Sapient

Outputs from context research workshop

Office of the e-Envoy

August 2001

This document highlights some of the key outputs from a half-day workshop we conducted with Liz Sands and Dan Harrison on 13 August following context research. Through the context research and in the workshop we were able to identify key areas to investigate during fieldwork over the next week. These key areas appear at the end of this document.

Contents
5 6 9 Our approach to the problem Developing the close-in vision Initial segmentations initial mapping of services initial mapping of transaction characteristics

13 Shaping the fieldwork 15 Appendix: Review of peer government sites

Our approach to the problem

The objectives of the current phase of context research and fieldwork are to: identify services or packages of services, including private sector that citizens would wish to transact through ukonline identify and describe the groups of citizens who would be most likely to value these transactions.

In the second phase of work we will conduct in-depth research within peoples homes to validate the selection of these services, as well as understand how to deliver them online, and develop the ukonline environment as a whole. We approached the problem and structured our context research by considering that the services we wish to identify sit at the intersec tion of three key domains: online transactions in general; government transactions; non-government (private sector transactions).

We explored online transactions in general by identifying, from a users perspective, the key characteristics of successful sites offering online transactional functionality. We explored government transactions by conducting secondary research focusing on citizens interactions with government and their attitudes to government. We explored the intersection itself by conducting interviews with key stakeholders within the Office of the e-Envoy. These interviews focused on how government should be delivering services to citizens and on the relationship with the private sector. We also reviewed competitive sites from the point of view of user experience (see appendix). During the field research we will build on the findings from context research to achieve a close-up understanding of how citizens experience and feel about interacting with government, and how these interactions fit into their everyday lives. This knowledge will be key to identifying services at the intersection of the three domains.

Sapient | 2001

Office of the e-Envoy | Confidential

Developing the close-in vision for ukonline

Government services can be delivered electronically either directly by government, or through the private sector. In our interviews with stakeholders we discerned a vision for delivering government services seamlessly and almost invisibly through the private and voluntary sectors. This approach is strongly supported by the September 2000 PIU report. "There is a strong case for portal sites that provide a focused service for one group (such as students) by packaging government services for them. This will benefit service users, not only in the incentives it provides for improvement but also in the content of the sites." When citizens visit these focused service sites (which we term focused interest) they may not be aware that they have a need to interact with government at all it is not the reason for the visit.

ukonline, however, is a general government site rather than a focused interest site and it is likely that citizens will visit it when they have a specific purpose for interacting with government (whether or not government as an entity is something they are particularly conscious of). They may not know what service it is that they need, but they do have a need to be met, or a realisation that they have to transact with government in some way. The opportunity for ukonline is to complement focused interest sites rather than compete with them to provide a first port of call for citizens with a shapeless problem. How this should be done will be a focus of research going forward mainly in phase 2.

The diagram below illustrates three ways in which government could interact with citizens online. The current ukonline site with its life episodes structure is closer to the focused interest model than the specific purpose model, and yet as we have seen citizens would be unlikely to visit ukonline with a focused interest in mind. Moving forward in phase 2 we will explore the most compelling way to offer generalised access to government services. This could be as a form of directory of services suggested by the specific purpose model or more of a personalised portal suggested by the my government model.

Sapient | 2001

Office of the e-Envoy| Confidential

Initial segmentations

We have identified three categories that broadly define the types of interactions citizens have with government. We have also identified two citizen types based on the degree of dependence a person has on government. Taken together, these definitions (see below) provide an initial user segmentation that helps structure our fieldwork. We recognise that these definitions narrowly focus on citizen government interactions, and that our fieldwork will help us validate and build on these definitions. One of the main purposes of our in-depth fieldwork in phase 2 will be to provide a richer description of people based not only on experiences with and attitudes about government but also on an understanding of the broader context of their everyday lives.
Types of interaction with government I have to In this category citizens are breaking the law if they do not transact with government. Examples of I have to interactions include registering births, deaths and marriages, and paying taxes. I need to This category covers interactions that, while not compulsory, are necessary for a person to undertake because the circumstances require it. Examples include claiming benefits and reporting a crime. I want to This category refers to interactions where people are not obligated to and have no need to transact with government but choose to do so. Examples include voting, making complaints, and seeking information (e.g. children who want to learn about how the government works). Types of citizens One critical axis for thinking about people in terms of how they interact with government relates to their degree of dependence on government. Lifestage and socio-economic class are major factors that determine where someone may lie on this scale.

The reason for focusing on this axis (as opposed to lifestage or socioeconomic class) is that degree of dependence directly drives the behaviours and interactions with government. During our fieldwork these two classifications will provide the basis for examining citizen attitudes and interactions with government.

Sapient | 2001

Office of the e-Envoy | Confidential

Initial mapping of services to citizen experience One of the central hypotheses for our research is that users might define good service differently. In discussing the difference between more self-sufficient citizens versus those more dependent on government we began to think about the distinction between good service as speed, or good service as guidance or advice. This distinction placed against high or low personal interaction creates a way to visualise the range of services.

Mapping services to citizen experience:

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Office of the e-Envoy| Confidential

Initial citizen definitions

Initial mapping of online transaction characteristics to citizen experience Drawing on our context research analysis of the characteristics of online transactions, we used the same matrix to chart the reasons for online transactions, and began to define what type of online functionality might meet certain needs. Our fieldwork will inform and refine this way of mapping services. What is valuable about this step is that it gives us a way to look at the criteria for successful online transactions against good candidates for target services. In our phase 1 field research we will focus on the bottom-right quadrant. Mapping online transaction characteristics to citizen experience:

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Office of the e-Envoy| Confidential

Shaping the fieldwork

Shaping the fieldwork

Pulling all the strands together, we discussed the high-level categories of questions that we will ask during phase 1 field research, and the priority of each category. At the conclusion of the workshop we established the following grouping and prioritisation for areas to investigate. This prioritisation will help us write a discussion guide for interviewers to use during interviews. (Note: these are not the questions we will ask. Questions will be designed to get at this information in the best way.)
Changes will be made to the order and the selection of questions based on the amount of time we have with the participants. (A tenor fifteen-minute intercept interview may not be long enough t o cover all of the areas below in sufficient depth, so we may need to edit on the basis of how we prioritised.) Demographic information (this will include information about Internet access and online experience) When, why and how people interact with government (this section will start with what they are doing on this day at this location) What these interactions are like What sorts of information they give to the government, and what they would be reluctant to give How people currently combine services and transactions in their everyday lives (this will get at connections and combinations people are already making) Perceptions of partnerships between government and the private sector Range of government interactions Their relationship with locations where they interact with government Their awareness of whats available at this location Major pain points for people Perceptions of government strengths and weaknesses in terms of providing services Notions of good and bad service, in general

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Office of the e-Envoy | Confidential

Appendix

Appendix: Review of peer government sites

We approached the review of peer government sites from the perspective of underlying organisational structure and potential usage of government service and information sites. This combination of criteria provides a top level analysis for what constitutes a compelling user experience.
Government sites reviewed: Ireland: http://www.gov.ie/default.asp New Zealand: http://www.govt.nz/ Australia: http://www.govonline.gov.au http://www.fed.gov.au/ United Kingdom: http://www.ukonline.gov.uk Singapore: http://www.gov.sg/ Hong Kong: http://www.esd.gov.hk/ Criteria for assessing sites: What services are offered on the site? To what extent is there provision for online interaction and transaction within each service provision? How are the services grouped and offered to the user? How are the services packaged and what value is added to the service by doing this? How does this presentation of transactional services affect the overall user experience of the site; is it a compelling user experience? Is there a publicprivate partnership? If so how does this work?

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Office of the e-Envoy | Confidential

Summary of sites Top line characteristics: High levels of interaction and transaction Good example sites: Singapore, Hong Kong Characteristics: Upfront clarity about the breadth and requirements of the transaction; this means that the user is much more likely to complete the transaction embarked on. Very good use of simple and effective design style with good application of visual coding designed to signal what transactions are possible. User transaction and authentication is made simple and easy and facilitated by the use of e-certificates. Recommendations: Build users trust through the initial implementation of simple and easy transactions. Facilitate users transactions to make them quicker and easier, e.g. secure e-certificates.

Low transparency of government structure and departments as opposed to a high transparency of government structure. Organisational paradigms ranged from structural [echoing government departments and structures], grouping of like services and thematics, e.g. life events. Good example sites: ukonline, Singapore, Hong Kong Characteristics: Multiple ways into the same information and services so that if users dont identify with a particular information structure, they can access through other meaningful information organisation. The life events organisational paradigm seems to be a very popular one throughout the sites investigated, however the most successful sites were the ones that provided multiple points of access to the same type of information. This form of access eases the pressure on the life events paradigm particularly where a user may not identify with a life event, which leads to a necessary piece of information/transaction. These sites tended towards structuring the online presence by a mixture of citizen perception and government structure. Recommendations: Structure the online experience around peoples meaningful offline experiences Allow for flexibility in how the online experience is structured around meaningful offline experiences: allow users multiple means of accessing information.

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Office of the e-Envoy| Confidential

Representation of government online and high degree of citizen focus: The provision of services and information is shaped within and around a portal concept rather than the simple presentation of government services and information online [which often equates to organising services around government structure or a basic grouping of like services]. A high degree of citizen focus is reflected in the following: intuitive organisation of information and services; language that is familiar to citizens [avoiding government jargon]; consistent look and feel so that users are clear where and how they are interacting with government. Good example sites: ukonline, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong Characteristics: Users understanding of offline is translated into online experiences. Users are not required to understand the structure or organisation of government in order to interact with the information and services that they need. However, there is a drawback of the Singapore and ukonline sites in particular [though also demonstrated by many other sites for example Ireland, Australia]. The portal front end gives way to a disjointed collection of government related sites that leave the user unclear as to who they are engaging with and what relationship they have to government [i.e. are the sites intermediaries or private partnered sites?]. This has implications for trust and how freely users will choose to be with sensitive information.

The sites offer a suite of services that appear to cater to the needs of the citizen. Recommendations: Build an easy-to-use suite of services that is flexible, appropriate and capable of learning from users interactions and transactions. The effective publicprivate partnership between government and third parties facilitates: government responsiveness to the users users transactional capability. Good example sites: Singapore, Hong Kong Comments: In some cases there is evidence of heavy commercialism in the form of advertising which may detract from the benefit of the publicprivate partnership; a careful balance should be found. The benefit of the publicprivate partnership should be rooted in the facilitation of government responsiveness to citizens. Recommendations: Government should seek partnerships with organisations that will provide successful and responsive service provision for citizens.

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Office of the e-Envoy| Confidential