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 culture02: Create an actionable, citizen-centric

03: Improve findability04: 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

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 process1. Interview stakeholders 2. Understand your users (user survey, web analytics) 3. In a workshop:

a. Agree your key users and their tasks (based on research) b. Brainstorm website goals and vision individually and then collate

common themes and patterns c. Brainstorm future initiatives individually and then collate common

themes and patterns

4. Firm up goals, provide definitions and ways to measure the goals. Research themes and get other example websites

5. In a workshop: a. Finalise goals and vision b. Talk through the initiatives c. Map the effectiveness of each initiative to achieve each goald. Prioritise initiatives based on their effectiveness across all goals

6. Finalise strategy

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

03: Improve findability

36

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 a. Understand and specify the context of use; b. Specify the user requirements; c. Produce design solutions; d. 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

rateFinal success

rateIncreas

e

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 culture02: Create an actionable, citizen-centric

03: Improve findability04: Follow a user-centred design process

online strategy

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

ThanksTrent MankelowOptimal Usability

trent@optimalusability.com