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The government’s websites are letting down taxpayers by failing to provide them with enough information and support when they need help the most. Research from EzGov Europe, an online service designer, shows that portals run by the Labour party offer fewer options for people facing the most stressful life events. Carried out by Kable, the study proves that the state’s online resources are wanting when it comes to having a baby, placing a relative in care and dealing with a death. The relatively straightforward task of booking a hospital appointment, in contrast, was the only key life event out of seven which e-government cannot respond to any better. A host of taxpayer-funded sites were graded for their information accessibility, online functionality of key processes and links to internal or other government departments. While information accessibility was good overall, certain life events require interaction with the government, are complex in nature and have personal impact on the citizen or their families. Of the 39 transactions needed to deal with all seven life events, only 33% could be completed entirely online, with very few cross-department functions or linked-up data forms available. Reflecting on the results, James Walker, a director of EzGov, suggested the government should unveil an on-screen ‘to-do’ list to help fill the gaps in its Transformational government goals. In the style of the list on Business Link for starting a business, a life event e-gov responds to better than putting a relative in care, it would allow users to track and save their progress. Walker said the government cold improve the ‘customer’ experience of its websites by developing them alongside community support and trusted groups. He also recommended that e-gov tries to discover users’ circumstances, either automatically or by questions, and adapt to them to provide more relevant support. Developing personal micro sites for citizens’ interactions with the government, which could be configured by users, is another step the government should consider for the future. This emerging theme of personalising a site is not just good news for the public sector: the Sloan School of Management at the respected MIT is exploring tailored interfaces for their business potential. According to MIT’s latest technology review, the researchers think websites could sell 20% more products if they automatically adapted to each individual visitor’s style of thinking. They have already built a website for BT to sell broadband as a prototype to sites that can detects a user’s cognitive style within a matter of clicks and subsequently align itself without users realising. “Whilst major changes will not happen overnight,” Mr Walker said of the EzGov findings, “much can be done to incrementally improve online transformation.” Jun 18, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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