How to Create Government Websites that Rock

Trent Mankelow

How to create government websites that rock

Adán Christian

Why can’t government websites:

•Connect with us emotionally?

•Build long-term relationships?

•Be agile, and acknowledge that different people have different needs?

How to create government websites that

Trent Mankelow

Government websites rock when

they are

Useful

Attractive

Social

Open

Playful

A ttractive

S ocialO penU sefulP layful

Government websites rock when they are

Useful

“People these days expect information when they want it, in nice digestible chunks.”

- Transport for London spokesman

Source: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3881779.ece

40,000,000

40,000,000

Government websites rock when they are

Attractive

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Q: Why is attractiveness important?

If someone is physically attractive, people tend to assume they also have a host of admirable qualities, such as intelligence and honesty.

- B.J. Fogg

Source: http://www.valentinemoore.co.uk/trv/Attractive.pdf

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If you want visitors to look at something in particular, then have the person in the photo “looking” at that spot on the page.

Government websites rock when they are

Social

Social proof – we tend to follow the patterns of similar people in new or unfamiliar situations

Source: http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/pages/Hospital.aspx?id=RP401&v=4

Government websites rock when they are

Open

Food

Sex

Information??

Dopamine makes us

seek

Image Source: http://www.redstamp.com/products/1932-Paperwork-Sticky-Notes-Anne-Taintor

Open data enhances public sector efficiency by transferring some of the analytical demands of government to NGOs, research institutes and the media, which have been found to combine data from various sources in original and inventive ways.

United Nations E-Government Survey 2010

Source: http://www.thisweknow.org/l/CA/Beverly_hills

Source: http://www.suburbantrends.com.au

24 jams versus 6 jams

24 jams•60% of customers stopped for a taste•3% made a purchase

6 jams•40% of customers stopped for a taste•30% made a purchase

Government websites rock when they are

Playful

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

Can you design something which ‘plays’ with its users, provoking curiosity or making interactions into a game?

- Dan Lockton

Source: http://www.flickr.com/groups/microcopy/

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How can you delight users?

In conclusion

Challenges • Design and research techniques are used informally – not strategically

• Shared accountability encourages mediocrity

• Competing priorities means that web teams are often under resourced

“...the only way to have good ideas is to have lots of ideas and discard the bad ones, but you cannot afford too much creativity with benefit payments or traffic lights, school curriculums or court procedures”

– Geoff Mulgan

Source: Household Use of Information and Communication Technology: 2009, Statistics New Zealand

Source: Kiwis and Government Online Survey (2008), Statistics NZ

A ttractive

S ocialO penU sefulP layful

The perfect government website?

The perfect government website?

• There is no magic formula to creating world-class government websites

• We live in a world that is real, complicated, loud, messy and filled with real people

• An attitude of thoughtful innovation• We need a mix of research and

design methods

Next steps

Q: What do you call curry in India?

A: Food

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

ThanksTrent Mankelowtrent@optimalusability.com

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