Add Feature and Funtionality
This project goal was to add feature and functionality to the current Boston.gov online portal that matched the newly designed IDEO pages. Through research and re-design, I designed payment and ordering pages so the current Boston.gov customer has ease and options when applying, ordering and requesting information online.
BACKGROUND
Boston.gov was totally redesigned by IDEO to be more modern and citizen-centric. Along with the website, they want to bring all services available online to citizens. Ideally, they hope to make it easy to apply for any local service online (while retaining the option to do it in person or by other channels).
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This project is a responsive design for ordering a birth certificate online and paying for a parking ticket that embeds perfectly within their current site and can be eventually used for other services that will go online. Together with this new fully-online service, I have also created a safe and secure log-in environment that will allow for all information to be in one place.
Boston.gov wants every citizen to eventually be able to log in, view any request any services that they need. Fully online. Fully self-service.
RESEARCH
Objective
I first put together a competitor analysis on various government city and state run online organizations that compared to the Boston.gov site. Doing a quick site audit allowed me to pin point certain areas of their site that gives users possible issues.
Site Audit
At the time, paying a parking ticket and getting a birth certificate made the user go through the same process which included a link to the exact same (old) outside program/form.
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Below, a site audit was created to examine the process of how to pay a parking ticket and how to get death/birth certificate. By thoroughly walking through each of these steps, I was able to create a clearer image of the new and simpler steps in my prototype when creating my wireframes.
"It can be difficult for me to get down to the county office. I also wish items were easier to get to online, especially when I just need to pay a parking ticket."
"I went to the city, then county, then state websites but did not find means to get my mother's death certificate."
User Persona
Through user research, I conducted surveys with a mixed demographic based on proximity to city and county offices, age and need of online government services. I then created a user persona for this task based on one of my key users after secondary research was conducted.
Being able to use online resources is not just about convenience, but also about a person's limitations due to a disability and/or mobility. Based on this research, I continued with the clean and easy design that IDEO made; however, I made sure to emphasize the buttons and transitions were easy to read due to the older demographic that may be using the site more often than others.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Site Map
Developed a site map based on the above site audit, to make a clearer and more precise way to pay a parking ticket and order a birth and/or death certificate online.
User Flow
Designed user flow based on research and user personas for two processes: Paying a Parking Ticket and Requesting a Birth Certificate.
SKETCHING WIREFRAMES
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BRANDING AND UI KIT
“The beauty of Boston begins with a certain boldness. A boldness of opinion. Of thought. Of diversity. A boldness to be ourselves. Even though we’re all diverse, and come from different cultures and backgrounds, we are connected through our boldness. And through our City. We are Boston.” —Statement about ​Brand Guidelines
USABILITY TESTING
I tested five men and women with the ages of 25 - 70 years of age. The older demographics definitely stood out the most, as using online features was not something they would normally plan to do in this situation. They were pleased with the how easy it turned out.
60% of the group was
excited to use the online services instead of having to go in to the county office and order a birth certificate.
Added security features were a nice bonus, especially when needing to access and provide such personal information.
ITERATE
Create easy to use login system . Create a log-in as a requirement to request any certificates for safety and validation of personal information.Design new Birth Certificate request form through a secure online system that the people of Boston can trust and find simple to use.
OLD FORM
NEW FORM
Develop secure pages for personal information by uploading personal documents through the secure portal
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FINAL DESIGN
FINAL THOUGHTS
All users were pleased with the final outcome, changes and overall ease of design and layout. Some seemed surprised that this feature was not already added to the original design, so the improvement was much appreciated once they were taken through the steps. I was surprised however the amount of people that actually would rather go to the courthouse to retrieve some of the documents or to pay their bills, rather than go online. When the feature was not available, they did not seem bothered by the inconvenience. My earlier research and persona development led me to the same conclusions. The older demographics (60 and up) do not necessarily see the need for online ease; however, once provided with an example, they seemed pleasantly surprised. It also seems Boston.gov is already making improvements as we speak. These features are a great improvement to their already incredible website created by IDEO. My hope is that other government agencies will follow along in their example of a clean, fresh and easy to use website for their customers.
Current Boston.gov website updates
More Work...
