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Usability for Government: improving
service delivery
Ruth Ellison & Adrian Newton Local Government Web Network Conference 2008
22 August 2008
Introduction
People Feel
People
Cameron Adams - Web Design:
Print = visualWeb = interactive
Interaction : behaviour : feelings
People
People
Satisfaction?
Relief?
Impressed?
But probably not happy...
People
Confusion
Frustration
Anger
Brian Hardy- Accessibility:
” Put the user in control ”
People
Involve users in design:- What do they want?- How do they want to do it?
People
Collaborative design extends beyond the user.
Boundaries
Governments:- Large, conservative bureaucracies- Hierarchically structured- Functionally organised
Boundaries
Functional silos distance stakeholders from each other
Boundaries
Silos reflect functional specialisation.
Boundaries
Build synergy through cross-functional teaming.
Boundaries
80% of Australians now use the internet
Stats from Nielsen Online, March 2008
Boundaries
59% of Australians internet users have contacted Government at least once in the past 12 months
Stats from Australians’ use of and satisfaction with e-Government Services 2007, AGIMO December 2008
Boundaries
User expectations are evolving:- 61% locality based information online- 60% ask/answer questions by email- 29% live chat while browsing- 27% personalise government sites- 11% access services by mobile
Boundaries
Source: Demographic Profiling of Victorian Government Website Visitors 2007
” Culture is cultivated behaviour ”Texas A&M University
Cultivate behaviour by transmitting experience through learning
Culture
Adapt approach:- Communicate- Integrate- Iterate
Culture
Joanna Lewis – IA” It’s not about Town Hall... ”
Adapt your services by engaging your users.
Culture
Embed usability.
Culture
What is usability?
I'm as confused about this intersection as that sign is....By sweeneytoad from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweeneytoad/344506101/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Hmmm... By aturkus from http://www.flickr.com/photos/aturkus/395919628/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Red route - Road signs on my way to workby Gaetan Lee from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaetanlee/152102309/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
“Usability really just means making sure that something works well” Steve Krug
Lets take a look at paying rates via the internet
Meet Jenny
Wants to pay her rates online
Needs to create an account before she can pay her rates
Interrupted by baby Lachlan
Pick Sam from school
It’s not that simple
It’s more than just a simple function
It’s now about people
It’s more than just a simple function
It’s now about people
Time is precious
Time is money
What type of user experience do you want your residents to have?
We need to design effective and holistic
user experiences
“Design is not decoration”Garr Reynolds
Consider the user experience right from the beginning
Take a user centred approach
Research
Flip-flops by theogeo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/theogeo/619457456Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Who are your users?
Flip-flops by Joe Shlabotnik from http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/305410323/
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Many different techniquesUnderstand the businessUnderstand the usersUnderstand the content
Understanding the businessStakeholder interviewsRequirements analysis
Understanding the usersContextual enquiry
Mom’s desktop.. By striatic aturkus from http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/131932697/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Understanding the users
Surveys
Understanding the usersPersonas
Archetypes that represent the main user groups of a site
MarkPersonal information
Age: 20Location: Sydney suburbs
Access internet: from home
and uniInternet usage: dailyBackgroundMark is a full time student at Uni of NSW.
He’s studying journalism and is particularly
interested in citizen generated media. He
uses the internet on a daily basis and keeps
up with his friends via social networking sites
such as Facebook.He lives in a sharehouse with two other
people.
MarkPersonal information
Age: 20Location: Sydney suburbs
Access internet: from home
and uniInternet usage: dailyBackgroundMark is a full time student at Uni of NSW.
He’s studying journalism and is particularly
interested in citizen generated media. He
uses the internet on a daily basis and keeps
up with his friends via social networking sites
such as Facebook.He lives in a sharehouse with two other
people.
Understanding the usersScenarios
Short story about a user interacting with a site
Ordering a new binMark is a full time student at Uni of NSW
studying journalism . He lives in a
sharehouse with two other friends.Mark recently discovered that their
rubbish bin was damaged. As it is nearly
bin collection day, he and his housemates need to organise for a new
bin.
Ordering a new binMark is a full time student at Uni of NSW
studying journalism . He lives in a
sharehouse with two other friends.Mark recently discovered that their
rubbish bin was damaged. As it is nearly
bin collection day, he and his housemates need to organise for a new
bin.
Understanding the contentContent audit
“A mind-numbingly detailed odyssey through your web site”Jeffrey Veen
52
User Goals Business Goals
What users want to achieve by using your website
What the business wants
to achieve by releasing the
website
Designing with users
Design
55
Card sortingDesigning with users
Example only
Wireframes
57
Designing with users
Visual treatment
Evaluate
“Fortune 1000 companies each spend an average of $2 million per year on site redesigns, without knowing if the redesign made the site easier to use.” Forrester Research
Evaluation techniquesExpert reviewUsability testing – formal & guerrilla Standards checking
Evaluating - Expert review
Review design against industry standards, heuristics and current research
Examples from Jakob Nielsen:Error preventionConsistency & standardsMatch between system and the real world
Evaluating – Usability testing
Evaluating – Standards checking
10 tips to take away
Tip #1
Think about who your users are
“Know thy user, and you are not thy user” Society for Technical Communication
People aren’t going to your website to be entertained
People are task
focussed
Tip #2
Think about how they find information on your site
4 types of information seeking behaviour*
Known itemExploratoryDon’t know what you need to
knowRe-finding
* Refer to Donna (Maurer) Spencer’s excellent article: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/four_modes_of_seeking_information_and_how_to_design_for_them
Tip #3 Get users involved early in the design process
Tip #4 Usability testing doesn’t have to be expensive(or usability testing on a shoestring)
Guerrilla usability testingNeed a roomMock-ups of the design UsersSet some realistic tasksObserveAnalyse
Tip #5 Content is key!
“5% of your website
delivers 25% of value”
Gerry McGovern
Giraffe - Kruger National Park by Yogi from http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogi/410605111/Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
Tip #6 Consider how offline
communications complement the online
world
Example Case Study from UseIt.com
Tip #7 Always let your user know where they are and what to expect
This way
Tip #8Keep it simple
Tip #9Don’t skip the research
Tip #10Integrated approach to accessibility and usability right from the start
Questions?
Need more info?Adrian Newton – General ManagerEmail: [email protected]: 02 8021 8699Mobile: 0413 875 325
Ruth Ellison – Senior ConsultantEmail: [email protected]: 02 6280 7834Mobile: 0423 763 314Twitter: @ruthellison
Find us at www.stamfordinteractive.com.au