Posts Tagged: design

We, the People …. the Customer … the User?

Let’s put this as neutrally as possible. People interact with public services. Now, here’s a simple question: what should we call those people – and why? Perhaps it’s not such a simple question after all. They – we – are many things. We are patients, customers, passengers, swimmers, clients, taxpayers, claimants and more (as wellRead… Read more »

The Most Important Update Trending on Public Sector Websites

With any government program, project, or initiative, you can’t just rely on an “if you build it, they will come” strategy. If nobody knows about your initiatives or projects, they can’t make a difference. To be truly successful at your job to drive engagement with these programs, you have to capture people while they areRead… Read more »

Government Websites: Three Things the UK Does Well

Gov.uk set an example and others followed In 2012, the Government Digital Service team launched a new home for the Cabinet of the United Kingdom replacing two sites: directgov and business link, and it was truly simple. No unnecessary imagery, homepage flashiness or marketing ploys. On gov.uk, you find information related to government services, andRead… Read more »

Data point for banners/carousels: numbers vs. text for navigating among banners

On April 23, we launched our new home page design (http://www.epa.gov). Among other changes, we reworked our banners at the top. It used to look like this screen shot: To change banners, you clicked the numbers. Heat maps showed that people did use the numbers to move among the banners, and other analytics confirmed peopleRead… Read more »

Glogster

The Paint Branch High School is special. Years ago they decided that their annual science fair shouldn’t just be a checkoff on a list and started redesigning their event. They looked at why no one came and decided to move it from the middle of the day to the evening to make it easier forRead… Read more »

Are Small Budgets Good For Innovation – Part Two

Spending in the federal government is down. Sequestration has put a serious drain on many agency resources, but could the money squeeze actually create a breeding ground for innovation? In part two of our interview, with the first Chief Innovation Officer at NARA, Pamela Wright, told Chris Dorobek that the smaller budgets are forcing aRead… Read more »

Meet NARA’s First Chief Innovation Officer – Part 1

Innovation is one of those Rorschach terms, where innovation means different things to different people. Even amongst Chief Innovation Officers the role of innovation at an agency can vary greatly. So what really makes an innovative program? Pamela Wright is the first ever Chief Innovation Officer at NARA. She was also named one of FCW’sRead… Read more »