Comments on on dot-gov: Hey dot-gov! Don't Believe Your Hype

Thanks @jenn! We all are looking for any tool we c...

2009-10-05T23:33:50.909-04:00

Thanks @jenn! We all are looking for any tool we can to beat back the shiny object syndrome. It's hard because there are so many good, strategic use of new media. And THAT'S what we are all trying to advocate.

Also, check you Candi Harrison's answer--goals and measures--on her blog.

Great post Gwynne. You hone right in on one of the...

2009-10-05T10:32:13.457-04:00

Great post Gwynne. You hone right in on one of the reasons why when folks I work with say "hey I want the shiny new thing and the latest tool", one of the first questions I ask is: “How big and technically mature is your known stakeholder pool?”. Traffic is only one metric for performance but if one of the goals of open government is increasing the quality and frequency of interaction with the public in the provision of government services, then traffic isn't only a measure of success, but should guide those tools that we invest time and resources into in the first place.

Thanks for the great stats!

Jenn Gustetic

Sarah, I think that you nailed one of the (many) c...

2009-10-05T08:19:43.904-04:00

Sarah, I think that you nailed one of the (many) challenges to meaningful metrics. This is not specific to dot-gov, the private sector has the same trouble.

There are many smart people who talk and write about the importance of having goals to measure against. For e-commerce sites the conversion is easier--somebody bought something. For drivers' license renewal, the conversion is also easier--someone successfully renewed their license.

To get to more meaningful numbers we need to build our own context. Is the goal to decrease the number of people standing in line at the DMV? How do we cross that with increased use of web tools?

To your point on ESPN and checking scores daily, how many gov sites believe the holy grail is volume of visits and visitors? Your smart question just provided some context for the numbers. Well done!

Hey... hip..hip ..hurrey... Let's cheers for...

2009-10-05T03:03:29.120-04:00

Hey... hip..hip ..hurrey...

Let's cheers for this greater victory.. and many congratulations for the near peak hype..

Did we do a mindmeld or something? I was just pond...

2009-10-04T23:00:57.565-04:00

Did we do a mindmeld or something? I was just pondering this the other day while looking at our visitor numbers for MA state blogs. It's exciting watching them grow, but sobering to put them in comparison.

But then again, it might be more useful to think of this in terms of categories. Your list includes the top search properties, which is as you might expect - it encompasses activities of all kinds. And since most people are going to the Internet to be entertained or to shop, you would expect sites meeting those needs to hold top spots. Looked at from that perspective, it's actually a little surprising that .GOV made the list at all!

Also, visits to .GOV sites are need-driven, and visitor counts just aren't nuanced enough to measure task success. It's great that I was able to renew my auto registration online today, but I'm not likely to go back tomorrow because my visit was so successful - I just don't need to. Checking sports scores at ESPN, though, is a daily task for many people.

We work with the numbers we can get, but I sure wish they did a better job at helping us determine citizen satisfaction and trust!