Making its Website easier to use is paying off for one state agency, not in profits, but in customer satisfaction and the number of people using the site.
For more than a year, the Department of Labor and Industries has been observing customers while they use the agencys Website. When customers have difficulty finding information and understanding written material, staff members figure out whats causing the problem and fix it.
After repeatedly watching customers use the site and fixing problems they encountered, the agency launched a redesigned Website in January. Since then, visits to the site have increased 10 percent, from 8,800 to 9,400 hits a day. More importantly, since the change, people who visit L&Is Website are looking at 25 percent more pages in the same amount of time.
Customers have noticed the change. According to L&I Communications Director Kim Contris, the agency is receiving e-mails almost every day from people who appreciate how much easier it is to find information on the Website now.
L&I is the first state agency in Washington to redesign its entire Website based on usability testing with actual customers. The purpose of our Website is to give people outside the agency a fast, easy way to get information and do business with us, Contris said. Usability testing has given us valuable, unbiased information about how well our site is serving our customers.
Based on the results of testing the site with customers, L&I has:
– Redesigned the site so its easier to find information.
– Devoted most of the sites home page to the topics that are most important to the agencys customers.
The agency also has replaced technical, legal terminology with language thats easier to understand for people who dont work in government. L&I is continuing to test parts of the Website with customers.
Working directly with customers has become an accepted part of managing our Website, Contris noted. It takes the guesswork out of how to truly meet your customers needs.
Check out L&Is improved Website at www.LNI.wa.gov.
