On Friday, July 3rd, the Office of Emergency Management became the first city agency to have its newly revamped website launched.
The city’s Office on Innovation and Technology worked hard, making last minute changes, making sure we were ready to provide information to the public for Saturday’s Welcome America finale.
The site is designed to be more user friendly and aesthetically pleasing to help you find information pertinent to your needs.
All city sites are being worked on (and there are a lot of departments), any feedback you provide can help us and the city serve you better.
Thank you for your time.
Information below from www.phila.gov :
ABOUT
Welcome to alpha.phila.gov, the first step towards a government website that is simple, crisp, respectful, and delightful.
YOUR NEEDS FIRST.
Instead of designing from our own assumptions, we will start with the needs of our neighbors, the residents of Philadelphia. We will learn how people want to use phila.gov through regular usability testing and our web analytics.
WORK IN SMALL CHUNKS.
Instead of designing the entire site up front, we will break down development into manageable, two week iterations. This agile process allows us to develop quickly and provides flexibility to adjust to user feedback and (inevitable) unforeseen issues.
BE OPEN AND INVITE PARTICIPATION.
Instead of working behind closed doors and making the public wait for a grand reveal, we will build out in the open. This is an experimental prototype, a work in progress. It’s missing content. Parts of it are confusing. The design needs work. And that’s the point. We’re starting here, knowing it’s not perfect, but with the means to continually make it better.
The goal is to show you, our neighbors, where we’re starting and allow you to follow our progress. It gives you the opportunity to have input.
WE NEED YOUR HELP.
Here’s how you can be involved:
- Look around and tell us what you think. You’ll find a “Provide Feedback” link in the header and footer of every page. Tell us the good, bad, and ugly.
- Complete this survey. It’s quick and easy — a little bit about you and how (or if) you use phila.gov.
- Tell your neighbors! The more the merrier.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
In our process, the “alpha” phase is for rapid prototyping and testing out ideas. As we get feedback from Philadelphia residents and government departments, we will discover a good path forward.
We will then move into the “beta” phase which is to ensure that these are ideas are implemented at scale.
Finally, the “live” phase is when we roll out fully to the public as the new phila.gov (but we continue to iterate and improve).