Not
so long ago most websites were generally created to do one just thing, to
publish the same information to the same people at the same time.
Improvements in line speed, browser functionality and Internet
availability mean that these days websites are generally used for two
more tasks, service delivery and user engagement. One website isn’t
enough for many medium to large organisations, some having multiple web presences each aimed at different audiences.
Recently I’ve been looking at how this could be reflected in what local authorities offer online and have come to the conclusion there are two distinct groups who might access a council website, customers and citizens. With this in mind I looked at how a site could be created for each type of user, in effect splitting an existing site into two.
The initial concept of the sites should be simple. The customer wants easy access to services or service information and to be able carry out what they came to the site for as quickly as possible. The site would be organised around service tasks and types.
Some residents on the other had might want to find an event, see local news or discuss things with their council or other local people and this is who the citizen website would cater for. Integrating with Facebook through the use of Open Graph tags and social plug-ins, as well as pulling in content from Twitter and RSS could create a real community resource.
Of course they’ll be crossover, the customer who wants to discuss refuse collection or the citizen who just wishes to find out what’s happening at her local library at the weekend, but on the whole I think the concept is sound. If it wasn’t it wouldn’t be so prevalent in the private sector.
So they’ll be two sites, with two roles but this doesn’t mean they should be entirely self contained, in fact separating content might even increase engagement. Let’s say a customer comes to the service centric site to report a pothole in their road, they have no intention of looking at news or events. They find the service they need quickly thanks to the site being lean and task driven however once they’ve reported the we can display targeted content about their area and the subject we know they have an interest in. This would be much like the “you may also like” functionality that many commercial sites work.
Of course these are fairly general ideas and they would be far from simple to implement, however with the right resources, enthusiasm and buy-in perhaps this could be the next generation of local authority websites.
You thoughts on these ideas are always welcome and the best way to contact me is at http://twitter.com/#!/PhilRumens
Recently I’ve been looking at how this could be reflected in what local authorities offer online and have come to the conclusion there are two distinct groups who might access a council website, customers and citizens. With this in mind I looked at how a site could be created for each type of user, in effect splitting an existing site into two.
The initial concept of the sites should be simple. The customer wants easy access to services or service information and to be able carry out what they came to the site for as quickly as possible. The site would be organised around service tasks and types.
Some residents on the other had might want to find an event, see local news or discuss things with their council or other local people and this is who the citizen website would cater for. Integrating with Facebook through the use of Open Graph tags and social plug-ins, as well as pulling in content from Twitter and RSS could create a real community resource.
Of course they’ll be crossover, the customer who wants to discuss refuse collection or the citizen who just wishes to find out what’s happening at her local library at the weekend, but on the whole I think the concept is sound. If it wasn’t it wouldn’t be so prevalent in the private sector.
So they’ll be two sites, with two roles but this doesn’t mean they should be entirely self contained, in fact separating content might even increase engagement. Let’s say a customer comes to the service centric site to report a pothole in their road, they have no intention of looking at news or events. They find the service they need quickly thanks to the site being lean and task driven however once they’ve reported the we can display targeted content about their area and the subject we know they have an interest in. This would be much like the “you may also like” functionality that many commercial sites work.
Of course these are fairly general ideas and they would be far from simple to implement, however with the right resources, enthusiasm and buy-in perhaps this could be the next generation of local authority websites.
You thoughts on these ideas are always welcome and the best way to contact me is at http://twitter.com/#!/PhilRumens
Which site do you promote as the main one, Phil? It seems there should be a main portal, a switchboard that directs users to the channel appropriate to needs.
ReplyDeleteI'm a pixel wrangler in the non-profit sector within the USA. Our organization provides career training, educational articles & publishing in 6 major areas grouped under one brand. Our site is very content heavy, less task-oriented.
Prior to our current single .org site, each of the 6 areas were treated as microsites of the whole. Our tests showed that our clients were very confused where to go to do what, who sanctioned what, who sponsored which event, etc. In essence, we cannibalized our brand through silos. Granted, our business is quite different from reporting a pothole. Even so, with good IA, tasks as well as chaff (or fluff) should be easily discernible to users.
An IRL analogy: An organic grocery I frequent separated their extensive health & beauty section into a property next door. To buy apples & toothpaste, I have to visit 2 stores, stand in 2 lines & use my debit card twice. Segmenting these needs, perceived by the brand to be to my benefit, has only doubled my time, & I'm annoyed. I shop there less frequently.
Using Facebook as a less formal, more communal extension of your site makes perfect sense. That's what the social channel is for. My caution is that all channels must point to each other & be recognizable as a part of the whole (branding).
aka @bellatrixr
Thanks for your reply, always good to get constructive feedback like this.
DeleteYou’ve highlighted the major problem with this approach. A proliferation of sites can make it harder for the user to find the service or information they’re after. There are a few thing we can do to help alleviate this problem.
1) Include common elements in the branding of each site.
You’ve already alluded to this but making sure common branding is present across all your sites and social presence engenders user confidence. Retailer Sainsburys' have many websites including one for customers and one for shareholders but they’re all quite obviously Sainsburys’.
2) Deep link each site together
Sites such as BBC News deep link into other organisation's who are reporting the same issue, or sites that give information about the subject they’re discussing, you can do the same with your sites.
Most content management systems allow you to do this easily and with some you can even add a constraint so each page on one site has to link to related information on the other.
3) Create a cross site search
Users visiting the service based site are probably only interested in accessing the service they need then leaving.
By default a site’s search would only bring back results from that website. Allowing the user to search all sites at once as an “more search result” option removes the need to visit to every site to find what they were looking for.