Hillwatch E-Impact Audit

Alex Langshur

Description

e-eee-Impact BencImpact Benchmark ReReReReporrrrt A balanced scorecard approach to improving Government’s Return on Web Assets Hillwatch e-Impact Benchmark Report gives Government a roadmap to on-line Excellence & Citizen-Centric Web sites. Hillwatch Inc., #200, 440 Laurier Ave. W. Ottawa, ON K1R 7X6 Tel [phone] Fax [phone] www.hillwatch.com e-Impact Benchmark Report Moments of truth ‘profits’. Many ‘leading edge’ web site measurement techniques Your web site may be the first point of contact with your department raise privacy issues that make their adoption by governments or agency. This first impression is a ‘moment of truth’ – it sets the problematic. tone, establishes perceptions and fixes expectations from that point forward. It is critical that the interaction be successful, positive and Our Answer engaging. Hillwatch E-Impact Benchmark is a management evaluation Does your site make an impact? Are on-line communications tool. It is specifically designed to help government align online aligned with program strategy? Are client group and stakeholders web performance with strategic program objectives and in the effectively targeted? Are they engaged by your content? Do you process, assess the degree to which its web assets are citizen-have the right tools to measure your site’s ability to meet specific centric. It adapts many of the evaluation tools and techniques program and departmental goals, as well as ...

Sujets

• management
• managers

Informations

• Publié par: Apre
• Nombre de lectures: 34
• Langue: English

Extrait

e-ImpactBenchmark  Report

A balancedscorecard approach to improving Government’s Return on Web Assets

Hillwatch e-Impact Benchmark Report gives Government a roadmap to on-line Excellence & Citizen-Centric Web sites.

Hillwatch Inc., #200, 440 Laurier Ave. W. Ottawa, ON K1R 7X6 Tel [phone] Fax [phone]www.hillwatch.com

e-Impact Benchmark Report

Moments of truth ‘profits’. Many ‘leading edge’ web site measurement techniques Your web site may be the first point of contact with your department raise privacy issues that make their adoption by governments or agency.This first impression is a ‘moment of truth’ – it sets the problematic. tone, establishes perceptions and fixes expectations from that point forward. Itis critical that the interaction be successful, positive and engaging. Our Answer

Does your site make an impact? Are on-line communications aligned with program strategy? Are client group and stakeholders effectively targeted? Are they engaged by your content?Do you have the right tools to measure your site’s ability to meet specific program and departmental goals, as well as government-wide objectives?

Your Problem

Government departments, boards, commissions and agencies have compelling reasons to measure their web site performance. As initial e-government milestones are being reached, governments are beginning to focus attention on measuring the efficacy, performance and impact of their web assets.This performance focus is driven by the cost of these assets and the need to determine if the initial promise and expectations of this new on-line channel is being realized. Site performance has traditionally been measured through a combination of technical reports, rudimentary traffic analysis, focus groups, surveysand usability studies.Too often, tactical issues such as download times, links status, number of visitors, pages accessed, and focus group reports dominate what should be a strategic discussion on site effectiveness. All too often, subjective bias clouds the substantive debate on the appropriate metrics to evaluate site performance.

In addition, many of the existing techniques and tools, developed for the private sector are not easily applied to public sector sites. Governments need to measure more than ‘sales’, ‘revenue’, and

www.hillwatch.com

Hillwatch E-Impact Benchmark is a management evaluation tool. Itis specifically designed to help government align online web performance with strategic program objectives and in the process, assess the degree to which its web assets are citizen- centric. It adapts many of the evaluation tools and techniques developed for commercial web sites to the needs of the public and non-profit sectors.

 The E-Impact Benchmark measures a site’s performance against other sites (a minimum of 10) that share an ‘issue neighbourhood’ using meaningful, consistent and quantifiable ‘best practices’ indicators.  The E-impact Benchmark provides fact-based results. We measure site strengths and weaknesses and generate multiple operational recommendations;

 Our ‘outside-in’ user perspective is Citizen-Centric. Important drivers of citizen satisfaction such as ease of finding, ease of use, information density and value, responsiveness, transparency, credibility, accountability, etc. are fully captured by our methodology;  The Balanced Scorecard reporting formats support public sector manager decision-making;

 Results remain comparable year over year thus ensuring your investment in performance measurement is protected, and;

e-Impact Benchmark Report

 Performance is easy to ‘report up’ – results can be aggregated or disaggregated depending on the level of detail required by the client and/or central agencies.

Hillwatch products strongly support(and often anticipate) the emerging guidelines put forward by government for web site measurement.(See Appendix B for more details.) Measure Evaluate Improve

To improve, one must first measure.The Hillwatche-Impact Benchmark Reportprimarily a measurement evaluation tool is that incorporates more than 400 indicators grouped into 12 focus areas as follows:

Core Focus AreasOptional Focus Areas Awareness & ProfileOnline Consultations Media FriendlinessInteractivity Organizational Accessibility Transparency Content Credibility Policies Usability Design Visitor Patterns Each focus area is composed of indicators reflecting recognized best practices based on comprehensive research.The indicators examine tactical elements (the details) of a web site to ensure that simple design, content, technical, and functional issues are not jeopardizing your site’s strategic goals.

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Focus areas appropriate to the target site are selected and the indicators measured against a weighted scale. The results are presented as a series of figures by focus area along with a detailed analysis.We combine these into a Balanced Scorecard that provides management a succinct overview of web site performance and a baseline upon which clear, fact-based recommendations can be developed.

Our reporting format is another key differentiator of thee-Impact Benchmark Reportrelative to all other performance evaluation and measurement systems. We deliver five different report formats:

The Balanced Scorecard Report (BSCR): Modeled after the familiar Balanced Scorecard, thee-Impact Benchmark Reportgives a concise, yet BSCR comprehensive evaluation of the audited site.The four quadrants of the BSCR are weighted to reflect their relative importance for your program areas and stated web site goals.

Situational Awareness Reports (SARs): Hillwatch has developed a set of innovative methods to quantify and visually display your site positioning against international and domestic peer sites in your issue neighbourhood, including a mix of sites that oppose or support your goals, or are neutral.The result is a frank assessment of your peer positioning. (See Appendix A)

Focus Area Reports (FARs):detailed reports These outline and analyze your site’s performance against a series of metrics in each focus area.

E-Impact Visitor Pattern Analytics (VPA): Hillwatch winnows through the site traffic logs to highlight key metrics and combines these to deliver a unique perspective on visitor behaviour, interests and actions. Hillwatch also offers comprehensive VPA reporting through its unique and proprietary VPA reporting

e-Impact Benchmark Report

system. For managers that really want to understandand implement the changes that distinguish good websites from what the web traffic logs mean to your organization, agreat websites. comprehensive VPA is an excellent investment. Action Items Matrix (AIM):provide you with a We comprehensive set of recommendations that succinctly Contact us illustrate areas for site improvement, providing a clear action plan moving forward. For more information or to schedule a presentation, please contact: Why should you consider an e-Impact Benchmark? Whether you are developing a new site, considering re-designingScott Proudfoot an existing site, or simply interested in evaluating your site’sPrincipal performance, the Hillwatche-Impact Benchmark Report Hillwatch Inc.  helps you manage your site better.The Benchmark Report deliverstel: [phone] lasting value by:email:[e-mail]  Objectively analyzing and benchmarking site performance; Michael Teeter Principal  Measuring your site’s ability to attract and hold it client groups; Hillwatch Inc. tel: [phone]  Evaluating the clarity of your message; email:[e-mail]  Positioning your site relative to issue or program peers and In the U.S.: understanding its variance from those exhibiting best practices Alex Langshur in their field; Principal Hillwatch Inc.  Developing baseline data on site performance to gauge future tel: [phone] progress; and email:[e-mail]  Defining a clear framework through which strategic organizational goals can be translated into web site objectives. We are committed to ensuring that you derive maximum benefit from this Benchmark Report.As a result, Hillwatch consultants, Hillwatch, Inc. 2003 All rights reserved recognized leaders in their fields, are available to provide ongoing expertise and guidance.We will help you to develop the strategies (Gv5-03)

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e-Impact Benchmark Report

Appendix A:Situational Awareness Reports

Peer Positioning

The figure on this page illustrates the peer positioning of a target site against 10 other sites in its issue neighbourhood. The horizontal axis measures Transparency & Credibility; the vertical axis measures Engagement. The size of the site balloon measures Awareness & Profile. The larger the site balloon, the greater the site’s ability to draw an audience.

The most effective sites are those in the Best Practice Quadrant (upper right- hand corner of the figure).In this particular benchmarking exercise, the more successful sites included two government sites and two antagonistic sites (see groups 1 and 2). The high-ranking antagonistic sites were as effective as the government sites despite a fraction of the financial investment. The target site and the other industry sites ranked lower across almost all focus areas. This report provided 51 specific recommendations for the target site. Thirty-one of these recommendations were simple and inexpensive to implement; the remaining recommendations were prioritized and the client was advised to implement them as resources permitted.

Other Situational Awareness Reports include:

Quartile Analysis: site variance to quartile distribution across each focus area. Credibility Factors: radar graph combining the five key focus areas that relate to user perceptions of site credibility. Loyalty assessment: evaluation of the elements that contribute towards site loyalty.

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Peer Analysis - Issue Space Positioning

Group 2

Group 1

Best Practice Quadrant

Group 3

Transparency & Credibility

supporters competitors Neutral Government target site

e-Impact Benchmark Report

Appendix B Hillwatch Alignment with Government Web

Asset Performance Measurement

By design, Hillwatch ‘best practices’ methodologies help individual govenrment managers ‘drill down’ to detailed performance data in order to develop clear action plans. They also provide a ready- made vehicle for departments and agencies seeking a consistent, rigorous and mature tool to address current and future central reporting requirements for web site assets.

Hillwatch carefully tracks Canadian and International governmental trends in online performance measurement. The table below compares our capabilities to both Canada and OECD key indicators. As governments develop new measures, we believe we can develop new indicators that roll into our existing methodologies.

To obtain more information on this topic or our Visitor Pattern 1 Analytics ,please visit the E-Services section of the www.hillwatch.comsite.

1 VPA stand for Visitor Pattern Analysis, a proprietary product that reduces the mountain of data from server logs into simple, compelling and manager friendly Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tailored to specific program objectives.VPA enables public sector managers to see underlying trends in visitor traffic and to understand how these can be leveraged to improve the site. VPA also helps managers ‘crosswalk’ between online and offline performance measurement. VPA and the E- Impact Benchmark are complementary offerings.

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Indicators Comparison :

Government Requirements & Hillwatch E-Services products

Convenience Accessibility Credibility Critical mass of services Take up Service transformation Client satisfaction Security Privacy Efficiency/ROI Innovation Progress/Implementation

Ease of Navigation Outcome Visual Appeal Informative Fast Pages

Accountability/Openness Efficiency Participation Effectiveness/ Responsiveness Citizen focus

Program & Web Site Strategic Alignment Balanced Scorecard

3 3 3 Unique to client 3 Unique to client 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3

3

3

3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3

3

3

e-Impact Benchmark Report

Appendix C – Hillwatch E-Services Government and Non-Profit Clients Have Included:

 American Chemistry Council

 Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee

 Canadian Chemical Producers Council

 Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

 Canadian Food Information Council

 Canadian Forces Grievance Board

 Canadian Labour and Business Centre

 Friends of Canadian Broadcasting

 & ConsultationsHealth Canada – Communications, Marketing

 Health Canada – Consultations Secretariat

 Industry Canada - Community Access Program (IHAB)

 Industry Canada – Grassroots SchoolNet (IHAB)

 Industry Canada – SchoolNet (IHAB)

 National Roundtable on the Environment & the Economy

 National Defence Canada

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