Less content, more context
I think one of the main differences between public and private sector content is the want versus the need to engage from an audience perspective.
Governments — locally, regionally, and federally — offer a breadth of services that we as the public need to access and interact with. Whether that’s filing a tax return, paying property tax, applying for a permit — these are all tasks we don’t want to do, but need to. If content is hard to find, or to follow, its easy to get frustrated and even give up completely.
So what are public sector organizations doing to ensure that those needing to engage get what they need in a fast and easy way?
Working for a local government, transparency was a principle that guided our communications strategies and decisions. However, it proved difficult to balance information overload with user needs, especially when dealing with complex policies and documents like a City Budget approvals, Housing issues, Crime and Safety concerns, and even Climate Policy.
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In Trustworthy, Margot Bloomstein puts a spotlight on UK Home Office’s GOV.UK site and their “simpler, clearer, faster” approach that was used by their Government Digital Service to consolidate content that was previously spread over 3000 different sites into one master site. Using content models like content trees and abiding by the mantra “Government should only do what government can do,” they were able to put user needs as a top priority, providing a platform that gives answers to questions directly rather than users having to sift through mountains of information by themselves.
Another avenue is to look at how some private sector businesses that people need to interact with, such as banks, are dealing with the same issue. I just recently moved to Austria and needed to open a bank account — a daunting task even in my mother tongue let alone another language.
I was super impressed with the content layout and types used by ERSTE Bank. Users can open an account right from their website and all the information you need to do so is found on the same page. To make it further accessible, for someone like me, the site was easily translatable, and the content flowed nicely in steps that were very easy to follow. I think my favourite section was the layout in “what do I need to open an account.”
Transparency is paramount for governments but prioritizing it should not come at the cost of user experience.
When I need to do something that I really don’t want to do, like file my tax return, minimal barriers and ensuring that I am only engaging with the content I need to makes for one happy guy.
