Kane Exec Sum

7/31/2019 Kane Exec Sum

1/17

Office of the e-Envoy

August 2001

Sapient Outputs from context research workshop


2/17

This document highlights some of the key outputs from a half-day workshop we co n d uc te d

with Liz Sands and Dan Harrison on 13 August fo l lowing co n text res e a rch. Through the co n-

text re s e a rch and in the workshop we we re able to identify key areas to inve st i g a te during

f i e l d work over the next week. These key areas appear at the end of this document.


3/17

Our approach to the problem

Developing the close-in vision

Initial segmentations

initial mapping of services

initial mapping of transaction

characteristics

Shaping the fieldwork

Appendix: Review of peer

government sites

5

6

9

13

15

Contents


4/17


5/17

Sapient | 2001 5

Our approach to the problem

Office of the e-Envoy | Confidential

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 thesetransactions.

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; govern-

ment transactions; non-govern-

ment (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 transac-

tions by conducting secondary

research focusing on citizens inter-

actions 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 competi-

tive 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 interact-

ing 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.


6/17

Developing the close-in vision for ukonline

Sapient | 2001 Office of the e-Envoy| Confidential6

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 theSeptember 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 focusedinterest) 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 interact-

ing 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. Movingforward 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.


7/17


8/17


9/17

Sapient | 2001 9

Initial segmentations

We have identified three ca tegories that bro a d ly define the types of interactions citizens have

with government. We have also identified two citizen types based on the degree of depend-

e n ce a person has on government. Ta ken together, these definitions (see below) provide an

initial user segmentation that helps st r u c t u re our fieldwork. We re cognise that these

definitions narrow ly focus on citizen g overnment inte ractions, and that our fieldwork will

help us va l i d a te and build on these definitions. One of the main purposes of our in-depth

f i e l d work in phase 2 will be to provide a richer description of people based not only on

ex p eri e n ces with and attitudes about government but also on an understanding of the bro a d-

er co n text of their everyday lives.


Types of interaction

with government

I have to

In this category citizens are break-

ing the law if they do not transact

with government. Examples of I

have to interactions include regis-

tering births, deaths and mar-

riages, and paying taxes.

I need to

This category covers interactions

that, while not compulsory, are

necessary for a person to under-

take because the circumstances

require it. Examples include claim-

ing benefits and reporting a crime.

I want to

This category refers to interactions

where people are not obligated toand have no need to transact with

government but choose to do so.

Examples include voting, making

complaints, and seeking informa-

tion (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 govern-

ment. Lifestage and socio-econom-

ic 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 socio-

economic class) is that degree of

dependence directly drives the

behaviours and interactions withgovernment.

During our fieldwork these two

classifications will provide the basis

for examining citizen attitudes and

interactions with government.


10/17


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 citi-

zens 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:


11/17

Sapient | 2001 11 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 func-

tionality 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 bot-

tom-right quadrant.

Mapping online transaction characteristics to citizen experience:


12/17


13/17

Sapient | 2001 13



Pulling all the st rands together, we discussed the high-level ca tegories of questions that we

will ask during phase 1 field re s e a rch, and the priority of each ca te g o r y.

At the conclusion of the workshop we established the fo l lowing grouping and prioritisation

for areas to inve sti g ate. This prioritisation will help us write a discussion guide for inte r v i ew-

e rs to use during inte r v i ews. (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 ten-

or fifteen-minute intercept inter-

view may not be long enough to

cover all of the areas below in suffi-

cient 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


14/17


15/17

Sapient | 2001 15

Appendix: Review of peer government sites

Appendix

We approached the rev i ew of peer government sites from the persp e c t i ve of underlyi n g

o rganisational st r u c tu re and potential usage of government service and information site s .

This combination of criteria provides a top level analysis for what co n st i t u tes a co mp e l l i n g

user ex p e r i en ce .


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?


16/17


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 codingdesigned to signal what transac-

tions are possible.

User transaction and authenti-

cation 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 govern-

ment departments and structures],

grouping of like services and the-

matics, 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 othermeaningful 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.


17/17

Sapient | 2001 17

Representation of government

online and high degree of citizen

focus:

The provision of services and infor-

mation 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 struc-

ture 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 gov-

ernment 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 adisjointed collection of govern-

ment related sites that leave the

user unclear as to who they are

engaging with and what relation-

ship 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 learn-

ing 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 public-

private partnership; a careful bal-

ance 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.

Office of the e-Envoy| Confidential

Kane Exec Sum

Documents

Transcript of Kane Exec Sum