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 <ul><li>We
slipped from 19th place in 2007 to 31st in 2008 according to the Global E-Government Report </li></ul><ul><li>We were 13th in the UN list, now we’re 18th </li></ul>

The Internet should TRANSFORM government

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

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 <ul><li>When something is owned by everybody, it is owned by nobody </li></ul><ul><li>This model can't help but trend toward mediocrity </li></ul>

‘ 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
<ul><li>Networking and broad contacts externally and internally </li></ul><ul><li>Respect for individuals </li></ul><ul><li>Trust </li></ul><ul><li>Sharing of ideas and information </li></ul><ul><li>Sound underlying systems and procedures </li></ul><ul><li>Continuous learning and development </li></ul><ul><li>Creativity and innovation </li></ul>

02: Create an actionable, citizen-centric
online strategy

Know who your users are
and what their goals are

Stop designing for &quot;all New
Zealanders&quot;

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

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

03: Improve findability

Finding stuff <ul><li>…and get bigger
</li></ul>

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

<ul><li>In some government departments, new
websites spring up like mushrooms </li></ul><ul><li>Governments are broken up into competing agencies and jurisdictions </li></ul>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 <ul><li>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. </li></ul><ul><li>Relevant user and stakeholder groups shall be identified and their relationship with the proposed development described in terms of key goals and constraints. </li></ul><ul><li>There are four linked human-centred design activities that shall take place during the design of any interactive system </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Understand and specify the context of use; </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Specify the user requirements; </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Produce design solutions; </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Evaluate. </li></ul></ul>

&quot;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
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