Online Communication and Usability in Public Administration

NKE  WUD  2015  USABILITY  AND  RESEARCH  IN  PUBLIC  

ADMINISTRATION  Csilla  HERENDY  

TOPIC  

 Clients/ci9zens  need    

WELL  DESIGNED,    EASY  TO  USE,    ERGONOMIC    

websites  

BUT:  they  oDen    

DON’T  LIKE  TO  USE    websites  of  public  administra9on  sector  because    

 -­‐  their  surface  is  complicated,    

-­‐  hard  to  understand    and  some9mes    

-­‐  neglect  actual  user  expecta9ons  and  needs.  

It  is  a    

GENERAL  PROBLEM    in  most  countries  that  

users  (ci9zens)  have    

DIFFICULTIES    using  public  administra9on  websites  

and  orien9ng  on  it/them  

What  kind  of    

PROBLEM    do  they  have?  

they  do  not  understand    the  public  administra9on  and    

LEGAL  PHRASES    that  are  used  there  

they  do  not  see    

THE  STRUCTURE    (informa9on  architecture)  

of  the  website,    the  logical  relaCons  between  topics.  

The  sites  are  not  stylish      and  absolutely    

NOT  COOL.  

Design  is  old-­‐fashioned,  colors,  fonts.  AND  mayor's  welcome  on  main  page  

Redesign,  2015  (!)    -­‐-­‐  Mayor's  welcome,  here  

Mayor's  welcome,  there  

Mayor's  welcome,  everywhere  

Too  much  informaCon  

It  looks  like  paper  world  and  an  administraCve  order  

Flash  intros...            Mobile  access?  

AS  A  RESULT    

Users    

HAVE  DIFFICULTIES    naviga9ng  on  given  sites  

 They  soon    

LOSE  THEIR  PATIENCE    

 ODen  choose    

PERSONAL  ADMINISTRATION    instead  of  electronic  

which  

DOES  NOT  HELP    the  spread  of  e-­‐government  

WHY  IS  THAT?  REASON  2/1.  

[TYPICAL  HUNGARIAN  PRACTICE]    

DESIGN  STRATEGIES  Neglect  users’  point  of  view  Reflect  officers’  mental  models  

DEVELOPMENT  Starts  with  beau9ful  design  in  Photoshop  /  jpeg  pics  The  content  must  be  adjusted  to  it    Or  the  design  will  be  subsequently  modified  again  and  again  Rarely  tested,  oDen  the  wrong  way  

CAUSES  Lack  of  experienced  professionals  (in  house  IT  developers)  Lack  of  funds,  harmful  development  prac9ces  Lack  of  professionals    

WHY  IS  THAT?  REASON  2/2  

[MENTAL  MODEL]    

The  content,    wording,    

structure  of  the  sites    

REFLECTS    THE  MENTAL  MODELS  OF  OFFICERS  

….aaaaand,  there  is  

MISMATCH    between  

 mental  models    of  the  ci9zens    

and  the  website  owner  (employee  in  public  administra9on  /  programmers)  

“Mental  model  is  the    representa9on  that  a  person  has  

IN  HIS  MIND    about  the  object  is  interac9ng  with”  

(Weinshenck,  2011)    

How  could  we    

MAKE  IT  BETTER?    

It  is  useful  to    

GAIN  INFORMATION  about  mental  models  of  the  user  

HOW?    

INVOLVE    the  users!  

METHODS    

 Choose  the  one  which  is  best  for  the  actual  goals  

Card  sorCng  test  (open/closed)  (Online)  focus  groups  Interviews  Task  analysis  Surveys  Ques9onnaires  Par9cipatory  design  Usability  tesCng    

SOME  EXAMPLES  

(1)  analysis  of  the  most  popular  content  (2)  Google  sta9s9cs:  which  are  the  most  popular  keywords?  (3)  Online  survey  research      

Card  sor9ng  tests,  focus  groups,  user  test    

Eye-­‐tracking  research  +  user  interview    (ujbuda.hu  60+,  subjects:  60+)  -­‐  Don’t  recognize  and  don’t  understand  the  “accessible  version”  icon  [real  Hungaricum!]  -­‐„Print“  icon  was  tought  to  be  a  speaker  -­‐  Don’t  know  and  don’t  understand  icons  of  social  media:  “F,  G,  limle  bird???”  

Thank  you    

Dr.  Herendy  Csilla,  Ph.D.    Adjunct  Professor,  NUPS  

csilla@herendy.hu