tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6381062955895390564.post4598729595393686106..comments2024-02-24T01:14:06.575-05:00Comments on on dot-gov: New Utah Website Graded on TasksGwynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09025302694449095642noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6381062955895390564.post-54795707519012163162009-06-24T00:27:07.417-04:002009-06-24T00:27:07.417-04:00@Bob, sorry, there was a squirrely delay with gett...@Bob, sorry, there was a squirrely delay with getting your comment posted. Thanks so much for your comment. You guys are doing GREAT work.Gwynnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09025302694449095642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6381062955895390564.post-77817862642661047802009-06-22T23:26:17.735-04:002009-06-22T23:26:17.735-04:00Dave Fletcher and I both want to thank you for you...Dave Fletcher and I both want to thank you for your comments on <a href="http://www.utah.gov" rel="nofollow">utah.gov</a>. As you know this is an evolving site and we are working to make the interface as effective as possible from a task/use perspective. Look for many more changes and improvements to come, and thanks again for the constructive observations.Bob Woolleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6381062955895390564.post-29387153232931581462009-06-20T13:47:09.415-04:002009-06-20T13:47:09.415-04:00@candi Thanks! The work is just a reminder that th...@candi Thanks! The work is just a reminder that this stuff isn't as easy as it looks!Gwynnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09025302694449095642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6381062955895390564.post-39616580630778024472009-06-20T13:45:46.483-04:002009-06-20T13:45:46.483-04:00Great comments @anonymous. Usability is both perso...Great comments @anonymous. Usability is both personal and general. See also <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html" rel="nofollow">Jakob Nielse's research</a> on getting good usability research results with a small sample size.<br /><br />I'd add that it could be that the tasks that I identified as important to <i>me</i> are not optimized because they are not important to most utah.gov visitors. Maybe their data showed that getting a new license is unimportant. You can't be everything to everyone and a strong focus is critical to successful web design.<br /><br />That said, the issue the drivers' license use case exposed was the problem with a portal system. There is more than one site to do the same task. It would be easy, for example, to have a link on the online renewal application to "New Drivers' License." But the different owners of the sites are likely not working together and there is not an overall editor-in-chief to coordinate and cross link the content. (See the PDF <a href="http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/documents/Federal_Web_Managers_WhitePaper.pdf" rel="nofollow">"Putting Citizens First: <br />Transforming Online Government"</a> for this and other recommendations on improving government websites.) A portal brings the sites together, but cannot make them make sense together.<br /><br />Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. Your reminder that I am not "normal" is truer than you know [/endjokeonself].Gwynnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09025302694449095642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6381062955895390564.post-78949294496301273242009-06-19T15:54:58.655-04:002009-06-19T15:54:58.655-04:00It is important to note that this is just one user...It is important to note that this is just one user's experience and therefore not an objective task analysis of the site. <br /><br />When attempting to complete the first task (new drivers license), I had no such issues. <br />Here's what i did: <br />Residents (top navigation) > Cars & Transportation > Driver License Division > FAQ > What do I need for a first-time driver license?<br /><br />First try, very easy. My grade for the site on this task: A <br /><br />but does that mean anything? Is my A "really" better than your C? No, not really.<br /><br />I haven't tried the other tasks yet, but I just wanted to make the point that no plan can account for how everyone thinks, we can only do the best we can overall. I do think that these are good tasks to try -- with multiple users to observe trends and make improvements. <br /><br />All web sites should be doing this continuously all the time. A web site is never done improving.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6381062955895390564.post-51073639101811512422009-06-19T09:13:54.144-04:002009-06-19T09:13:54.144-04:00Great post! This is exactly the kind of analysis ...Great post! This is exactly the kind of analysis that is so helpful. It gets to the heart of government websites. Well done.Candi Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08877096046198534705noreply@blogger.com