Speculators are bracing themselves for a technology driven government under the Obama administration once the newly elected President takes over the White House next year (Obama to preside over White House 2.0, 2008)
Since his election campaign strategy relied much on the web such as Facebook, Youtube-many believe Obama would use the Internet and its vast database and community to mobilise advocacy. If so, President Obama could also improve government websites to fulfill the needs of the people.
Obama's website, www.barackobama.com
A study done by marketing consulting firm Accenture, shows that treating citizens as if they were customers has helped government sites around the world become more ‘sophisticated’ (Kane, 2002). The report indicates that governments have a tendency to treat citizens and businesses like customers and to employ customer relations management theories when delivering public services.
These governments have earned the honorary by exercising innovative Web practices on their portals. For example, a Canadian website allows citizens to register for unemployment insurance online. Sites in the United States, Australia, Norway and Japan let workers create and submit resumes and allow employers to search for candidates.
The initiative taken by the government to ease administration process is commendable. Then again, these websites should also be user friendly and accessible. To design a ‘good’ website, Nielsen (2005) suggests visualising the ‘total user experience’ before designing websites. Common mistake web designers make is too focus too much on the layout of the website yet neglect user interface (Nielsen, 2005).
Weber (1998) states that audience, purpose and context must be determined before designing a website. Besides that, it is important to make sure that navigation and hyperlinks work (Weber, 1998). The proper use of images must not be undermined too because irrelevant images may turn readers off. Schriver (1997) suggests two important characteristics of prose and graphics combinations: 1. the quality of the text and design. 2. the time and space between the prose and graphics.
Reference List
Kane, M. 2002, Study: government sites 'sophisticated', CNet News, Business Tech, viewed 9th November 2008, http://news.cnet.com/Study-Government-sites-sophisticated/2100-1017_3-889261.html?tag=mncol
Obama to preside over White House 2.0 2008, The Star Online, November 10, viewed 10th November 2008, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/10/uselection08/2503875&sec=uselection08
Weber, J.H. 1998, Editing web sites, Techinica Editors Eyrie, viewed 30th October 2008, http://www.jeanweber.com/newsite/?page_id=62#prob
Nielsen, J. 2008, Aspects of Design Quality, useit.com, viewed 30th October 2008, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/quality-correlations.html
No comments:
Post a Comment