MySeattle:
Final Presentation
Joshwin Greene and Dorothy Ho
The Mindful Collective
Agenda
The Mindful Collective
2
01
Understanding the context
02
Defining the problem
03
Concept development
04
Final prototype
We have gone through a cycle of the design process
3
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Sprints 3 and 4
Sprint 2
Sprint 1
Agenda
The Mindful Collective
4
01
Understanding the context
02
Defining the problem
03
Concept development
04
Final prototype
Local governments are behind in technology
5
98%
Brief: Design a microsite that streamlines the way citizens access relevant information and communicate with their elected representatives.
49%
Seattle households with an internet-capable device in 2018
People who prefer to submit civic service requests online - most preferred modality
?
Not knowing who to contact is the most common barrier to getting civic services
Competitive landscape
6
Specialized
Broad
Official
Personal
SCC Insight
Calling the gov’t
No reliable, go-to source for local updates on services, projects, and policy
We interviewed 5 SMEs...
7
Gov’t
Non-
profit
Organization
Role
Demographics
40s
40s
Policy analyst
Chief of staff to council chair Rod Dembowski
40s
Organizer
40s
Executive director
20s
Civic engagement coordinator
And 7 users
8
Occupation
Civic involvement
Demographics
Location
Tech use
20s
Medium
Student, former teacher
Seattle, WA
Daily
30s
Medium
Instructor
Seattle, WA
Daily
30s
Medium
Student, former teacher
Seattle, WA
Daily
40s
Medium
N/A
Seattle, WA
Daily
20s
High
Call center agent
Portland, OR
Daily
60s
High
Retired office manager
Fresno, CA
Daily
60s
High
Architect and firm owner
Fresno, CA
Daily
Takeaways & highlights from SMEs
9
"Can we be the government of all people? That sometimes means it's not necessarily technology that's going to solve the problem."
“Between the back-end and the front line of customer service, there's a huge gap that needs to be filled in designing and building great products.”
“The end users are kind of the last thing they think about. There's no Steve Jobs of the gov't world.”
“I think that the goal is just to disseminate information - it's not for use as an engagement tool.”
Governments account for diverse populations when providing services
Usability is not a high priority in government web services
Digital tools have not been used to gather input from residents
Takeaways & highlights from users
10
“It functions, and it has a lot of stuff, but navigating is not easy.”
Navigation is consistently difficult
“Almost every time I go to this website I have to call someone and ask a pretty simple question. Because I either can’t find it or the information is written in a way that is very unclear.”
Information is unavailable or hard to understand
“I rarely go to government meetings, because it's uncommon for them to be at places and times I can easily attend.”
There are significant barriers to participation
Agenda
The Mindful Collective
11
02
Defining the problem
01
Understanding the context
03
Concept development
04
Final prototype
Personas
12
The aspiring advocate
Emma
Matt
The practical realist
Need to be informed in a timely manner
Problem statement
Time-strapped, civically-minded residents of Seattle need a convenient, technologically current way to stay informed about local policy issues and projects so they can participate in civic decisions that impact their lives.
13
14
Design principles
15
Reliable
The site will be a trustworthy source of information that is thorough, objective, and up-to-date
Modern
Product offers an experience that reflects current technology innovations and design approaches
Clear
Content is easy to understand and without jargon
Personal
Content provided is specific to user's geography and issues of interest
Empowering
The site will enable users to take action and engage effectively in civic life
Consistent with other web experiences
Helps users meet their goals
Agenda
The Mindful Collective
16
01
Understanding the context
03
Concept development
04
Final prototype
02
Defining the problem
Concept Statements: Top 3
17
1. A website that helps users stay informed about issues relevant to a user’s neighborhood and issues of interest in the city without having to spend considerable time and energy gathering information on one’s own.
2. An interactive city map that lets users see active and upcoming policy issues by location.
3. A wiki by the city that explains local civic processes so residents know how to get involved.
1. A website that helps users stay informed about issues relevant to a user’s neighborhood and issues of interest in the city without having to spend considerable time and energy gathering information on one’s own.
3. A wiki by the city that explains local civic processes so residents know how to get involved.
Concept 1: We tested several features for a website...
18
Personalization of site content based on neighborhood and interests
Account creation
Personalized homepage
Option to contact council member from the site
View bill
Send message to representative
Send message
Voice opinion
Concept 1: Two approaches to content organization...
19
Homepage
Topic page
MySeattle with a news-like layout
Social media-like feed
Policy tracker
Concept 3: And a guide to civic processes
20
Site dedicated to explaining civic departments and processes
How Seattle Works homepage
Explanation of city council
A paper prototype of the website was tested
21
MySeattle homepage
Policy tracker
Neighborhood updates
Find your neighborhood
Issues
A paper prototype of the website was tested
22
Seattle 101
Find your rep
Get involved
Approaches were edited based on testing
23
Keep
Personalization
Message option
Find your rep
Abandon
Feed format
Modify
How Seattle works
Policy tracker
Topics organization
Agenda
The Mindful Collective
24
01
Understanding the context
04
Final prototype
02
Defining the problem
03
Concept development
Prototype was guided by key task flows and features
25
Features
Key task flows
Home and personalization
26
Finding information on a topic of interest
27
Learning about a bill and voicing an opinion
28
Finding neighborhood information
29
Usability testing results
30
What People Really Liked
Identification of their reps at the end of account creation
Instructions on how to format a message for your rep
Updates (city-wide and neighborhood-specific)
MySeattle & Policy Tracker ( 5/5 )
31
Make sure that enough detail and info are added to features so that it is very clear what users can do with them
Add section labels to make it clear that there is important info or functionality at the bottom of a page
What Gave People Trouble
Features that lacked information or details, i.e. Policy Tracker and Voice Opinion button
Important items on a page were out of view or not made obvious
Suggestions on what to change
Updates were made based on feedback (1/2)
32
Viewing a bill, first version
Updated version
Updates were made based on feedback (2/2)
33
Topic page, first version
Updated version
Going forward we would use user input to iterate and refine our product
34
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Iterate
Next steps
35
Appendix
36
Concept testing participants
37
Name | Age | Occupation | Tech proficiency | Civic involvement |
Christian | 20s | Flatiron SE Student | 4/5 (per scale on personas) | Low-to-Medium |
Cristian | 30s | Flatiron Data Sci Coach | 4/5 | Medium |
Aaron | 30s | Flatiron DS student | 4/5 | Medium |
Rohit | 20s | Flatiron SE alum | 5/5 | N/A |
Dwayne | 40s | Unemployed, SE | 5/5 | High |
Justin | 30s | Physician | 4/5 | Medium |
Final Prototype Testing Participants
38
Demographic | Civic involvement | Occupation | Resources they use to stay informed of local issues |
M, 20s | Medium | Software Developer | Social Media, Blogs, Google News, Ring app |
F, 20s | High | Program Officer | Facebook Progressive News Websites |
F, 30s | Low | Senior Education Manager | Twitter, Google Search, Facebook |
M, 30s | Medium | Education Manager | News websites (likes to hear both sides), The Stranger, Google News, Google Search |
F, 30s | Medium | Principle UX Designer | Voter Pamphlets, The Stranger, News Websites |