GOVERNMENT WEBSITES 2018 GOVERNMENT WEBSITES REPORT CFI Group. All rights reserved.

Transcription

1 GOVERNMENT WEBSITES REPORT

2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 THE CHALLENGE: DELIVERING A SATISFYING VISITOR EXPERIENCE 4 To improve website performance, agencies should: 1 DESIGN FOR WAYFINDING 10 2 OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE 13 3 COORDINATE WITH CONTACT CENTERS 16 ABOUT THE APPROACH 19 2

3 INTRODUCTION U.S. government websites make up a dynamic vehicle by which the U.S. government provides Americans with access to government services and information. According to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the U.S. government engages Americans through 4,500+ websites on 400+ unique domains. On average, these government sites and domains receive roughly 800 million visits per month, or roughly 2.5 visits per capita. Despite the wide use of this constellation of sites, there are significant opportunities for improvement. A March 2017 ITIF review of 300 popular federal government websites concluded that 92% of the sites failed to meet at least one of its four performance benchmarks. 1 According to the report, It is incumbent on the Trump administration to address these failures and ensure the federal government can provide all Americans with secure and convenient access to online government services and information. The CFI Group Government Website Benchmark report complements ITIF performance metrics by measuring performance from the perspective of the website visitor. This report benchmarks visitor satisfaction with the website experience for federal government websites. For 2018, website satisfaction has stalled, with one in ten visitors indicating that they are not able to accomplish their desired task on the agency website. To improve website performance, agencies should: DESIGN FOR WAYFINDING OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE COORDINATE WITH CONTACT CENTERS Federal agencies that effectively measure and manage websites and customer service in an integrated fashion can reduce overall costs while increasing the overall value delivered to Americans. CFI GROUP SOLUTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT SHERI PETRAS CEO Sheri manages offices across 4 continents from the CFI Group world headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. KELLY STALLARD Program Director, Public Sector Kelly manages CFI Group s practice for Citizen Satisfaction, Website Satisfaction, and Contact Center Satisfaction for public sector clients. DAVE HAM Program Director, Public Sector David works with the Veterans Administration and other public sector clients to help measure and manage citizen and employee experience. RODGER PARK Director of Customer Analytics Rodger manages accounts in the public/military sector as well as others in both consumer and business-tobusiness contexts

4 89% VIEW WEBSITES AS THE PRIMARY WAY THEY INTERACT WITH AGENCIES THE CHALLENGE: DELIVERING A SATISFYING VISITOR EXPERIENCE 4

5 WEBSITES ARE A CRITICAL TOUCHPOINT FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES Government websites are the top mechanism by which federal agencies connect with Americans. The Digital Analytics Program (DAP), an open source project providing a unified Google Analytics account for 65% of U.S. federal government agencies, reports over 2.5 billion visits to agency websites over a three-month period. This heavy traffic reflects our finding that 89% of Americans say that the website is the primary way that they interact with a given federal agency. With nine out of ten Americans engaging federal agencies primarily through the websites, it makes this channel a critical method for delivering value to Americans. 2.5 BILLION VISITS IN THREE MONTHS TO GOVERNMENT WEBSITES BROWSERS Chrome 44% OPERATING SYSTEMS Windows 45% Safari Internet Explorer Other Firefox 29% 12% 11% 0.7% 0.1% <0.1% <0.1% <0.1% 6% Other IOS Android Macintosh Chrome OS 21.3% 19.7% 2.6% 1.1% 26% 18% 9% 1% 89% Edge Samsung Internet 4% 2% Other 1% of visitors say the website is the primary way they interact with the agency Android Webview 1% Other 2% Source: CFI Group, (Nov Jan. 2018), 5

6 HOWEVER, MANY VISITORS ARE NOT ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR TASK DO NOT ACCOMPLISH THEIR INTENDED TASK BY GENERATION OVERALL BY DEVICE Despite the wide use of government websites, many visitors are still unable to complete their desired task when visiting a government website. A full 10% of all visitors say they were not able to accomplish their intended task. Millennials and mobile phone users appear particularly stumped. Seventeen percent of Millennials, and 18% of Mobile phone users, are not able to finish their task. MILLENNIALS (18-34) GEN XERS (35-54) 17% 7% 10% 18% 8% MOBILE TABLET BOOMERS (55+) 9% 8% DESKTOP/ LAPTOP 6

7 PREVIOUS WEBSITE IMPROVEMENTS HAVE NOW TAPERED The significant improvements from 2016 to 2017 in government website performance have hit a plateau. Website performance scores for the six key drivers of website satisfaction were up 5-8 points last year but have stayed steady or slipped a point this year. None of the 17 individual attributes measured improved this year, and six attributes decreased slightly. Ease of navigation was the only attribute to slip by 2 points, supporting analysis that agency website navigation continues to be an area of focus for improvement. DRIVERS FUNCTIONALITY CHANGE IN WEBSITE SATISFACTION DRIVERS 2016 Δ Δ ATTRIBUTES THAT SLIPPED 1-2 POINTS FROM LAST YEAR Ease of navigation (-2, NAVIGATION) Visual appeal of the site (-1, LOOK AND FEEL) NAVIGATION SEARCH LOOK AND FEEL CONTENT SITE PERFORMANCE Number of clicks to get where you want (-1, NAVIGATION) Site s functionality helps accomplish task (-1, FUNCTIONALITY) Freshness of the content (-1, CONTENT) Consistency of pages loading without errors (-1, SITE PERFORMANCE) Satisfaction drivers are reported on a scale (translated from a 1-10 scale). A driver score is the average score for a set of individual attributes rated by survey respondents. Attributes are individual measures of performance rated by survey respondents. Attributes are translated to a scale from a 1-10 scale. Correlated attributes are grouped together, dynamically weighted, and averaged to produce a driver score. 7

8 CONSEQUENTLY, SATISFACTION, RETURN, AND RECOMMEND ARE FLAT With driver performance scores remaining flat or dipping a point, the key measures of website satisfaction, the likelihood to return to the site, and the likelihood to recommend the site to others are also flat or down a point. Visitor website satisfaction across government websites had actually increased substantially from 2016 to 2017, leading to improvement in the desired visitor behaviors of returning to the site and recommending it to others. 65 GOVERNMENT WEBSITE SATISFACTION The relatively unchanged Satisfaction, Return, and Recommend scores are a blend of good news and concerning news. The good news is that 2018 scores have retained the increased levels from The concern, however, is that there is still room for higher scores, particularly for Satisfaction and Recommend Using a scale LIKELIHOOD TO RETURN TO THE SITE 8 LIKELIHOOD TO RECOMMEND THE SITE

9 SOME INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS CONTINUE TO IMPROVE Website satisfaction by department is also mixed news. Three departments saw continued improvement to website satisfaction: Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). DOJ s 5-point jump is encouraging, as its momentum continues its 20-point jump from the prior year. The same can be said for UDSA, which is up a point after a 16-point increase last year. The most encouraging increase is the 2-point move for HHS after its 6-point climb last year. In Q1 FY 2018, HHS hosted approximately 379 million site visits, which is ten times the number of visits for DOJ or USDA. HHS actively serves a wide cross-section of Americans, so satisfaction improvement goes a long way toward creating a better government experience for Americans. For other sites, agencies can do more to help Americans accomplish their tasks on the websites Overall ESTIMATED # SITE VISITS Q1 FY 2018 Justice Agriculture Interior HHS Homeland Security Treasury 26M 33M 65M 379M 146M 138M

10 45% VISIT TO BROWSE FOR GENERAL INFORMATION 1 DESIGN FOR WAYFINDING 10

11 MANY VISITORS SIMPLY BROWSE FOR GENERAL INFORMATION The two most common purposes people have for visiting an agency s website are browsing for general information or looking for specific information. Forty-five percent of government website visitors say they go there primarily just to browse the information made available on the site. Thirty-three percent say they are looking for something specific. Surprisingly, 10% of those who are simply browsing are not able to accomplish their task, and 14% of those looking for specific information are unable to complete their task. An agency would do well to focus 2018 website efforts on improving the navigation and search experience for visitors. PRIMARY PURPOSE FOR VISIT DID NOT ACCOMPLISH TASK Browse for general information 45% 10% Search for specific information about available programs, policies or procedures 33% 14% Check benefits information or status 21% 9% Perform a transaction (e.g., submit a form, make a payment, etc.) 20% 10% Download a document 11% 10% 9% Find contact information 8% This is low-hanging fruit. Contact information should be easily accessible. 16% Source: CFI Group, 11

12 IMPROVEMENT SHOULD FOCUS ON WAYFINDING The opportunities for improvement are with helping visitors navigate around on the website and find information. Over the past few years, website visitors have been increasingly coming to the site just to look around and see what is available on the site. The content on the sites is generally good; the lower-performing areas are with Search and Navigation, both of which involve enabling the visitor to get to or find information. The more an agency designs the site experience for wayfinding, the more satisfied many of the visitors will be. PRIMARY PURPOSE FOR VISIT DRIVER SCORES CONTENT FUNCTIONALITY LOOK AND FEEL SEARCH NAVIGATION 31% 40% 36% 36% 45% 33% Browsing for general information Looking for something specific

13 64% USE THEIR PHONE TO ACCESS THE INTERNET 2 OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE 13

14 MOBILE INTERNET ACCESS IS GROWING Visitors are increasingly using mobile devices when accessing government websites. Sixty-four percent say they use their mobile phone at times to access the internet. For government sites specifically in 2018, 18% of all agency site visitors used a mobile phone, up from 16% in 2017 and 11% in Most of the mobile phone use on government sites comes from Millennials. Forty-one percent of Millennials most frequently use a mobile phone for the agency website, up from 38% in 2017 and just 19% in Even Boomers+ are beginning to use phones more, with 7% using mobile phones compared to just 2% a year ago. MOBILE DEVICE MOST FREQUENTLY USED TO VISIT THE GOVERNMENT WEBSITE DEVICE MOST FREQUENTLY USED TO VISIT THE GOVERNMENT WEBSITE MILLENNIALS GEN XERS BOOMERS % % 55% 73% 74% 72% 75% 84% 92% 92% % 17% 7% % % 38% 20% 13% 2% 1% % % 7% 9% 8% 9% 6% % 13% 7% 14

15 MOBILE NAVIGATION AND SEARCH SCORES ARE FALLING GOVERNMENT WEBSITE EXPERIENCE Mobile phone visitors to government websites give relatively high marks to Navigation and Search capabilities of agency sites. However, these scores are down significantly from MOBILE PHONE 18% TABLET DESKTOP/ LAPTOP 8% 74% Part of the explanation for this drop in Navigation and Search scores for mobile visitors is the increasing expectations for the mobile phone experience In an August 2017 article on mobile device trends for government websites, Digital Analytics Program (DAP) analyst Freddie Blicher underscores the shifting expectations of mobile users. Users have a strong expectation of being able to access government websites on smartphones, says Blicher, and they are increasingly expecting government websites to work efficiently and easily present information and services on mobile device screens Blicher concludes with this reminder: We need to consider how to develop and design government site experiences that cater to our ever-growing base of smartphone users, or we risk frustrating and even losing many visitors on sites that don t support them Source: CFI Group, NAVIGATION DRIVER SEARCH DRIVER 15

16 51% OF THOSE WHO CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE FIRST TRY TO RESOLVE THEIR ISSUE USING THE AGENCY WEBSITE 3 COORDINATE WITH CONTACT CENTERS 16

17 AGENCIES SHOULD OFFER CUSTOMER SERVICE CHAT ON THEIR WEBSITES Analysis from CFI Group s upcoming Government Contact Center Satisfaction Index (GCCSI) 2018 report shows that 51% of those who reach out to the contact center first try the agency s site. And 75% of Americans try to resolve their issue using at least some online site or the agency app prior to contacting an agency s customer service. Many agencies do not currently offer a chat service. Adding this service could reduce contact center costs. Of the 51% who first try to resolve their issue on the agency s website, only 50% said that the agency site offered a chat service. And for those who had the chat option, 82% said that they attempted to use the chat service before contacting customer service. Government websites visitors are interested in using a chat service. Agencies that do not currently offer chat service may want to take advantage of this opportunity. 50% 51% say the agency website offered chat Of that 50% of those who contact customer service first try to resolve their issue using the agency website 82% say they attempted to use the chat service 17

18 BETTER WEBSITE SELF-SERVICE CAN REDUCE CALL VOLUME Forty-nine percent of all government website visitors access the website outside of regular business hours. For mobile users, that number is even higher, at 67%. Mobile visitors (49%) are more likely to access the site before business hours compared to all other visitors (16%). As government websites improve to provide better self-service capabilities for visitors particularly for mobile visitors contact centers will experience a reduction of calls, which is a relatively high-cost method for responding to citizen inquiries. Moreover, agencies that provide effective service when it s most convenient for citizens will surely enjoy higher overall agency satisfaction. TIME OF VISIT MOBILE DEVICE USED ALL OTHERS 49% BEFORE BUSINESS HOURS AFTER BUSINESS HOURS 49% 16% 18% 29% Agencies should conduct website satisfaction surveys to better understand visitor demographics and how visitors experience the site. The more an agency understands its website visitors, their habits, and what they are trying to accomplish, the better the agency can tailor the website to enable visitors to have a great experience and accomplish their intended tasks on the site. visit the site outside of regular business hours DURING BUSINESS HOURS 33% 55% 18

19 ABOUT THE APPROACH In late 2015, CFI Group conducted its inaugural Government Websites study in partnership with the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). This study is unique in that it measures not only the performance of the agency websites, but also the respondent profile of government website users. This report identifies insights from the respondent base that will help government executives better manage agency websites. The results are based on analysis using the proven methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the only national indicator of customer satisfaction. The information found in this report can be used by agencies to: hh Ensure their website is a valued and trusted resource for citizens hh Make efficient, informed decisions about resource allocation hh Decrease use of more expensive forms of contact hh Measure and manage the website in tandem with the contact center In order to provide an accurate representation of the state of government websites as a whole, CFI Group collected data from users of a wide array of government websites. Respondents to this year s survey were chosen at random through the use of a market research panel. In order to be eligible for the survey, individuals needed to have accessed a federal agency s website within the past year. In all, 732 completed surveys were collected for analysis. Data were analyzed and modeled using the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) methodology. The ACSI is the only uniform, national, cross-industry measure of satisfaction with the quality of goods and services in the United States. A key distinguishing feature of the ACSI is its patented scientific approach to customer satisfaction measurement. ABOUT US Since 1988, CFI Group has delivered customer experience measurement and business insights from its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters and a network of global offices. As founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), CFI Group is the only company within the United States licensed to apply customized ACSI methodology in the federal government. Using this patented technology and top research experts, CFI Group helps agencies improve the citizen experience with the federal government. CFI Group USA, L.L.C. 625 Avis Drive Ann Arbor, MI Tel: AskUs@cfigroup.com 19