Website Redevelopment Results of online user survey

What we Heard

November 2019

www.stjohns.ca

Background and context for public engagement

• The City’s website is a key communication tool providing a variety of information to citizens, businesses and other stakeholders

• Current website launched in 2010

• City’s requirements for a website have changed and feedback gathered through public engagement opportunities supports the need to redevelop the website to improve it as a communication tool

• Redevelopment will take two years

• 2019 focus - gather information from the public and potential web developers to establish what the website needs to include and how it could function

• 2020 focus - procuring a company to work with City staff to develop the new site and then launch it

Public Engagement Process

‘Virtual' panel - call for interested volunteers (September 9-16, 2019)

Timeline Fall 2019 - late 2020.

Panel members will be emailed questions and sample pages, and eventually will be provided access to the test site, before it goes live.

Online engagement – public survey open Aug. 26 – Sept. 20, 2019 on

engagestjohns.ca and promoted through various channels

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Promotion of survey and Virtual Panel

City website news article on

September 9 –survey open and

call for virtual panel

Two e-mail newsletters

delivered through engagestjohns.ca to

2,125 registered participants for each newsletter: August

29 and September 7

City’s social media sites - 3 posts

between September 7 and 13

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Survey Methodology

• Online survey via Survey Monkey, Aug 26 - Sept 20, 2019

• 223 responses collected (82% completion rate)

• Results are not statistically significant and should not be relied upon as being indicative of the population in general.

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Visits to the City of St. John’s website in the past 12 months:• 31% visited once a week - several times a week

• 23% visited several times per month

• 41% visited less than once per month/once a month

• 5 % never visited or can’t recall/not sure

Reasons for not visiting site:

• “Did not know of it”

• “No need/doesn’t concern me”

• “Not user friendly”

• “Do not go to find information that I don't know exists”

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• Humane services

• Go Bus

• Reports

• By-laws

• Street cleaning

• Publications

• Contact names for Departments/Council

• Cruise ship arrival schedule

• Who is on committees and when they

meet

• Built Heritage

• Information on water/wastewater

Engagement

Respondents also indicated they had accessed the following other types of information:

#1 #2 #3 #4 #55 most frequent based on weighted average

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Information not found:(Items mentioned only one time can be found in Appendix 1)

Most frequent responses, in order of frequency:

• Building/development/permits– applications, fees, general information, heritage guidelines

• Events– not a broad enough range of listings, some dates incorrect or missing information

• Recreation - swimming schedules, yoga sessions

• Council agendas and minutes– and items coming from meeting e.g. permits, also items are not searchable

• Traffic/parking– downtown parking information including location of wheelchair accessible spaces, hours for metered parking, how to report malfunctioning traffic signals, how to appeal a parking ticket as well as reason why ticket was given

• Forms– including permits, forms for free swims for persons with Long Term Disability

• 311/self-service - services difficult to maneuver/use, Frequently Asked Questions would be helpful, hard to reach 311 online without App

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Other information

people wanted to

access: (single mentions Appendix 2)

• Contact information – for City staff, Departments, Council, including hours when Councillors are available

• Concerns related to accessibility/design – increase text size, bright layout design, add subtitles/cc to videos

• Events – more events and details

• Transparency – more information available online, budget information for programs, less ATIPPA

• Development – searchable database of all items related to a development – i.e. proposals, public meetings, Council minutes, next steps etc. all in one place; database of permits; information/status of ongoing development projects

• Forms/applications – online forms, including permits

• Snow clearing – real time snowplows, sign-up for snow-clearing only for specific streets rather than all streets

• Open data – more City data online, e.g. statistics, GIS maps, more publications

• Waste/recycling – including electronic disposal

• Visual – visuals of what’s happening in my area – city and non-city development, neighbourhood-based information; everything should be more visual: maps, infographics, diagrams. Parks are listed rather than mapped.

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E-updates are the most used of the listed online services

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

I can findthe

informationI am looking

for.

Theinformationon the site isup-to-date

andaccurate.

Theinformationon the site ispresented ina clear and

concisemanner.

Theinformation

is easy tofind.

I use theQuick Linksfeature to

findinformation.

The site iswell

organized

The searchfunction onthe site ishelpful.

The site iseasy to

navigate.

Thetype/print is

easy toread.

The site isvisually

appealing.

Strongly disagree or disagree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly agree or agree Not sure

User experience (Additional comments Appendix 3)

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Most-liked features

Most frequently identified ‘likes’ were:• Easy to use/navigability/design

• All City information in one place

• Its existence

• Quick links and tabs

Specific sections/information liked: • Garbage and recycling, schedules and search function

• Snow clearing and Where’s my plow?

• Notifications, news, email alerts

• Recreation including swim schedules, on-line registration

• Agendas, minutes, Council information

• 311 (instead of calling)

• Calendar of events

• Visitor information, cruise ship schedule

• Living in St. John’s

• Assessment/Parking/By-laws/Street cleaning

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Least-liked features

The most frequently identified “dislikes” were:

• Navigation/finding information/site organization – hard to find information, not intuitive, hard to navigate, too many clicks/pages, organization not user friendly, minutes and agendas not searchable

• Design/look/visual elements – design of front page, outdated design and menus, does not reflect personality/branding of St. John’s, multiple scrolling screens on homepage, needs cleaner design, more modern style, small print difficult to read/font size, cluttered homepage, not a bright/uplifting colour, not mobile friendly, layout is different on homepage and the landing page for the top titles then for sub-pages (need consistent layout)

• Too much information – too many words, too much on one page, homepage presents too much information, at times things are overexplained, too much detail

• Search function – search not effective, returns unrelated pages, search for development materials is poor

(single mentions Appendix 4)

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Website as reliable source of information?

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Which features, if added, would most improve the website (single mentions Appendix 5)

• Navigation/finding information/site organization – simplify menus, fewer clicks, more user-friendly, better site map

• Design/look/visual elements – brighter layout, accessible design, less clutter, mobile responsive, bigger font, less busy homepage

• Search function – more effective search, faster

• Online accounts – ability to submit forms/applications online, online payments

• Council – more and better Council information – agendas posted earlier, decisions of Council posted after meetings, live feed and archived meetings, searchable agendas

• Open data- make more information available, more publications

• Maps/visuals – road closure maps, mapping businesses/parks/trails etc., interactive maps

• None – ok as is, don’t waste money

• Neighbourhood info – neighbourhood/ward-based info, easier to engage

• Contacts – for departments, staff

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(more comments and

suggestions Appendix 6)

Other comments or suggestions

• Make it more interactive, easier to navigate, more appealing, user friendly, just needs to be cleaned up

• Thank you for taking on this initiative! An updated website will be a big improvement and will be a great first impression for visitors and residents alike.

• The City of St. John's doesn't need a new website. Put the money towards the new wastewater treatment plant.

• Accessibility should take precedents [sic] over beauty.

• Audit and label/relabel/organize policy-related documents and fill in gaps.

• Remove outdated information

• Post contact information

• ...change for change's sake is not good. For example...if the colours change, and green is no longer the City colour, this will impact stationary and City trucks etc.

• Don’t lose the information density.

• Try to consolidate services/notices where possible (311, CurbIt, RECConnect, etc.).

• I have great appreciation for city staff. They are always helpful when I reach out to them or request information directly. Please consider my feedback, as I use city's website regularly. The new technology that is being used to house agendas is bulky. It seems to take a while for both my laptop and Ipad to load documents from the PDF or the HTML version.

• Sometimes it looks like the information is copied and pasted and not reviewed…

• Keep up the good work! I also wouldn't try to put less information on the website – it’s all needed. Keep it central, don't try to spin off different departments into different websites. That makes it too confusing when the average user doesn't know intuitively that the department that mows the lawn isn't the same one that collects the garbage (or maybe it isn’t, I don't know).

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Who completed the survey?

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Summary of key points

• Respondents experienced problems navigating the site and finding information

• Design and visual elements must be improved to address appeal, clutter, accessibility, and use on a variety of platforms

• The search function is viewed as ineffective

• Some key content areas require a redo as respondents could not find information

• Respondents want to find information easily and have it located in one place

• Some concerns were expressed about how up-to-date certain information is

• Respondents indicated the home page is busy

• Respondents generally trusted the content on the site

• Some respondents expressed a concern that there was too much detail on the site while others suggested the detail was important

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Next Steps

Share results of survey with project team and share back with public

Review results from Request for Information (RFI) process

Assemble Virtual Panel

Develop Request For Proposals based on survey and RFI feedback

Work with internal stakeholders to build content

Test and review new site

Launch new site (late 2020)

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AppendicesAdditional feedback

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Appendix 1

Information notfound - single mentions (continued from page 9)

Other (single mentions)• Landscape standards regulations• Prime consultant agreements• Regulations and policies(by-laws) as they

pertain to owning a property e.g., use of fireworks; when can I water my lawn

• Public meetings• Go Bus report; statistics and ridership• Garbage and recycling• Tender, construction project• How to report animal neglect• Accessible places• Historical or statistical information - specifically

the population size, finding the archives pages• Property tax outstanding balance• Older reports• Search function not useful• Subsidy for the Convention Center in each

year separate from Mile one• News, events, releases often in different

places

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Appendix 2Other information people wanted to access – single mentions

(continued from page 10)

Other (single mentions):

• A live conversation pop up. A lot of information has to be housed on the site and it may be hard for people to find things. Why not have a live pop up 'how can I help you? / Did you find what you're looking for?' This may be able to be handled by folks at 311

• Promote day camps/programs with vacancy

• Openly promote committee vacancies

• Committee of the Whole and Council meetings live streamed on the website and/or archived both audio and visual

• Information about the francophone community and services in French

• Search for property owner

• Recreation Reconnect more visible

• Accessible businesses

• Employment notices

• Cruise ship schedules

• Water information

• General history, population information

• City’s art collection

• Assessed property values

• Housing inspections (as the province puts restaurant inspections online, it would be good for people to know about potential living spaces)

• Links to local people and content such as people who are relevant and current in local fashion, entertainment etc.

• Some of the longer documents should be more easily searchable or have more links

• A way to identify activity in my neighbourhood, that is business permit requests and building permits, etc.

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Appendix 3User experience - additional comments(continued from page 12)

Comments:

• Finding information is a challenge – too many pages/steps/clicks, site structure a mess

• Design – font size small, front page too cluttered, not easy to read, not visually appealing, quick links hidden, quick links too much scrolling, font should be black on white or follow WAG 2.0 and be accessible to visually impaired, more visual –maps, graphics, dated look, cluttered, too many nesting menus makes it hard to determine where you are

• Search function – does not work well, returns too many unrelated pages, google search is better, search for development related info not effective

• Not up-to-date – some information is not current, info should be time stamped, links broken for a long time

• Too much information – too much info especially on homepage

Other (single mentions):

• Access St John’s 311 inquiry. No category that suited my inquiry. It was regarding a special event

• Current website is fine. Why does it need to be visually appealing?

• Street cleaning schedule is dated for after midnight. But this is not the date that people park their cars for the night. It adds a layer of confusion that isn't necessary

• Reconnect is the worst; Its slow, clunky, pop-up menus cover the menus underneath and won’t disappear

• Include department/staff contact information

• Searching information in Council minutes is difficult

• Create separate email list for cruise ship

• Enable snow clearing and street cleaning emails for a specific street only

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Appendix 4Least liked features-single mentions (continued from page 14)

• Other (single mentions):

• Reconnect not visible on main page

• Plain text on event listings

• Snow clearing/street cleaning use dates that mean more to the crews than to people who are using the schedules.

• Applying for spaces in a recreation program via email - no confirmation received, approved or rejected

• When filling in information on your address you have to type the address exactly instead of having it auto correct

• I get too many emails from the City (e-updates). A daily digest email would be preferable

• Contact directory for ALL staff including phone/email

• Hard to find up-to-date information on building developments

• Long lead time for adding events to Calendar. Small non-profits might not have details finalized until a week before meaning the calendar is repetitive and makes the City look duller than it is.

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Appendix 5Features to most improve the site - single mentions (continued from page 17)

• More information in French

• Make recreation catalogue and registration more visible on the main page

• https://seeclickfix.com/ This is a 311 app that brings government and communities together to better communicate about non-emergency issues. Brings public advisory information into the pocket of citizens and allows them to have a hands-on role in keeping the city running

• Metrobus other transportation notices, fares

• Section for Tenants and Landlords

• Have a chat function

• Do not have a chat function or comments section

• Bike lanes

• List of businesses in the city

• Archives page

• Database for development applications - all information in one place e.g. proposals, Land Use Agreements, renderings, etc.

• Street cleaning/clearing alerts for particular roads

• Make it easier for citizens to learn who is responsible (staff and councillors) for key decisions and what the processes for citizen input are

• Twitter feed on homepage

• By-laws need to be more visible 27

Appendix 6More comments or suggestions: (continued from page 18)

Comments about the website redevelopment process:

• I was looking at the timeline and saw that you are planning to form a working group between Information Services and Communications dept. for the redevelopment and have outside parties review or test the website as it's being developed. I think that that is a mistake. You should contract outside people to sit down in those brainstorming sessions early on to bring in new ideas, skill sets and perspectives BEFORE the website ideas are sent to the developers. It's often hard to see the whole scope of a project or issue as big as the website when you are on the inside. You need to have designers and developers who have been working in the private sector weigh in on the best practices for web design/layout/ UI and brainstorm WITH city staff who know the ins and outs of what the city needs. You need face-to-face group discussions merging city staff, general public and professional designers/developers - not just one-sided surveys or after-the-fact website beta testing commentary.

• Don’t reinvent the wheel, look to other provinces

• Citizen group should be part of test group for redevelopment of site

• Do lots of testing before you build anything

Comments about Apps:

• “The garbage app was great. Maybe add specific street cleaning/clearing notifications to that.

• An app for find my plow. An app showing construction and road closures like 511 NL

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To stay up to date on this project, visit the project page at engagestjohns.ca

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