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proposals. <br />24 <br />Twenty-three companies submitted proposals for various services ranging from user experience <br />25 <br />evaluation, to website redesign, mobile request for service platforms, civic engagement platforms <br />26 <br />and enhanced email communications. A committee of six staff members and two members of the <br />27 <br />Civic Engagement Task Force reviewed the proposals and interviewed finalists. The committee <br />28 <br />agreed that the most pressing needs of the City are for 1) user experience evaluation leading to 2) <br />29 <br />a website redesign. Proposing companies offered additional services that can help the City meet <br />30 <br />the goal of enhancing electronic communications. We offer a review of those options later in this <br />31 <br />document and ask for the Council’s direction on how to proceed with those options. <br />32 <br />User Experience Evaluation (UX) <br />33 <br />In order to give people the information they want from the website quickly and easily it is <br />34 <br />important to know how people use the site. User experience evaluation (UX) includes actual site <br />35 <br />users testing the current website to identify the ways in which it is effective or ineffective in <br />36 <br />communicating. Is information in the location they expect it to be? Does the website’s layout <br />37 <br />make it simple for users to locate what they want? <br />38 <br />A common complaint heard by staff is that the City’s website has abundant content, but that it is <br />39 <br />not always easy to find. The structure and layout of information is largely determined by each <br />40 <br />department, and what seems logical to staff members is not necessarily clear to site users. In the <br />41 <br />Needs Assessment, staff identified usability testing and the data that would be generated from <br />42 <br />the testing to be of great value in helping meet the needs of website users and allow staff to <br />43 <br />better plan electronic communications. <br />44 <br />Information from the UX testing is shared with the website developer to guide the design of the <br />45 <br />new website. <br />46 <br />Most of the website redesign firms proposed a minimal amount of needs assessment, but no real <br />47 <br />UX testing. However, three firms with extensive user experience evaluation submitted proposals: <br />48 <br />Fredrickson Communications, High Monkey Consulting and The Nerdery. The Nerdery offered <br />49 <br />UX testing on the current site only, while Fredrickson Communications and High Monkey <br />50 <br />Consulting proposed conducting UX testing on the current website, the new website while still in <br />51 <br />development stage and on the redesigned site prior to release. This helps to ensure that issues are <br />52 <br />uncovered and addressed earlier rather than later in the process. This saves money and time that <br />53 <br />might otherwise be spent making fixes after the site has been released. <br />54 <br />Page 2 of 10 <br /> <br />