Indiana Uses Analytics to Drive Website Redesign

IN.gov, the state of Indiana’s Web portal, received a major redesign and technology enhancement, which launched to the public earlier this month. The site is a product of over 6 months of careful planning and the analysis of over nine years of Web analytics data. Using this data, Indiana honed in on three driving factors to focus on for the redesign: search, mobile, and personalization.

“The insight provided by years of analytical data has allowed us to be in the forefront of the user migration to mobile devices,” said Indiana’s Chief Information Officer, Paul Baltzell. “We feel the new IN.gov has redefined government mobility and increases conveniences for the on-the-go visitor.”

Based on user interaction, the effectiveness of the portal search engine remains one of IN.gov’s top priorities for 2015. By the numbers, a set of dedicated on premise physical search appliances served more than 800,000 search requests in the month of April. Building upon a previously implemented state-of-the-art solution, the new IN.gov search conducts deep dive queries into state news and events, the state employee directory, as well as the state’s enterprise forms database. As the user types, the search box automatically begins populating results from each of these data collections, provides search suggestions, and lists the top three most popular searches. Users are also able to instantly filter the results by IN.gov category or by agency name via convenient drop downs. As a result, more than 250,000 searches were completed in the first seven days of the new website release.

Over the past 12 months, more than 40-percent of all traffic to IN.gov has been from a mobile device, with many agencies seeing mobile traffic exceeding that of desktop. Operating under an executive common look and feel order since 2007, Indiana was the first in the country to accomplish an enterprise-wide deployment of the much touted responsive design technology that has become a Web standard. Since this technology has been available for several years, Indiana decided to push the envelope in 2015 and implement a persistent navigation, which is arguably one of the most innovative features of the new IN.gov.

Persistent navigation is a series of 10 grouped buttons that follow the user as they scroll up or down the homepage. This feature was thought out to provide the viewer the ability to navigate through every section of the page, and sort through all IN.gov categories without moving their hand on a mobile device. As the user clicks the down arrow or scrolls, they are taken through each section of the page. All of the content in each section is defaulted to a roll-up view of statewide information. If the user selects the right arrow, or a category from the fly-out menu, they are instantly able to filter the content by IN.gov category with the simple gesture of a finger or mouse. In essence, all of the portal’s links are accessible from a single page and navigation element. With personalization as an overall priority, users are also able to specify the side of the screen the persistent navigation is positioned (left or right), as well as default to a specific IN.gov category. These selections are saved for the next time the user visits the website.

For 2015, the portal continued building upon the success and feedback of my.in.gov, IN.gov’s first personalization portal. The initial version of the site allowed users to create a custom profile with single-click access to the agencies, services, and features they access on a frequent basis, all while sharing the IN.gov design. This year’s enhancements to the customization portal includes integration with GovDelivery, the state’s email notification system that allows constituents to self-subscribe to content and topics that are of interest to them. Other notable features include a personalized version of the Travel Advisory application and more than 27 datasets that instantly provide insight into state transparency and local school.

In celebration of Indiana’s bicentennial celebration, a new “IN History” video series was born. The first video in the series features Ray Harroun, the winner of the inaugural Indianapolis 500. The series, created by Indiana Interactive, will feature a new video each month; a unique addition to the IN.gov suite of websites and services.

IN History Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNAC2pOYm3o

For a walk through of these features and a preview of the things IN.gov has to offer, the portal created a video tour for both IN.gov and my.IN.gov.

About IN.gov

IN.gov is the official Web site of the state of Indiana (www.IN.gov) and a service of the Indiana Office of Technology. The IN.gov program is a collaborative effort between the state of Indiana and Indiana Interactive. Indiana Interactive is the official eGovernment solutions provider for the state of Indiana. The company builds and manages interactive government services on behalf of the state and is a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV).

About NIC

Founded in 1992, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV) is the nation's leading provider of official government websites, online services, and secure payment processing solutions. The company's innovative eGovernment services help make government more accessible to everyone through technology. The family of NIC companies provides eGovernment solutions for more than 3,500 federal, state, and local agencies in the United States. Forbes has named NIC as one of the “100 Best Small Companies in America” five times, most recently ranked at No. 11 (2013), and the company has been included three times on the Barron’s 400 Index. Additional information is available at http://www.egov.com.

Contacts:

Indiana Interactive
Sloane Wright, 317-233-2108
sloane@nicusa.com

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