Maine.Gov Recognized!

By Mary K. Silva

They found the standard design of the portal user-friendly. The ability for users to find the information they are seeking quickly is imperative to the site’s success because when navigation becomes difficult or too time consuming, users simply go elsewhere. The redesign’s objective was to keep the elements that worked well for users (such as a visually simple and uncluttered home page), while expanding online services, increasing the amount and quality of content, enhancing navigation and deploying features to grow the online user community.

Building a sense of community on the page with such features as those highlighted in GovSpot (My Maine.gov and RemindME), as well as the ongoing photo contests, surveys and opportunities to provide agencies with direct feedback, regularly brings citizens and businesses to the portal. This frequent interaction promotes improved awareness of the site’s features and functions, and provides users with easy access to government services and information.

Possibly the most visible change to the portal was moving to Maine.gov (from state.me.us). While the move to dot gov is a national trend, we knew name changes could be unsettling and confusing to the public. Prior to starting, we ensured there was commitment across the enterprise for this change in the branding of the website. Next we contacted other states that had already made the change to dot gov. Amy Sawyer, General Manager of Utah.gov stated, "Citizens feel that they are truly doing business with a trusted State entity and they don't have to look up Utah's domain on Google." Indiana’s General Manager Candy Irving shared their new motto "If it’s not ‘IN.gov’, it’s not official.", which supported other state officials who have commented that "dot gov" adds an air of credibility to their sites, because that domain name may only be obtained by governments.

These favorable reports represent a positive shift from an earlier trend in state government websites when customized names such as North Carolina’s ‘NC at your service’ were deployed. Cathilea Robinett, Executive Director for the Center for Digital Government, reported that these names were confusing and difficult to remember.

Rhode Island statistics have proven that having a name that is not difficult to remember can almost effortlessly expand your presence. Carrie Gott, General Manager, notes, "RI.gov was not a switch for the state, but rather a second portal. The visits we get are not from people visiting the same site that they always did at www.state.ri.us and being redirected, nor have we done any major advertising of RI.gov. Instead, our visitors are intuitively typing www.ri.gov. Although our hits are lower than they would be if there was a single portal, they are as high as they are due to the name ri.gov. Page requests have grown from 6,941 in November at the launch of the portal, to 61,025 in April."

For Maine, the successful launch of the enhanced portal does not mean that our efforts stop. We will aggressively market the new brand and develop and deploy additional online services. Most importantly, we recognize that allowing all constituents to influence the design and development of their state portal is key to its success. So, while technology will provide the tools to deliver e-government services, our continued outreach to Maine people will be critical to ensure that we meet the purpose of government, which is to serve its citizens.

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