Belgium.be - The new Belgian government portal, a catalyst for more user-centric eGovernment - Web Scene Expo 2008

Belgium.beThe new Belgian government portal — A catalyst for more user centric eGovernment?

Erik [email protected]

+32 475 567890

Track 1

WebSceneExpo - 03 June 2008Affligem, Belgium

©2008 Internet Architects

mailto:[email protected]


Erik Verdeyenco-founder, Internet Architects

lead architect &program manager for

Belgium.be


The essence of web projects?


Technology!


ContentTechnology

procedures

look & feel

hostingservers

Structure

budgets

CMS

The essence of web projects?

sharing


Nope


Pop quiz!


Who knows Zune?


Who knows iPod?


Zune is a great product


+150 million

And yet…

Zune iPod

2

0

4

6

8

0

Million

Cumulativesales figures


It’s the experience that matters!


Total user experience

drool

craveshare

buyunpack

hookup


Source: Louis Rosenfeld 2002

Content

Context

Users

UX

User Experience (UX)


Source: Peter Morville, 2004

User Experience is more than usability


Pop quiz!


How many governments do we have in Belgium?


Answer A: 4

Answer B: 5

Answer C: 6

Answer D: 7

How many governments in Belgium


Seriously now:Some more questions

Everyday questions,from people like you and me


Who can help me finding a job?

What will be my pension?

What benefits are there to buying a “green” car?

What are the inheritance tax tariffs?

Am I entitled to heating fuel aid cheques?

What are the dates for prepaying taxes?

What is the regulation on student appartments?


Why should you have to know to whom to ask your question?


OK, but hey, that’s the way of the web.

And there is always Google…


Good governance

A goverment needs to inform and grant access to information and

services to everyone without barriers

And it needs to be in the director’s seat


The web is the center of the communication universe


Core values for communication

•Consistent communication online & offline

•User centric communication

•Accessible for all surfers (& search engines)

•Quality information

•Cooperation between government levels and bodies


U

SER CENTRIC COMMUNICATION

CONTEXT

SCOPE

CONTENT

Strategy for the portal site

U

SER CENTRIC COMMUNICATION

CONTEXT

SCOPE

CONTENT

•Point of reference

•Categorization by themes

•A portal team

•A blanket on top of all info: broad but not deep (Pareto is our friend)

•Is no replacement for other channels, but complementary

•Up to date info on decided policy

•Quality > quantity

Federal Government sites

Search enginesExternal sitesBookmarks…

CampaignsOffline comm.Call centers…

Search all gov sites

New portal: user centric and

interlinking with public service

sites

SEO, SEMBetter integration w/ other channels

Better positioningReference pointTop of mind with

the user

search.belgium.be

www.belgium.be

http://www.belgium.be

http://www.belgium.be


What belgium.be is not

•A repository of all info

•A solution for all gov communication

•A site for domain experts

•…


Users want info and services

29

High quality

Ease of Use

Fast download

Frequent updates

Incentives

Favorite brands

Games

High-end

Buying ability

Discussion forums

Customizable

Others

20 40 60 80 100

Source : Forrester

What users want!

%


What about web 2.0?


RSS

wikis

tagging

microformats

rating

APIs

forum

blogs

podcasts

What about web 2.0?

syndication

rich internet applications

Mashups

More on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2


Online things happen in a certain way

•Information (maturing)

•Interaction

•Transactions

Each stage is a prerequisite for the next


There it is again: User Experience

It’s not about the usability of one site, one application.

It’s about the user experience when dealing with your government

as a whole(and citizens & companies have to, no

choice there)


So first things first: walk before you run

•helpful

•usable

•reliable

•findable

•accessible

High quality content

Ease of Use

Fast download

Frequent updates

Incentives

Favorite brands

Games

High-end technology

Buying ability

Discussion forums

Customisable content

Others

20% 40% 60% 80% 100% %

Focus on building and maintaining gov site that are:


And some 2.0 is already there (or in the pipeline)

•RSS

•Microformats

•Rating

•…

And all public services already have an incredible amount of info and apps

online!


Where could it go from here?

•Integration of communication channels: phone, face, web

•Integration of those channels cross government

•Interaction: 2 ways

•Guidelines for harmonizing the user experience (≠ same look & feel)

•Doing the same for applications


Where could it go from here?

•Single sign-on

•Data sharing

•Standards for building user interfaces, harmonizing the UX

•Integration of communication

•…

It’s happening, but it takes time


Web 2.0 in government

It’s a conversation alright - but not as you know it

•Rating info

•Online case management

•Chatting (?)

•Suggestions for policy improvements

•Provide API’s & enable mashups


On a final note:

•Complicated rules and legislation is a pain for civil servants…

•… and it’s hell for User Experience designers

Law & policy makers should be made aware of the impact of “bad design”


Conclusion

•Launch last week: 1st step in new federal government approach

•Other departments are following (guidelines, eClasses, coaching)

•Further steps:

•optimization & expansion of current information cloud

•Adding interaction & transactions

Thank you!

More info: see us at our booth

WebSceneExpo - 03 June 2008Affligem, Belgium

Erik Verdeyen, co-founder, Internet [email protected]

+32 475 567890


