order orange
bags
Find out about
council tax
exemptions
Read
performance
and spending
figures
2 Business
owner
Apply for a
licence
Read health &
safety
regulations
Get planning
permission
3 Tourist Find events and
exhibitions
View travel
information
Read local
history
4 Journalist Get up to date
news and opinion
Access
policies and
strategy docs
View minutes
and agendas
of meetings

6. But there are ‘top tasks’ common to all
• “Make a payment”
• “Make a booking”
• “Report a problem”
• “Request a service”
• “Make an application.”
• “Find information”

7. Focus on tasks not organisational needs
• Helps us break out of departmental silos and
uncoordinated content management.
• Enables us to focus on making popular and simple
tasks easier to complete.
• Enables us to consolidate guidance, policies,
procedures and supporting documents around topics
or functions – this leads to a more meaningful
browsing experience.
• Organisational structure can change but common
tasks tend to remain the same – therefore we can
develop an information architecture that will last and
evolve.

8. Content where customers expect to find it

9. With clear ownership and governance

10. Right content in the right place
Web pages
• Top tasks and customer services
• Information about the organisation, its work and people
• Articles and features about things that really matter
PDFs
• In-depth guidance and documentation
• Statutory requirements (Article 4s, TROs/TTOs)
• Branded publications
Archived
data
• Minutes of meetings
• Historical data
• Reference material

11. Where are we now?
• Developing a new task-based structure that focuses
on the needs of customers first.
• Final page designs and templates approved.
• Adoption of world-class open source Content
Management System.
• Development site being built at alpha.leicester.gov.uk

12. New designs

13. New designs

14. New designs

15. Work on everything

16. Next steps
• Work with Information Owners to identify and migrate
priority content into new structure
• Agree best approach for handling forms and other
documents
• Work with content contributors to audit and migrate
content
• Develop better and more consistent publishing
standards and processes

17. Get in touch
Matt Alexander, Content Manager
matthew.alexander@leicester.gov.uk
Tine Juhlert, Web Refresh Programme Project Manager
tine.juhlert@leicester.gov.uk