Whilst it has had some additions and tweaks over the past few years, our last major re-working of Dorsetforyou.com was back in 2008. Clearly a lot has changed on the digital landscape since then. Far more users are choosing to interact with their council via digital channels, nearly half of our web visits are now from mobile devices (phones and tablets) and three quarters of internet users now have a social media profile.
This offers a great opportunity to engage with users on the move, but people will only choose to use our digital services if they are designed with their needs in mind. This requires a re-assessment of our requirements and a digital platform that fits the bill.
We were keen to explore whether it might be possible for us to re-use the code that the Government Digital Service (GDS) uses for www.gov.uk. This would have given us a mature platform with a wide range of content types and functionality that’s been through significant user testing at minimal expense.
Sound too good to be true? Sadly it was. When our digital partner FutureGov researched this option, re-using the code turned out to be significantly more difficult than hoped as the code had not been written with re-use in mind.
FutureGov therefore suggested that we could supplement portions of GDS code that are easily re-usable with new code, but this would be more expensive and there would be risks around timescales, cost and quality.
There are also a number of off-the-shelf options, both proprietary ones from vendors and open-source solutions.
We have formed a project team to firm up our requirements, engage with the market and then go through a compliant procurement process.
Whilst working through the above, we have been progressing a number of other things:
- Undertaking a web survey to baseline existing satisfaction with various elements of Dorsetforyou.com (that will allow us to track progress annually) and learn direct from customers which elements they think need improving
- Seeking out best practice from other councils that have been through a similar journey, such as Nottinghamshire County Council
- Promoting our existing digital services that aim to be more convenient for customers whilst reducing our costs and helping us to protect vital services
- Embedding the new design principles and content principles that we adopted late last year and progressing the new team roles
On the last point, we think that our new ways of working are more important than the choice of technical platform as they will ensure that all content and digital services will be designed based on user need rather than council need.
However, that is not to say that the choice of digital platform isn’t important. So whilst we are keen to make a timely decision to keep the project on track, we need to be thorough to ensure it’s the right one, providing all the functionality we need whilst keeping a lid on costs.
Aside from the fact that I think you are oversharing (a lot of the adminspeak is familiar to me from days in IT but mind numbingly boring to the general reader! … this is really a more specific request ie is there a chance that library ebooks can be made available on kindle? Many of us had have kindles as presents ie no choice and would like not to have to buy another ebook. I can see there might be problems, but any chance you’d look into it for the future?
Hi Stella. The issue is that Amazon do not allow customers to download library ebooks to a Kindle. Essentially, a Kindle is a device to ensure you buy ebooks from Amazon, so they don’t allow you to borrow titles for free from other sources.
In the US Amazon reached an agreement with Overdrive to allow the borrowing of ebooks, but there are no plans for this to happen in the UK. Customers who wish to see this change need to approach Amazon, as it is their policy that causes the problem.
and there are those of us who are cynical / conspiracy theorists and would not dream of giving “authority” access to our mobile devices/tablets. Indeed that is why I do not report potholes from a friendly app. Wouldn’t want to be on a list! Keep it on a desktop I say and if it is in a library or workplace even better 🙂 keep up the good work! keep your cookies 🙂
Hi Martin,
Interested to read your post and journey so far on a technology platform.
Can I ask have you established a preference between PHP, .Net or Java based platforms based on any in-house skills favoured within IT or development teams?
Are you looking at any of the .Net platforms such as http://www.episerver.com, http://www.sitecore.com, http://www.sitefinity.com and http://www.kentico.com? Our agency http://www.appius.com has experience of working across all of these and if it were of interest I would be happy to have a conversation about their merits.
Kind regards
Hi Simon, thanks for the comment.
Our preference, based on existing skills within the county council’s development team, is for a java based platform, but no firm decisions have yet been made.
Hi Martin – I read the article about Choosing the Right Technical Platform with great interest. One important aspect I believe is to ensure a level of integration with Unified Comms. I don’t know if the Council have yet deployed Unified Comms technology but it is the way forward with regards to holistic interaction with everybody.
Thanks Phil. One of our key requirements for the platform is for it to be based on open standards to allow it to integrate with a range of other applications.
All good thinking and thanks for explaining.
For those of us with direct internet access we will continue to use/cope/enjoy depending on our kit and Dorset software…
* A thought for the non-users; Dorset has (and will always have) a significant proportion of these people. If the new platform is able to take account of neighbours etc doing it on their behalf, that will be helpful. Perhaps even encouraging neighbourhood/church/residents/local groups to take a role?
* It is getting more and more difficult to help Employees of each Council relate to local people as individuals who live their lives in a close-knit area. If the website can help make/keep the connection we will all benefit.
Dear Mark,
My name is Cassie Booth and I work for Superfast Dorset, a partnership programme that is rolling out fibre broadband connections across the county. ( http://www.dorsetforyou.com/superfast )
We are also concerned about offline residents, estimated to be around 20% of people in Dorset. We are running a Digital Inclusion programme, managing a network of volunteers called Digital Champions who give up their time to help people in their local community to get online and make the most of all the internet has too offer. We have 50 Champions at present who have helped more than 450 individuals so far. We also have a web page where people can volunteer to become a Digital Champion or request help for themselves or someone they know. We list many of the locally run computer skills support groups so people can identify where they can go to get help. See http://www.dorsetforyou.com/broadband/get-help-going-online
If you are interested in the work we are doing you can contact our Digital Inclusion Officer, Teresa Barton. Email Teresa.Barton@poole.gov.uk or call 01202 262316 / 07973474177
Maintain access via PC, because although tablets and phones are useful in many ways, this type of content needs to be read by the maximum number of residents, including those who may not be moving on to mobile devices. I am thinking of those who might find reading and typing on a small device difficult.
Thanks Sylvia, I can assure you that we have no plans to stop supporting access via PCs. One of our key requirements is for the site to be responsive so it is easy to use across a range of devices.
Thanks for the updates, Martin. Do you think there’s any mileage in replacing the code behind the existing site piecemeal? I see gov.uk doing that for the HMRC side. It’s noticeable for the user when they suddenly find they’ve gone back to the “old look”, but it helps the transition and is a step improvement for the user overall. The same could also be done on the back-end; spot an area of functionality that exists and is widely used, see if its code can be plucked out, or else re-written, and switch over to it. New infrastructure for deployment, and site and service monitoring could be tested out alongside.
Thanks Ralph for the helpful suggestion. That could well be an approach that we will take. As you say, it would allow improvements to go live more quickly and enable us to test and get useful feedback before implementing fully.