Jim Hogan

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• Jim Hogan
• State of Michigan
• Information Officer
• July 26th, 2008

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Agenda

• Background
• Online services - snapshot
• Web design considerations
• Adoption rates
• Whats next
• QA

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A Little Background

• Michigan.gov portal launched in 2001
• Websites migrated into a common content
  management architecture
• Facilitated common security, look-and-feel
• National Policy Research Council A
• Center for Digital Government 1Best of the
  Web
• Brown University 2
• Government Technology Magazine
• Digital States Survey 1 (4 years running)

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Michigan.gov

• Over 38 million page views monthly (330,000 from
  Mobile/PDAs)
• Dropdown menus of top services, queries and forms
• Current Newswire items and events of interest
• Dont forget the lottery numbers!!

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Online ServicesConnecting Citizens
Michigan.gov 300 highly-used e-services, from tax filing to license plate renewal Newest sites feature web 2.0 technology Multi-media mash-ups Social computing WIKI, BLOGS, YouTube Mobile Access

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MiDrive

• Real-timefunctionality,mapping of traffic
  accidentsand current speeds
• In first 8 months, over 71,000 visits registered

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24 hour mobile license
Mobile website allows anglers to purchase 24 hour
license from anywhere.

• Only 5 screens used, 3 minute process
• Credit card payment
• Text message receipt
• First in the nation

Next design considerations . . .
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Creating Accessible Web Sites

• State Web site must meet standards around
• Relative font sizes
• Font styles
• Color blindness
• Accessible forms
• Table widths
• Using skip navigational links
• Text only version
• Usability lab

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Relative Font Sizing
Original text size
Browser text changes to Largest
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Color Blindness Testing
www.michigan.gov/treasury
www.vischeck.com
Red text used to indicate something important.
This is how the red text looks to a person with a
red/green color deficit.
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Table Widths

• Eliminating horizontal scrolling

This table width does not force horizontal
scrolling
This table width forces visitors to scroll
horizontally
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Text Only Version

• Text only versions are beneficial for
• Individuals with visual impairments
• Easier to read
• Color schemes that are customizable
• People with slow internet connections
• Pages load faster
• Those who simply prefer text

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Usability Lab Brand new!

• Small dedicated room
• Tester and facilitator seated diagonally from
  each other
• Observation room located on a different floor
• Observers watch and hear tester comments and
  screen
• Usability software, TechSmiths Morae, captures
  results

Next how to attract users?
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Adoption rates How to increase

• Some adoption rates very high 85 of real
  estate agents renew via Internet.
• In March, there were 95,808 vehicle and 34,629
  watercraft registration renewals over the
  Internet, for a total of 130,437 transactions -
  one month record!
• Some are very low only 5 use Internet to
  purchase hunting fishing
• Increasing adoption rates
• Michigan places inserts in all commercial license
  renewal notices
• Michigan tax registration forms encourages online
  filing
• Online surveys for online filing gives metrics on
  what customers want. Focuses our efforts
• Simplify URL
• Mandatory online (or phone) filing for UIA

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Looking Ahead

• The Mobile Citizen
• Portable device services 24x7 fishing licenses
  are just the start
• Text Messaging Real time alerts on weather,
  Amber alerts, lane closings
• Citizen Engagement
• Networks of Interest (Wiki, BLOGs,) forumsfor
  collaboration gining momentum
• Information Accessibility
• Mashups Linking licensed day care data with GIS
  mapping
• Site Mapping and Robust Searches Leveraging
  public and private data
• Multi-media
• Streamlined Services One-stop shop for
  businesses, 24x7 help desk,
• Video on demand library in place for educators
• You-Tube presence for public service announcements

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Measuring Success

• Monitor and plan according to trends of usage
• Stay in tune with new opportunities and
  functionality in both the public and private
  sectors
• Usability is criticalforall visitors
• Request feedback, listenand respond

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Jim Hogan, hoganj_at_michigan.gov