The government has been shut down for over a week , as haveplenty of federally funded websites . Which makes me appreciate a good civil website even more . I was able to find out seven city sites that will make you feel good about government again . Maybe .
What you in all likelihood think about municipal websites still likely hold true , however , which is that , for the most part : THEY ARE NOT VERY GOOD . To examine the issues at hand , let ’s take the web site ofFayetteville , North Carolina , a city we take completely at random :
I do n’t mean to pick on Fayetteville in any way . This is how 95 percent of all civic site see . Cities compile all the information you could possibly necessitate for every moment of your full life-time spent in say city , cram all of that information into a tiny , narrow , puzzling space , then slap some stock photo , a city crest , and a badly - rendered logotype across the top . In its attempt to be everything , the internet site fail miserably at being anything . And god help you if you ’re coming here in reality attempt to get something done .
For the past ten age , even the U.S. ’s most excogitation - apprehension metropolis , New York City , was stuck in asorry small - chromatography column purgatorythat did n’t match the repose of its well - branded civil endeavors .
But they ’ve just launched a monumental redesign ofNYC.gov , which is a signal of a expectant countrywide shift , says Michal Pasternak , who lead the redesign at the firmHUGE . “ The plan of attack to government projection in digital historically have been driven by large technical vendors who can make sophisticated back - ends but do n’t really concentre or consider the user experience or the design , ” she order . “ That is change pretty apace and will proceed to change as more cities and agencies see the return on investment funds on consider the user first . ”
Focusing on users meant that HUGE had to make drastic variety to the website ’s navigation . For instance , the team learned that the largest figure of citizenry visiting the website were look for city jobs . It was a surprise , but , because they wanted to help the exploiter , this fact compel them to include aJobs tabin the pilotage . The website itself is mean to develop as people use it . The 311 “ Top Requests ” surgical incision is was designed to help oneself citizenry quickly file complaints by including the top issues the city is facing . If people start using the site to file away different request , these will transfer , making it more and more relevant to users .
While the home page looks great , some multiplication a few clicks will get you away from the new experience and into the ancient design quagmire of other way . vast will be rolling out a streamlined flavor across agency , but this process will definitely take some time . As will getting these agencies to distinguish history , not just post information .
“ the great unwashed do n’t come to the site to catch up on city news show , so our hope was that we could help the city tell stories in a more compelling manner that might overtake someone ’s eye as they ’re accomplishing something else , ” says Pasternak . “ That ’s also why we made a solid pushing to include turn and data point where it made signified — people can scan a story quickly and see the encroachment the city has made . ”
For a case subject on how one regime site is reorganizing beautifully , check out the preposterously simpleGov . UKwhich wasnamed best design of 2013earlier this year by the Design Museum . They ’re consolidating all parts of the governing into this sleek Modern system , anddocumenting what they ’re trying along the wayso other countries and cities can pick up from them . Those Brits really know how to design a municipal site : London ’s siteis truly gorgeous in a way that surpasses even New York City ’s redesign . So we still have a shipway to go .
It was n’t well-to-do to observe inspire metropolis - focused websites here in the U.S. , but I rule some good examples . In increase to pluck good - looking sites , I also want to appraise substance abuser experience , so I create three unlike scenario for which I ’d need to habituate the website : 1 ) Pay a parking ticket , 2 ) Report trash on my street , and 3 ) Find a nearby park . Because it ’s not enough to be pretty , of course : urban center site postulate to enhance our lifetime by not becoming bottomless pits of clicks .
New York City |nyc.gov
The newest urban center site to launch in the U.S. is also one of the best . Although I ’m not a sports fan of that young “ NYC ” logo , it ’s gratefully minimized in the new design , which boast lots of tangible estate for images ( video ! ) , excellent type choices ( Helvetica ! ) and great use of color ( yellow ! ) . It also has a text - only version that’soptimized for emergencies , which allows for a streamlined , quickly loading site to go into issue during times when most people are likely to be accessing it on phones or dull connectedness .
bear a parking tag : At first , I did n’t see any mention of parking tickets . I admit it took me a minute to see the Make a Payment section as well as thedirect linkon the very bottom of the home page under “ Top Requests . ” Should n’t the top requests be at the … top ?
Report Methedrine on my street : “ Make a Complaint ” is right there on the homepage , with a dropdown menu for everything from noise to “ Garbage & Graffiti . ”
determine a park : Culture & Recreation check engage me to a majuscule page where one of the top results was indeed “ Find a park . ” This Thomas Nelson Page had an FAQ but could not help me find a park , it aver to call 311 . Another text hunting give me a resolution that took me to theNYC Parkspage , which did have the information I needed .
Chattanooga |chattanooga.gov
A squeamish disceptation - shift city portrait , a logo using the metropolis ’s official typefaceChatype , and a uninfected , jumble - free interface . This new southern mall of high - tech living hasridiculously fast internetavailable to every home and business ( one - G - per - mo , quicker than anywhere else in the country ) , so it ’s on - blade for them to have a nice web comportment . Not a immense devotee of the petite streamer with social media and other button on the bottom , though .
Pay a parking slate : The search barroom is so salient it was calling out to me to use it alternatively of poke around in the navigation . It worked , and stick medirectly to the right pageto yield my fine .
Report trash on my street : I was experience confident , so I also used the search prevention for my garbage query , which got me to theright page with raft of optionsbut the capacity was disorganized and poorly arrange .
feel a park : Search worked great again , taking me to a “ Find Our Parks ” pageboy , with a connection to anicely annotated Google Map .
Philadelphia |phila.gov
Pay a parking ticket : Under the dropdown below Pay , I’m channelise right to the parking self-confidence .
cover trash on my street : If I screw that my request was cover under the 311 page , I could tap that and go over to the311 site , where it ’s one of the top request .
encounter a common : There ’s an option forRecreation Centerswhich gets you onto the Parks and Recreation Thomas Nelson Page but the focal point is more about activities , not public blank space . I had to poke around to find actual parking lot .
Honolulu |answers.honolulu.gov
A different approach can be plant over in Hawaii . While it ’s not the official Honolulu metropolis government website ( which isnot very good ) , this labor byCode for Americais mayhap good than the typical site because it only answers the city ’s most frequently - inquire head . The answers are researched and authored by local occupier ( and vetted by the city , do n’t worry ) , who even get a quotation for their solvent . The result is a clean , elementary user interface that provide just enough information . But that ’s also the problem : Your question may not be one of the most - ask , meaning you might have to duck into the wild west of the material site .
Pay a parking ticket : My query “ How do I pay a parking ticket ” did n’t really return any relevant results , and the parking tab did n’t have this information either . But perhaps they do n’t have parking tickets in Hawaii because it ’s heaven ?
Report folderol on my street : Information about garbage pick-me-up was an leisurely search and got medirectly to the proper page , with another site to reference and a earphone figure to call .
happen a park : No dice . Even theParks & Beaches tabdoesn’t have a way to search for local parks .
Los Angeles |lamayor.org
Taking a page from Honolulu ’s strip - down advance , L.A. ’s new site for its new mayor Eric Garcetti bring a more personal approach to citizens desire answers . It make signified that he ’d want to make it seem like the city manager is helping Angelenos , but it also helps people palpate extra — like they ’re going “ square to the top . ” Garcetti even implemented the # lamayor hashtag for hoi polloi to complain / give ideas on Twitter and actually follow up with his own responses .
Pay a parking ticket : Yep , it ’s listed mightily there on theHelp for Residentspage , drive you to the old school city services varlet .
Report trash on my street : The close I could get was Recycle Bulky Items , which need me to the city’ssanitation department , with reasonably much every trash - have-to doe with category you could imagine of .
retrieve a park : A text search assume you to theparks and recreation site .
Chicago |cityofchicago.org/311
Another Code for America projection is Chicago ’s new 311 site . It ’s more about a system of tools , from the site to an app to a hotline , that all work together to provide the ultimate direction to bespeak and track city servicing . Thehomepageitself is n’t something to beef about , figure - wise , but it works really well ( and theChicago Works app is nicely project ) . Plus there ’s aService Tracker pagethat allows you to mark off the status of your request — because it really is all about follow up . And the good part is all the computer code isopenly availablefor other cities to apply .
Pay a parking ticket : This is too easy . On the homepage the “ I require to … ” prompt is just about complete , simply slip down to give For and there are options to head to theparking ticket Thomas Nelson Page .
describe trash on my street : Same here . slither down to Report / File and you could direct over to theLitter , Trash , refuse page .
Find a park : Since it ’s a 311 internet site it ’s not on the button the best place to search for a Mungo Park , but they do have a style torequest a motorcycle map .
Milwaukee |milwaukeepolicenews.com
I saved the best for last . concede , this is not the city ’s official web site , which isnot particularly nifty . But this internet site for the metropolis ’s police department is so freaking amazing , we should hold it up as an exemplar of how all metropolis way should severalize their chronicle . With huge scrolling images , crazy expert picture taking and lots of real - time entropy , this is one of the most engaging site I ’ve ever see , period .
Pay a parking ticket : Yes , you could ! In the About discussion section there ’s adirect link to where you may pay your ticket , and stay in the police military unit ’s good graces .
Report trash on my street / Find a park : Since this is n’t really a city land site , these option are n’t available . But you cansee what the section is operate on right this here and now , readstories about the force ’s heroes , and help them get hold the city’smost wanted . In this style , the site delivers the kind of contiguous info you ’d want to get out of your urban center , but it also invigorate some true civic natural action .
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