Phaedra Avgerinos

Website Revision Planning Document

www.baltimorecity.gov

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Website Revision Planning DocumentIntroduction and Overview 3

Genre Analysis 4

Content Effectiveness Audit 4

Audience Analysis 6

Design Justification 7

Site Map 8

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Phaedra Avgerinos4/9/2012

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Introduction and Overview

The Baltimore City government website is a site with access to many city services that, if used efficiently, can save time for residents and employees.. Residents can pay bills such as property taxes and water usage as well as find information on various services available to residents. The website benefits the visitor in that there is a great deal of information available. Almost anything that a resident needs can be accomplished through the website, however, based on the design of the website many residents will not realize that many of their services and needs are met online. It is also a site where visitors to the city can learn about the area and gain information that is helpful for a stay in the city.

One major problem with the website is that there is so much information and so many interactive forms for paying bills, requesting service or buying a parking permit- to name a few that the search is overwhelming.

As a resident of Baltimore city, I would immediately go to the “Residents” tab to perform tasks such as paying my property taxes or paying my water bill. However, when I choose the “Residents” tab, my options are citizen services, 2010 census, neighborhoods and health and safety. The citizen services tab leads me to a page with over seventy “services” that a resident may need with the appropriate numbers to call for each service. The services are categorized under headings which make them a bit easier to navigate such as, Animals with “to remove a dead animal” being one of the options. The problem with this organization is that there are too many of the same numbers repeated for different services. A more logical approach would be to offer numbers of specific departments and show the services available for each one. For example, the option to call 311 (a city non-emergency help number) is available for at least twenty-eight of the service options found under five different headings. Some of the service options are written in the imperative such as “to contact the learning center” yet some simply have the department or organization such as “the Ripken Center.” The items under each heading need to be consistent. This could be improved by organizing the services more effectively. Some of the services should be grouped under the phone numbers while others belong in a different category or link altogether. Most of the options under each heading are in black font while a few are in a bold red. There is not a clear connection between among all of the options that are in red.

Another problem is on the left hand side of the main page in what the subtopics. There are four main headings in this section: Citizen Resources, E-Mail Subscriptions, Elected Officials, and Municipal Phone Directory. The links under each of these headings are not in order of

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importance or most used. For example, under “Citizen Resources” I find some links that I would expect under the “Residents” link previously discussed. Online service requests and online payments would be two of the main reasons that residents would visit this site. These two links are seventh and eighth in the list respectively- below such options as “Archives and History,” “Polling Locations” and “Translate Our Site.” This organization is so illogical in that the lists are so long under each heading that if you do not scroll down when you arrive on the page, you will not even see options such as “online payments” and “online service requests.” I propose that unnecessary options are taken out of this subtopic menu on the main page so the most useful and helpful options are immediately visible. Also, a few items that are extraneous or not useful will be removed from the site completely. For example, there is an external link for “community services” that takes the visitor to a Maryland government website database search to find services available in the state. With so many options to search for information on the internet, users could find this type of site on their own.

The major audience of this website consists of Baltimore city residents. This audience wants the site to work for them and allow them to bypass long lines and long wait times with Baltimore city officials both in the city’s government buildings as well as on the phone. For example, there is currently great concern with Baltimore city’s water meter readings and billing. Residents who have concerns may visit the website first where they will find a phone number to call with their concerns. The wait times range from thirty to forty five minutes. Unfortunately, it takes almost that long to find the section in the page where a resident can request service online for this particular problem. A water bill concern falls under the category of “online service requests,” which is not immediately clear.

Some of the audience will consist of visitors to the city and people that do business in the city. The options available and necessary for these visitors are less. For this particular reason, I believe that the subtopics in the site can focus on who the visitor is. Maybe: Residents, Visitors and Business People. Another option could be: I work in the city, I live in the city, I visit the city.

Genre Analysis

The Baltimore city website is a self service government website. The purpose is to make government information and services available to the user without the frustration so often associated with government buildings, employees and processes. An effective self-service government web site will allow the users to accomplish a variety of tasks without waiting in line or waiting on hold.

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The web site is also slightly in the genre of News Mosaic. Headlines relevant to city residents or that feature local politicians become available as soon as a visitor reaches the home page.

The Chicago city website is comparable to the Baltimore city site. Featuring many organizational features that the Baltimore city site lacks, this site is more user friendly.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/chicagog

ovt.html

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Content Effectiveness Audit

Most of the content on the website is effective. There is a great deal of useful content that organized logically can be much more effective. There is some content that is inaccessible to the visitor of the site and lastly, there is some content that is irrelevant or unnecessary.

There is a vertical set of links in which, “Charters and Codes” appears first. This link takes the user to more links to PDF file download of Baltimore city’s charter, codes and regulations in the form of the original legal document. Some of the content is more easily understood, such as the list of civil citations and fines.

§ 27-3. Loitering – For assignation, etc. $ 50§ 27-15. Loitering – Prostitution-Free Zone $ 50§ 34-5. Curfews: Prohibited conduct of parents, guardians, etc. $ 50§ 34-6. Curfews: Prohibited conduct of establishments $500§ 40-9. Dirt Bikes, etc. – Motor fuel sales $100§ 41-2. Outdoor telephones: Prohibited placement $500

(Civil Citations Digest of Laws)

http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Portals/0/Charter%20and%20Codes/Digests/Digest%20-%20CvlCtns.pdf

On the other hand, some of the language could use a revision using Plain English since most users of the site will not be lawyers or those very familiar with the jargon of legal documents. For example, a user who may have questions about his probation would find the following information in the Code of Public Local Laws in Baltimore City:

§ 22-58. Violation of probation.The probation officers herein provided for shall have the power to bring any minor or minors who may be on probation as aforesaid before the Court ordering such probation by a process of warrant duly sworn to charging him or them with violation of the terms or conditions of their probation, or by subpoena directed to them, for further proceedings and when such action is taken the Court may reopen or continue proceedings and finally dispose of the same as fully as could have been done had there been no suspension of sentence or proceedings in the first place; provided, however, that in any case where a full trial or hearing has not been had and the charge or crime has not been fully shown, sustained or determined before suspension of sentence or further proceedings, the Court shall hear the case de novo before sentence is passed or a final disposition of the case is made. (164)

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Under one of the main links displayed across the top of the website, the user can visit “Neighborhoods”. The very first subtopic under that link, “Neighborhood Strategies” is “temporarily unavailable,” and has been since March 28, 2012.

Audience Analysis

The majority of the audience that uses this site is residents from Baltimore city. These users want questions answered related to city services and want to know who to contact when they have a concern, problem, or need a specific service. Residents also want to be able to access interactive forms and payment sites easily that will allow them to avoid going into the city, waiting in lines and calling government offices.

Another audience that uses this site is one that is interested in the city for starting a business or relocating. Although there are some links for “Best of Baltimore” and “Tourist Attractions” most people go to travel or social sites rather than a government site for that kind of information.

Another minor audience may be lawyers that have specific questions about laws and codes in Maryland.

User Scenarios

Tim is a thirty year old male who has recently moved into the city to work for a law firm. He visits the Baltimore city website to buy his neighborhood parking permit and to

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Design Justification

**Address ethos, pathos and logos

By the end of the project, I expect to make my site more user friendly. I plan on arranging the links under the major headings more logically, by placing links to pages most users will need. I Also, I will change the order of the subheadings so that the most frequently used links will be the first in the sequence.

I will combine some of the menu items, like Baltimore City Services and City Services and I will condense some of the links that have irrelevant or unnecessary information.

I don’t think a website needs a link that says “Translate our site.” I don’t think the purpose of that link is clear based on its name, Also, I don’t think translating the site into another language is a common need- at least not enough for it’s own link. If a person wants to read the site in another language, they can find their own means to do so.

It takes too much “cognitive energy” to reach a page where a user may pay a bill or make an online service request. These options should be accessed most easily as they are among the most common uses of this site.

There are some headings that do not have clearly connected links that will be revised.

Not every mouse click leads the user to a page that repeats the title of the link. The user should not be confused or unsure about where a link has taken them. I will revise a few titles of pages.

I will also revise the heading that has ten links underneath that are not clearly related.

The frequently asked questions page is a six-page long document. I am condensing that and

adding headings to the FAQ’s. There is a search box for the FAQ’s which I am keeping.

 

 

 

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FAQ’s

Frequently Asked Questions

Online Payments

Can I pay Baltimore City parking tickets online?

Recycling

May 2012

Events

Upcoming Events

Join the mayor in the Hire One initiative to employ Baltimore City youth this summer. Visit our website for details.

The Jones Falls Expressway’s northbound and southbound lanes will continue to be closed from 29th street to Druid Park Lake Drive in order to continue work to ensure the safety of the

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expressway for Baltimore’s commuters. Construction has been underway since April and will continue into June of 2012. Please view the JFX alternate map to keep your commute smooth. Remember- leave early and stay late to avoid major traffic delays.

Services