okc gov talk - Using Google+ and an open door policy for feedback
Because all of our schedules are different and we are spread over 622 square miles, we are going to try a new way of opening the doors to discussion.
Ideas wanted
The City of Oklahoma City wants your help in redesigning OKC.gov. Participate in the process by telling us what you want out of your City’s website.
Here’s how you can get involved:
Online Survey
Take a five-minute, 18-question survey about OKC.gov. Your answers on this survey about your use and opinions of OKC.gov will assist us with our redesign.
Public Meetings
Attend one of two public meetings, both covering the same topic, to learn about the redesign and provide feedback.
Wednesday, October 26
Noon and 6:30 p.m.
City Hall Council Chamber
200 N Walker, 3rd Floor
E-mail
Send your opinions, ideas, sketches, drawings, files or questions to: zach.nash@okc.gov.
Twitter
Use the hashtag #okcgov or mention @cityofokc on Twitter.
Facebook
Post your ideas to the City’s Facebook account.
Wireframe your ideas
Sketch out your ideas on the design or navigation using online wireframing apps. Here are a few examples of wireframing tools:
Mail your feedback using USPS
OKC.gov Redesign Project
Public Info and Marketing
200 N Walker, Oklahoma City, OK 73120
For more information contact Zach Nash, creative manager, City of Oklahoma City, 297-2174 or zach.nash@okc.gov.
We are hitting the road and sitting down with members of Refresh OKC about the redesign of OKC.gov. Refresh OKC is “a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative culture of internet professionals in Oklahoma City through design, technology and usability.”
We’re looking forward to hearing what they have to say about OKC.gov. More meetings will be announced soon.
The meeting will be on Tuesday, October 18 at okcCoco, 723 N Hudson Avenue. The socializing begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by a short presentation and discussion at 7 p.m. ^zn
Who've we talked to?
We’ve added a new page that lists companies we (Public Information and Marketing) have talked to on the phone, in person, through social media sites or by email about the redesign of OKC.gov
On the today’s #okcweb chalkboard. ^zn
Who’s doing it right?
You tell us which local, state and federal governments’ websites are worth taking a look at as we redesign OKC.gov:
Email, Tweet or Facebook us with your recommendations. Or just post a comment below.
Head over to the the “.gov Inspiration page” of the site to see the complete list.
Oklahoma City listed as one of the top twittering local govs in the U.S.
It’s time to rethink & redesign OKC.gov
The City of OKC is preparing to begin the process of overhauling its website. We have launched this site, okc.gov/redesign, to keep you informed and involved.
The redesign isn’t going to happen overnight and the reality is that a lot of smart ideas will be left on the table, however this is just the first step.
With your help, the City will be able to better serve citizens online through improved access to information, a more service driven navigation and new interactive tools.
Speaking to Conor White-Sullivan about Localocracy.
A clog in the pipe
There is a clog in the funnel that feeds content to OKC.gov.
Besides agendas and minutes, the meat of open government, and web applications developed by the IT Department, the typical work flow of how basic content is added to the website goes like this:
- Department contacts Public Information and Marketing (PIM), the department responsible for OKC.gov.
- PIM reviews the request and places the edits into a work schedule. Often times, edits are made when they hit the inbox. See below for the all the other times.
- Department waits for PIM to make the request. Currently, in PIM, less than one-quarter of one person is dedicated the website. It could be ten minutes, an hour, a day or week…depending on work load and the scope of the project. Sometimes, unfortunately, the department has to wait a little longer.
- Request is completed, then reviewed by department.
- The changes then remain on OKC.gov until a.) the department requests it be removed or b.) changes to the changes need to be made.
One of the main reasons there is a bottleneck of information is because only a small handful of employees have the ability to access the website.
This is a known issue and one that is thankfully being addressed with the redesign of OKC.gov.
The dam of information needs to break and a good content management system (CMS) is a big part of the solution. This will allow departments throughout the City to provide more up-to-date information to citizens about the services they provide.
There are countless other benefits to a CMS, which will be address in more detail down the road.
The tech side of making changes to the web:
- The City used Adobe Contribute to allow content publishers to make edits to the website until an Apple Power Mac G4 server, maintained by PIM, crashed in mid-2008. Post were made to the Contribute server and then, once saved, pushed to Windows Server.
- After the crash, PIM took over editing for departments.
- In March 2009, Sharepoint Designer was made available as freeware and was installed on a small handful of department computers to edit HTML pages and access was given to the web servers root directory as a temporary solution.
- The temporary solution is still being used.
Average monthly visits to OKC.gov - 333,531
Channel 20 video about OKC.gov features.
Consistently, the top visits to OKC.gov are for animals, jobs, municipal court and utility payments.
OKC.gov started as okc-cityhall.org and has had a few different looks since.
