Learning from Better Connected

1. Learning from Better Connected Argyll and Bute Council’s Journey from 1 to 4 stars Lorne MacBrayne – Website Manager

2. 2nd largest council area in Scotland • 90,000 inhabitants. • 45% of people live in ‘remote rural’ areas • 17% live on 25 islands • 11 ‘Servicepoints’ About Argyll and Bute

3. Where we were - 2009 • Almost no online transactions • 1 star rating from Socitm • Not customer focused • No web development plan • Information was hard to find • Approx20,000 unique visits per month

4. Process for change programme • Systems and Business Process Re-engineering • Excellent Web Services • Customer service standards and training • Customer Service Points and customer service centre • Workforce deployment“work is what you do, not a place you go to” Started in 2009 to implement:

5. The first steps to improvement

6. Supporting web development • Support from Senior management and elected members • Web steering group (from 2009 – 2012) • Customer service board • Intranet site (The Hub)

7. Our customer contact design principles • We aim to provide consistent, convenient, efficient customer care Increase the number of channels for access to services and information Use the Customer Service Centre to resolve calls at first point of contact Maximise online and telephone self service opportunities for customers Improve facilities in Servicepoints.

8. Web development Website vision statement • Put customers first • Listen • top tasks • Increase online transactions “To provide an excellent website to enable the people and businesses of Argyll and Bute to have self-service online access to public services and information in ways that are useful, convenient and easy to use by everyone.”

9. Redesigning the site - basics • New CMS • Editors and authors • Content authoring • Implement top tasks

10. Technology • Open source • Drupal • Support from ICT • Webcurl

11. Web content governance • Hybrid model • Authors and Editors • Supported by • Web Team • Communications Team • Customer service dev team • ICT

12. Content • Use of language • Plain English • Acronyms • consistency • Currency and accuracy • Support from Communications team

13. Mobile content • Recent redesign of site • Moved to ‘adaptive’ theme

14. TOPTASKS(or giving customers what they want!)

16. Top tasks are managed carefully

17. What are the current top tasks? April 2012 – April 2013

18. Google Analytics

19. Piwik

20. Socitm Website performance service Top subjects from website performance service (1/1/13 to 9/9/13)

21. Comment on this page

22. Important! Thisonlytells us about existingpages and customers

23. Surveys (Paper and Online)

24. What are we asked for? Phone calls Face to face Email

25. TestingtheSite

26. Accessibility • Shaw Trust • Siteimprove

27. Quality Control • Page assessment form • Siteimprove • Link checking • Spelling • Email • Code compliance

28. Usability testing

29. Mystery shopping • Internal • quarterly • Local volunteers • local charity • External • Annual

30. And of course..

31. Where are we now? • Customer focused website • Web development based on real evidence • Drupal CMS • Better Connected 4 stars • Increased use of online services • Accessible site (due to be retested) • Main site mobile

32. What’s next?

33. On-going and future developments • More use of geographic data • Fully mobile across all our sites • Social media for customers • Remote testing • Building Standards applications • Schools • Improved online consultations • And of course we will…

34. Keep asking • Keep reviewing • Keep improving