Transcript Generating Results With Your Website

The State of Utah’s Official Website
Generating Results With Your
Website
June 8, 2006
GMIS Meeting
Carrie Gott
General Manager
Utah Interactive
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah Interactive
Who we are:
• eGovernment Solutions Company
• Subsidiary of NIC
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah Interactive
What we do:
• Manage Utah.gov
• Develop, host and maintain
eGovernment services
• Design services: website design, logo
design, brand identity, marketing
materials, and more.
• Consultation
• Marketing services
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah Interactive
How we do it:
• Public-private partnership
• Long-term contract
• Oversight by the Office of the CIO
• Self-funded model
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Why Your Website Matters
• Saves state resources
• Benefits businesses by delivering greater
efficiencies
• Meets citizens where they are = increased
convenience and efficiency and more accessible
government
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah.gov - one example
• Utah.gov attracts an average of 2,000,000 unique visits per
year and conducts more than 2 million eGov transactions
• In total, Utah.gov provides access to more than 400 online
services through state and local government
• Utah.gov continues to break national 1sts in innovative
service delivery
• With 6 redesigns in 7 years, Utah.gov pushes the envelope
in meeting citizen needs for online government service
• Online service usage proves that Utah.gov is very often the
premier, and in some cases the only, choice for accessing
government information and services
• Utah.gov is breaking records in customer service, serving
more than 150,000 website visitors in 2005 through email,
LiveChat and telephone call support
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah.gov - the numbers tell the
story...
In 2005, more than 2 million government transactions took place
through Utah.gov, including:
• The 1,000,000 online vehicle registration was completed in July
• More than 100,000 business and citizen taxes were filed or paid
online
• More than 150,000 corporation record filings and searches were
done online
• More than 430,000 hunting and fishing licenses were purchased
online, saving an estimated $100,000 each year for the agency
• More than 43,000 professional licenses were renewed online
• The 20,000 business was registered at the One Stop Business
Registration service
And these are just some examples….
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah.gov 2006
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Bold, Utah-specific look and feel (Web 2.0)
Online services keyword search (AJAX)
Dynamic Redundant Environment (DRE)
Easy access to RSS (Rich Site Summary) news feeds,
streaming media, and emergency preparedness
information
• Horizontal navigation frees up more real estate, making
homepage not only more attractive but easier to
navigate
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah.gov 2006
• Clean, fresh, contemporary design
• Savvy use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets),
XML (eXtensible Markup Language), and
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) to
generate pages and key word search
• Smart implementation of Web 2.0 standards
as applicable to eGovernment
The State of Utah’s Official Website
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Assessing Your Website
How to get started:
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Gather your team
Identify your goals
Know your users, where they are, what they need and how they
need it. Where is the pain? Focus groups, surveys, front line, etc.
Explore your own agency identity, brand, messaging, etc.
Identify the information and services needed and prioritize them
Develop the website
Test: internally and externally
Launch and measure feedback
Have a content management plan
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Assessing Your Website
As a team, ask lots of questions:
• What are your goals with your website and who
are your customers?
• Is your content fresh and pertinent to the
information requests you field through your
customer service/feedback channels?
• Is the site easy to maintain and keep fresh?
• Does your web site load quickly?
• Is your website degradable for those who don't
have Javascript enabled or have the latest plugin?
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Assessing Your Website
• Is the website 508 Compliant and friendly to
those with assistive technologies?
• Do you have quality search engine available to
help your visitors find information they want?
• How well are you successfully driving traffic to
applications or services that are important for the
user and your organization?
• Are you monitoring and reviewing feedback?
The State of Utah’s Official Website
User-Centered Design
Learn from Users:
• Consider the needs and goals of your audience
• Communicate with actual users
• Gather feedback or research your user groups
• Continue to monitor user feedback
Design with the User in Mind:
• Focus on what is important to the user, in addition to
the agency’s goals
• Provide solutions to your users’ needs
• Focus on ease of use
• Develop intuitive navigation and information structure
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Good design - focus on the customer
FACT: Well-designed* and properly deployed** eGovernment
services consistently deliver value to citizens and businesses while
also generating efficiencies for state agencies.
*WELL-DESIGNED
• Built for end users
• Interfaces properly with backend systems
• Intended to enhance and accelerate an existing process
• Meets a defined need
**PROPERLY DEPLOYED
• Tested thoroughly
• End users are invested in the process and the product
• Marketed to target audiences
• Enhanced based on user and agency feedback
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Usability
A user-centered design focuses on meeting website
user’s goals, needs, and expectations.
Usable websites are:
• Easy to learn and use
• Efficient to use
• Enjoyable or satisfying
• Visually pleasing
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Why Usability?
How We Use the Web
• We don’t read, we scan
• We look for quick solutions
• We don’t care about company/agency organizational
structure
• We have expectations from past experience with
computers & Internet
• We don’t want to “figure out” a website
• We look for “what to click on next”
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Why Usability?
Websites with poor usability =
• User frustration
• Users unable to complete tasks/find info
• Loss of user retention
• Customer dissatisfaction
• Negative reaction to agency
• More phone calls and emails
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Usability Mistakes
• Treating the website as a brochure rather than a fundamental
shift in the way we conduct business
• Assuming the user thinks the same way about your information
as you do (the agency)
• Using only “org chart” structure/navigation
• Posting content from printed materials directly on the Web – We
don’t read Web pages the way we read printed materials
• Assuming all users are viewing with a fast connection, a large
screen, and the latest browser
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Why Accessibility?
• Use of the Web is spreading rapidly into all areas of society,
including seniors & the disabled
• New technology allows the Web to be used on a variety of
devices, such as PDAs, phones
• Seniors, the disabled, and rural users rely on the Web since it is
more difficult to physically visit business/government offices
• An accessible site means you can reach a wider audience of
customers and constituents, and they can use the site effectively
 more satisfied customers
• Web accessibility has benefits for all users – standard code,
greater browser & device compatibility, improved usability
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Evolving Your Website
Online
Forms
Static Content
Push Technology/feeds
Point of sale
Wireless
Kiosks
IVR
Streaming media
Personalization
And more
ePayments
Search/Filing
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Tips For Driving Usage
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Business process
Outreach and marketing
Involve your users
Go for the full suite of services
Be the driver for change
Explore innovative delivery channels
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Getting Started
Contact us to help you assess your website goals
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Logo & Website design
Site architecture/navigation design
User testing
Accessibility testing and repairs
Flash presentations/movies
Online forms
Database searches and filings
UtahGovPay payment engine
Custom programming
Consultation
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Utah Interactive - design services
What We Do
• Design & maintain Utah.gov web portal
• Create new and re-designed websites for State of
Utah agencies on a contract basis
• Design user interface for eGov applications
• Develop standards and enterprise solutions
Our Expertise:
• Usability
• Accessibility
• Creative solutions and interactivity
• Quality layout, design, graphics, and
programming from an award-winning team
The State of Utah’s Official Website
Questions & Answers
Carrie Gott, General Manager
[email protected]
Gary Hogge, Director of Partner Relations
[email protected]
Alan Gardner, Lead Web Designer
[email protected]