New gov.bc.ca – Alpha Gov
On this page:
Overview
Who: The Ministry of Citizens’ Services
What: A refresh of gov.bc.ca
Where: Province-wide
Why: To modernize the website
How: Online
Engagement summary
Gov.bc.ca is the government of British Columbia’s primary digital point of communication with people in B.C. It sees a quarter billion visits annually, has around 30,000 pages and 1,500 content authors.
The current look and feel of gov.bc.ca was released on June 21, 2015. Although the design received small updates since 2015, it was time for a full design and layout renovation to keep up with modern standards and ensure it meets the needs and expectations of the public.
“Alpha is way better. Less cluttered and easier to find job information.”
-Phase 2 testing participant
In October 2022, the Alpha Gov UX (user experience) design project was launched to test and refine a new design and layout for gov.bc.ca.
Testers found information on Alpha in as little as one tenth of the time compared to the original site.
The Alpha design focuses on creating a cleaner, mobile-first, and accessible design that establishes a strong foundation for posting multilingual content. Improvements include more white space, improved navigation, use of plain language, and the addition of an Indigenous Land Acknowledgment.
Visitors to the website had a choice to use the current version, or to toggle to the Alpha site, by clicking on a tab located at the bottom of the screen.
Engagement approach
The Alpha Gov site was refined through two major phases with feedback gathered for each phase through two separate public engagements and a survey available on Alpha Gov to anyone.
Phase 1
Alpha 1.0 was launched on October 12, 2022 and included a modernized design with changes to look and feel including added white space, standardizing the look and feel template across all page types (e.g. gov.bc.ca’s current look and feel has a different page template for service pages), repositioning of right-hand column feature boxes and repositioning of left-hand page navigation, which was also limited in its depth. Through an in-person UX testing tour in Kelowna, Maple Ridge, Nelson, Terrace and Victoria, 61 people were asked to perform tasks on the website and provide feedback on the experience.
95% of desktop users and 100% of mobile users preferred Alpha over existing gov.bc.ca
Phase 2
A second design, Alpha 2.0, was created based on the feedback on Alpha 1.0. The change to left-hand page navigation was revisited based on testing that revealed that repositioning wasn’t necessary. Instead, the left-hand navigation was returned to the page’s left-hand column and reshaped and improved to resolve the core navigation problems, such as visitors being overwhelmed with unrelated content or being unable to find related information. The modernized design was given more white space, further decluttering pages for simpler navigation and content discovery. Alpha 2.0 was released on April 26, 2023. Twenty-one remote interviews of new participants were then held with various members of the public to gather feedback.
Reach and results
Between October 2022 and April 2023, the Alpha engagement, through public consultation, surveys and site uptake, included:
- 82 interviews with the public:
- Members of Indigenous communities
- People with disabilities
- People who spoke a primary language other than English
- People living in rural/low internet areas with limited access to technology
“I like Alpha. Works a lot better on my phone.”
-Phase 2 testing participant
- 4,700+ survey results:
- 43% participation from people aged 60+
- 19% participation from people with English as a second language
- Responses from people with different levels of digital literacy
- 4.6 million alpha site visits
Results
The response to the Alpha design was overwhelmingly positive:
- 95% of desktop users preferred the design over the current gov.bc.ca
- 100% of mobile users preferred the design over the current gov.bc.ca
- People found information in as little as one tenth of the time, reducing time from 2-5 minutes down to 30 seconds or less
- People were better able to understand the information, based on respondents‘ improved ability to retain acurate content details during user testing
Next steps
The new look and feel for gov.bc.ca is expected to launch in early 2024.
Related engagements
