New council website is a lean, mean, targeted machine

The new-look Manchester City Council website is now officially launched and is set to be a hit with the quarter of a million people who use it every month.

The redesign of www.manchester.gov.uk is all about speed, clarity and easier access to information so that more people will make use of its online services, which will be available 24 hours a day, every day.
 
A simplified, wide-screen format is the basis of the design, along with a navigation bar on the homepage where all of the council's services can be seen and broken down into specific categories. These categories are then ranked in priority, so that the most searched for items will appear first in a list of options.
 
The changes follow an extensive user survey carried by Manchester City Council and Socitm - an independent organisation for IT providers in the public sector - and a breakdown of who visits the website, when and why.
 
Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Finance and Human Resources at Manchester City Council, said: "Fundamentally, this project has been about providing excellent customer service and listening to how our customers want to communicate with us now and in the future. The new website condenses information and distils it into clear options - almost like a flow chart - because we need to get visitors to the right spot quickly, so that they can find what they want easily."
 
Research showed that the events section of the previous website was one of the most viewed areas, which is why it now has its own icon on the new homepage, which takes visitors to a comprehensive source for all that's going on in Manchester.
 
Other changes include a link on the footer of each page, so that visitors can share information with a variety of social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook and Google Buzz.
 
Councillor Priest, continued: "This is a win-win situation where residents have an extremely efficient tool for constant access to council services, which also allows them to report concerns or pay bills online at any time of the day.
 
"This then, in turn has major efficiency benefits in reducing the volume of calls received by council staff during the day."
 
The website redesign is part of an ongoing investment in technology by Manchester City Council. This includes a newly-launched digital TV service, which allows residents to use their TVs to contact the council. The service is available through any TV with Sky or Virgin Interactive and can also be used via mobile phones or a Nintendo Wii.

For tips on how to get the best from the new Manchester City Council website, log on to www.manchester.gov.uk/howtouse