The Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (http://www.inis.gov.ie ) spent 2 years making their web content much easier to find, read and understand. The result? Happier users. Happier staff. Find out how they did it.

1. In conjunction withA presentation by
Effective content for better
government engagement
Shane Diffily

2. Time + Budget

3. “Redesign!?”

4. Find + Read + Understand

5. Calls/emails/applications
Application errors
Business/legal risks
Use of staff time (€)
Reputation
Morale
Fewer... Better...

6. No brainer!?

7. Irish Naturalisation &
Immigration Service (INIS)

8. 5 4 50 8% %

9. 5 4 50 8% %

10. 5 4 50 8% %

11. Shane Diffily
www.diffily.com

12. Promotion
Social
Networks
Strategy
Planning
SEODesign
Build
Hosting
Performance
Review
BudgettingFeedback
Technical
monitoring
QA
Data &
security mgt
Change
control
Governance
policies
KPIs
Architecture
mgt
Testing
Approve
activity
Systems
Teams
Content
Roles
Tools
Procedures
Documentation
Skills
Manpower
Technology
Performance
monitoring

14. Growth in Scale

15. Growth in Scale
Growth in Activity

16. Growth in Scale
Growth in Activity
Growth in Resources?!

17. ‘A lot of practical depth. I think someone managing
a large site would find it genuinely useful.’
Gerry McGovern
www.diffily.com
“visiblethread”

18. “I wish the Irish government would spend less time
making web information clearer & easier to find,
and more time on nice colours & images!”

19. Said no-one ever!

20. Irish Naturalisation &
Immigration Service (INIS)

21. Immigration Asylum Citizenship

22. Visa

23. Permit Visa Border Permission Registration

24. Permit Visa Border Permission Registration
Re-entry visa
Renew

25. Re-entry visa
Renew
Visa Border Permission Registration
Permit Visa Border Permission Registration

26. Travel Immigration House Schools Revenue

27. A (very) big communications challenge

28. A global audience

29. Often know little about Ireland
or how immigration systems work

30. ‫کے‬ ‫زبان‬ ‫پہلی‬ ‫کو‬ ‫اکثریت‬ ‫سے‬ ‫میں‬ ‫جن‬
‫پر‬ ‫طور‬‫بولتے‬ ‫نہیں‬ ‫انگریزی‬

31. 大多数人不会说英语作为第一语言

32. большинство из которых не говорят
по-английски как первый язык

33. A maioria dos quais não fala
inglês como primeira língua

34. La mayoría de los cuales no hablan
inglés como primer idioma

35. The majority do not speak
English as a first language

36. Complex
service
Non-English
speakers

37. Lots of unneeded text & other
elements draw attention away
from top tasks

38. This is how we say “hello”!!

39. Arcane technical ‘legalese’
in much content

40. Dense navigation lists &
ambiguous starting points
for key tasks

41. Placing a very large burden on users
(especially inexperienced users)

42. #1 goal ... bring information up-to-date & make
it much easier to Find, Read & Understand

43. All within existing templates
(This is not a “redesign”)

44. 1. Findability

45. Decrease burden of unfamiliarity

46. “
Gerry McGovern
The no.1 cause for failed task completion
is confusing menus & links. Every time.
Yes, every single time.”

47. Use the “right” words
Make words see-able
Help unsure users

48. HomepageLandingpagesTaskpages

61. 2. Readability

62. Reduce burden of consumption

63. Create room to breathe
Guide the user’s eye/action
Deliver in bite-sized pieces

69. 3. Understandability

70. Reduce burden of cognition

71. Use the right words (formats)
Be helpful not just clear
Follow rule of seven

92. What we mean when we talk about
... the “state”?

93. “Apply to the state to
study in the state” ?!

94. “Apply to [institutional entity] to
study in [geographic area]”

95. “Apply to the government to
study in the UK” (ie not Britain)

96. “Apply to the government to
study in Ireland”?

97. 1 island, 2 jurisdictions, cross-border
applicability & several names

99. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irish republic,
Island of Ireland, state, country, here?

100. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irish republic,
Island of Ireland, state, country, here?

101. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irish republic,
Island of Ireland, state, country, here?

102. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irish republic,
Island of Ireland, state, country, here??

103. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irish republic,
Island of Ireland, state, country, here??

104. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irish republic,
Island of Ireland, state, country, here??

105. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irish republic,
Island of Ireland, state, country, here??

106. “Apply to us to study here”?

107. Shane Diffily
Portmarnock
Co.Dublin
The State

108. Production

110. Effort
Time

111. AnxietyAnxietyAnxietyAnxietyAnxiety

112. 4 guidelines for production

113. Mainly your responsibility
Is it factual?
Joint responsibility
Is it descriptive?
Joint responsibility
Is it consistent?
Mainly my responsibility
Is it understandable?

114. Internal user as important as external user

115. Tools, training & time

116. The focus on findable, readable &
understandable content is working!

117. Calls/emails/applications
Application errors
Business/legal risks
Use of staff time (€)
Reputation
Morale
Fewer... Better...

118. Use your time and budget to do
the things that make a difference

119. Don’t “redesign” as the default!

120. Shane Diffily | shane@diffily.com | www.diffily.com