In our continuing work with FutureGov, a digital and design company which specialises in creating human-centred technology for the public sector, we’re getting ever closer to designing a new digital platform for dorsetforyou.com.
The past few weeks have focused on engaging internally with staff and councillors, and externally with our customers.
We recently ran some lunchtime learning sessions in Christchurch and Dorchester which were attended by over 100 people. The sessions aimed to share our learning and best practice with staff and councillors. The following sessions in Christchurch were filmed and can be viewed on YouTube:
In order to really understand what Dorset wants out of a council website, we have been talking to customers in libraries and our council offices. The next step was to do some user testing. We contacted residents subscribed to our e-newsletter service and had over 250 people volunteer to be testers. If you’d like to be a user tester in the future please sign up here.
We selected nine participants, who in sessions of three completed some tasks on the existing website, and a prototype website. We asked them to pay council tax in their area, and look at other sections such as moving home. It was great to hear a range of different opinions. Some liked aspects of the existing site, but the majority liked the look of the test site best. It is vital that we involve customers at this early stage, so that we can really understand their needs.
General themes from the user testing included:
- A desire for simple, easy to use design
- A dislike of jargon and complicated wording
- A pride in Dorset, and ensuring a new website reflects the beautiful surroundings
- A need for a quick, modern website that is clutter free
Lots of notes to write up, and lots of excellent feedback that will contribute to the design of the new website.
The next steps? FutureGov are firming up on their recommendations for the new dorsetforyou.com digital platform and presenting these to the project board on the 11 September.
