Streamlining Permits — City Microsite
Project Synopsis
City of Chicago microsite streamlining the way citizens access relevant information and communicate with their elected representatives.
Client
City of Chicago (represented by Design Instructors)Roles
Research, IA, Prototyping, Testing (Concept, Usability), Project ManagementTimeline
5-weeks total
1-wk long sprints
(Aug—Sept 2019)Tools
Post-it Notes
Sketch
AxureProblem Space
Background
In May 2013 President Barack Obama signed an executive order to make information about government operations more readily available and useful. Government transparency, accountability, technology, along with citizen participation are the core tenants of the Open Government Initiative.
“My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.”
–President Obama
Challenge
In response to this initiative our team was tasked with creating a new microsite for the City of Chicago. The site’s key objectives were to streamline how Chicago citizens accessed relevant information and communicated with their elected representatives. Stakeholders were represented by Designation’s Chelsea Lee and Kara Sajeske.
Image: Leading a brainstorming session as our team considers Information Architecture.
Process
Discovery
Given the broad challenge, we knew it would be impossible to address every aspect of Chicago’s current website. We set out to identify what content and functionality should be prioritized to appeal to the widest array of citizens while staying within a manageable scope.
Data
We began collecting data via domain research as well as conducting an analysis of direct and indirect competitors. We researched competitors that aimed to provide transparency in the government; these competitors focused on issues ranging from finances to voting to government ethics.
Image: A look at various organizations also aiming to provide transparency within government.
After comparing the landscape and synthesizing data we found:
There’s an abundance of information out there.
Competitors target government transparency and accountability.
Competitors distill content and report on specific topics.
Competitor and the city’s websites lack basic search capabilities.
Little to no permitting or licensing information is covered.
Interviews
We wanted to speak with people who sought information on city government. To further understand the landscape we conducted interviews with Chicago residents with vested interest in their city and neighborhood. Initially we kept our criteria broad for these interviews:
This diverse group of interview subjects included a variety of people with interests ranging from property and small business owners, artists and aspiring politicians. We interviewed a total of 10 subjects including 4 Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) and 6 Users.
Synthesis
Sorting stickies
After conducting interviews, our team engaged in an Affinity Diagramming exercise where we assessed key data points drawing out trends and key insights; we found that users:
Were Chicago property and/or business owners
Were passionate about their community
Needed to obtain permits for improvements to their property
Found the current permitting process convoluted and confusing
Had a general distrust of Alderman
While people wanted to comply with City code in obtaining necessary permits, they often were irritated and overwhelmed with the lack of transparent information with too many hoops to jump through, creating more frustration.
Persona
Our interview insights helped define our target user and create our user persona, Ben. First and foremost Ben is a Chicagoan; he owns and manages some property, including a home he lives in with his wife and two sons. All of his apartment buildings are located in the Logan Square neighborhood where Ben grew up.
Image: Abbreviated user persona
Refined Challenge
Interviews, research findings, conducting a journey map and creating a user persona helped us hone in and refine our problem space:
Design alignment
After refining our focus we developed 5 key design principles which served to keep our team aligned, on track, while ensuring we were always keeping our users in mind:
Objective — there’s transparency and all information is unbiased.
Conscientious — users are given the thoughtful information they need.
Relevant — provided information is up-to-date and current.
Guiding — users have a helping hand throughout their journey.
Digestible — information is simplified and understandable for the user.
Five Design Principles. Accompanying infographics designed by yours truly.
Concepts
Initial concepting
After getting clear on the who, what and why of our problem, we brainstormed different concepts as potential solutions for Ben and our target users. Ultimately we came up with 6 concepts that we tested on 5 users similar to Ben, who had experience obtaining a permit.
Image: Various concept sketches
Six concepts
Our concepts addressed the issue of permitting, focusing on what a user needed during the process of researching, applying for and ultimately obtaining a permit:
Permit Map - A way to see permits pending in your neighborhood and steps users are taking in order to obtain those permits.
Find an Alderman - A way to search for the contact information of aldermen in the ward your property is located.
My Permit Profile - A way to manage and review your registered properties and their compliance status(es).
Permit Date Checklist - A list of steps throughout the process to help users understand, schedule, and prepare for important dates.
Permit Overview - A high-level overview of the permit process so users can understand the steps and requirements involved.
Apply Online - A way for users to see what permits they can submit online and what to expect as they complete the application.
Concept testing
To stay nimble, we mocked up these concepts as paper prototypes for testers to interact with. The feedback we received guided our decisions moving forward. Ultimately we set aside the Permit Overview and Apply Online concepts due to scope as well as feedback that these features were only for the layman.
Build Out
Wireframes
In addition to listening to our testers, we also considered the overall scope of our project, taking into consideration such things as time constraints and feasibility of integration with existing governmental systems and structures. With these things in mind, we took successful elements of 4 concepts and began developing them into mid-fidelity wireframes.
Image: Wireframes detailing the “Permit Map” concept (left) and “Find an Alderman” concept (right)
Image: Wireframes detailing the “Permit Profile” concept (left) and “Permit Date Checklist” concept (right)
Usability testing
Prototype
Using our mid-fidelity wireframes, we created a clickable prototype focusing on three main goals Ben would want to accomplish:
Finding the Alderman for his properties.
Checking the compliance of his properties.
Managing the progress of his permit applications.
Of the 5 users we conducted usability testing with, 4 were property and homeowners, and 2 had experience with the permitting process. We wanted a distribution of users with and without permitting experience to make sure our concepts were valid while testing our design principles.
Findings
Positive feedback and insights included:
Users enjoying the simple & clean interface
Text was well sized and easy to read
Users were able to complete tasks quickly
Areas for improvement included:
Users were unaware the map was interactive
Users wanted more context on their violations
Users were confused by some wording in the copy
Future Recs
Based on research and scope, our team implemented small changes to the prototype; additionally we arrived at several future recommendations:
Map redesign - overhaul interactive map to incorporate recognizable, common and familiar design patterns (filters, toggles, info-cards).
How-to resolve option - dynamically update resolution steps, contingent on the permit violation type.
One-stop shop - integrate features with Chicago’s current permitting systems to provide a streamlined process, enabling users to apply, manage and track their permit applications all from one place.
Learnings
Scope Creep
In reflecting on this project, a few key things stood out. We constantly had to check ourselves; it was easy to get excited and carried away by additional features that seemed simple but soon become complicated. By the end of this project we’d become pros in learning when to reign it in.
Simplify
It was just as easy to get carried away in the minutiae of detailed design, as in the endless possibilities when ideating. We learned to always refer back to our design principles, target user and remind ourselves what that “M” stands for in MVP.