Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
What We Recommend
Recommendations for the website based on interview findings
July 6, 2009
Submitted by:
Marjorie Alexander Lori Eronimous
Validate the themes and recommendations with the public.
Recomm endatio ns are base d on com mon themes f rom the intervie ws. Emplo yees who suppo rt the w ebsite must be able to dedica te a portion of their w orkday to workin g on the website. A CMS allows websit e content to be update d and displayed
automatically, for example, articles on
the homepage.
Allow users to both browse and download documents. Allow fo r multipl e approve rs so th at content isn’t sta lled at a wor kflow st ep if an appro ver is ou t of the offic e. Mak e a p ositive first im pression on th e home page. What if C ommerce City's ne w websi te became a natio nal model fo r compa rable municip alities?
What if the CMS and document
management system cut the cost of doing business?
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Executive Summary
This document contains recommendations that address the general themes that emerged as participants
were interviewed.
The recommendations are grouped into the following categories:
•Identified pain points
•Staffing to support anticipated requirements •Content Management System (CMS)
•Proposed workflow
•Potential information architecture •Focus groups •Sample schedule What if Commerce C ity's new website became a na tional model for comparable municipalitie s?
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Identified “Pain Points”
The recommendations would alleviate some of the pain points that became evident during interviews with
Commerce City employees:
•The same link may display different documents. •Larger documents are not available online.
•The process for creating and updating content is slow. •The homepage does not convey a good impression of Commerce City.
•Information exists on the website but users can’t find it. •Lack of self-service opportunities to request or submit information.
•Lack of rich internet applications (video, blogs, slideshows, etc.) Pain points were identified d uring interviews w ith Commerce C ity employees.
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Staffing to support anticipated requirements
• Unify and consolidate Commerce City’s efforts by identifying members of and strategies for a web user group. Include representatives from each department to report on tactical issues, members of IT for technical support and members of the Marketing department to provide strategic perspective.
• Ensure that resources are available to support the website. Employees who support the website must be allowed to dedicate the necessary amount of time
during their workweek to receive training on the
website and it's processes, and to perform daily tasks such as publishing and approving content, monitoring the website's use, user metrics, responding to user feedback, etc.
• Promote the adoption of the website and it's utilities such as “Ask C3” and interactive maps for use by citizens and employees. Provide training and
incentives, such as a treasure hunt.
What if city s taff was a llowed time each w eek to contrib ute to the site, a nd help reinvent the City's
brand and ima
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Content Management System (CMS) Baseline Requirements
• It is recommended that the CMS selected be one that is widely used, and possibly an Open Source solution. This strategy would relieve Commerce City the need to employ web development staff in-house, as a popular CMS would have a large following of contract
developers to be used on an as-needed basis. • A searchable document repository with advanced
search features. Ensure that citizens can quickly and easily look up ordinances, election details, budget information, building guides, etc.
• A maintenance strategy and system where outdated content expires and/or users are automatically
prompted to review site content regularly for accuracy. • CMS system should allow content providers to attach
metadata, or tags, to content for organization and searching.
What if the CMS was
able to automate and
provide fresh site
content? Improve
customer satisfaction
?
Increase city revenue
?
Reduce complaint
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Content Management System (CMS) Baseline Requirements
•CMS should control content modules that are frequently changing. For example, “What's New” and “Current
Events” would be instances of this case.
•CMS system should allow users to update information quickly, secure the information, track versions, archive and most importantly, maintain links globally
•Include larger .pdf files that can be downloaded, such as building guides. Ensure that larger .pdf files contain a clickable table of contents and bookmarks.
•Example of possible CMS systems are: Joomla, Plone, and Hot Banana.
What if the CMS and document management system cut the cost of doing business?
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Proposed Workflow
• Establish the criteria and process for submitting and approving website content. Identify authors and
approvers within each department. Many departments have employees serving in this role informally already. • Establish a simple but flexible workflow within the
CMS. An example of a simple but flexible workflow is: • Author writes the content (or submits a document,
in the case of .pdf’s) completes a checklist, and assigns tags in the CMS before submitting the content to the Approver.
• Approver follows an approval checklist and has the ability to make changes to the content and the tags before approving the content for publication. Allow for the rejection of content by the approver, and ensure that the approver has a mechanism for describing the reason, such as a text field so that authors will know why their content was rejected. • After the approver approves the content within the
CMS, it is automatically published. What if succ essful staff collabo ration and teamwor k caused unexpected benefits in th e areas of team work and productiv ity?
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Potential Information Architecture
What if the new
Commerce City website caused increased public participation in government, events and safety?
Improve the look and feel:
• Build website identity and brand using photos and video as well as engaging text and logos on the homepage and department-level landing pages. Examples include “Ask the Mayor” question
submission, How-to videos, “How to get a permit”, interactive maps, a virtual tour of Commerce City and the Civic Center.
• Make a positive and powerful first impression on the homepage. Design for the citizens, businesses, and visitors. Conduct testing to determine how useful and usable it is.
• Show compelling and timely content on the homepage. Publicize the good things that are happening in
Commerce City. Maintain a calendar of events for the entire city with the ability to filter the calendar for
certain types of events, such as Family, Business Owners, Public Works, etc.
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Potential Information Architecture
What if the n ew site became a tru sted resource for citizens to participate and interact with city decision mak ers?
Improve the look and feel:
• Respect privacy, build trust, and demonstrate
transparency. Avoid user log ins, and cookies where they are not improving the user experience.
• Ensure that the site is accessible to citizens who require special assistance in reading, hearing, or navigating web sites.
• Promote two-way communication with users. Provide mechanisms for users to submit comment and
questions via forms. Requires monitoring and timely responses.
• Foster a sense of collaboration with citizens in growing the city.
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Potential Information Architecture
What if citizens were able to see and use site
sections and
functionality that they recommended?
Improve the navigation:
•Use consistent navigation bars, obvious links, action buttons, descriptive link names and embedded links. Organize the hierarchy to match the way citizens think. •Give users multiple ways to navigate. Implement a global and local navigation. The global navigation persists throughout the website, while the local
navigation changes with the context of each page. Also provide a task-based navigation (“How do I”) based on a study of what your citizens do.
•Design a broad and shallow hierarchy to reduce the number of clicks necessary to access info. Understand what users are coming to the site for, don’t make
them guess.
•Provide breadcrumbs that show how users get from the homepage to the current page and back. Use a string of back links and separate them by a '>' symbol.
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Potential Information Architecture
What if Econ omic Development inquiries wen t up and “calls fo r help” went do wn?
Develop new features:
•Provide self-service applications for citizens to request information and give feedback as requests are submitted or processed, for example submitting requests for
reports or information, general comments and complaints.
•Provide methods for users to participate in online transactions, such as paying fees or fines online. •Evolve the site into a living document for the city.
Provide mechanisms and site sections where users can add content, share their stories, interact, celebrate the City and the benefits of living, working and playing
•Deliver comprehensive and personalized answers to general and local community questions--Ask C3. Use redundant navigation to make it easy to understand, such as Help, FAQ, How Do I?, etc.
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Potential Information Architecture
What if citizens subscribed and contributed to city social
networking tools?
Develop new features:
•Connect users to employees who have the autonomy to solve problems and answer questions. Where
appropriate, provide specific names and/or photos for contacts on the website, not just positions.
•Allow citizens to sign up for email subscription or mobile text messages to receive details about: neighborhood programs, monthly newsletters, Parks and Recreation events, community events, police information
(emergencies, crime alerts, predators, lockdowns) etc. •Provide live webstreaming of City Council meetings, community meetings, public education. Using Vimeo for a low cost is a viable option. Alternatively, provide
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Potential Information Architecture
Homepage
Search Feedback
Help Blog
Site Map and A-Z Index Announcements and News
Subscribe to Email Or Text Messages Alerts Events Newsletters Library Documents Minutes, Agendas News Press Releases Videos Forms Ordinances
Self Service Applications
Request Information Submit Feedback Community Calendar Council Meetings Hearings Public Events Careers Job Openings Volunteer Opportunities Maps Boundaries Wards Zones Businesses Trails Parks Departments, Divisions, and Services
Sub-Sections About Commerce City
Landscape Demographics Weather History Photos Tours Places to See Partners Pay Online
Fees and Fines Directory
Contact Elected Officials
Employees
Departments, Divisions, and Services
Sub-Sections
Departments, Divisions, and Services
Sub-Sections
Departments, Divisions, and Services
Sub-Sections
Departments, Divisions, and Services
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Focus Groups
Conduct user testing during the development and design process and before the website is rolled out to ensure that the website meets users’ needs. Include employees and citizens in this process by means of focus groups.
What if citizens
were so excited
about the new
site (and city
image) that they
contributed idea
s for future site
functions and
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Sample Schedule
In order to maintain momentum (and excitement within City staff), we have created a sample schedule on the following pages that:
•Describes near term milestones with a target Phase 1 Completion date of
November 30, 2009
•Proposes action that shows site progress to the public and allows continued
development “under the hood”
•Provides a sense of tasks and related cost estimate for near term budgeting purposes
What if the new city site started to unveil itself as soon as November 2009? What if city staff and
citizens were able to witness and contribute to the new site, as it's being designed and
built? Talk about collaboration!
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Sample Schedule
August Milestone
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Sample Schedule
November Milestone
Commerce City Website:
Recommendations
Sample Schedule
Spring 2010 Milestone
