Creative Upgrades for State's Web Site

Creative Upgrades for State's Web Site

It only takes five seconds.

In a sense, anyway. The state's official Web site, RI.gov, has been asking users to take a creative "blink test," to help the site become better at conveying crucial information and services to users.

As part of a five-year overhaul of the site, Daniel Chapman, the Director of Creative Services for the government of Rhode Island, and his team of developers have been researching user interaction and making significant adjustments to the interface of RI.gov. The latest and greatest example is the Five Second Test.

Users who have visited the site recently may have taken this memory test that shows the visitor a website design for five seconds, and then asks the user to list up to five things he or she remembers from the site. The tool allows developers like Chapman and his team to garner candid first impressions from individuals in a non-traditional way.  

What did five seconds teach them? For one, they found that key features of the site such as online services received little notice. So they redesigned to showcase those features. Subsequent five-second tests showed them the fixes worked; people were remembering.

In a social-media world that can always tilt into information overload, first impressions matter more than ever. “The fact is that people have grown accustomed to evaluating data and making choices in a very short amount of time," Chapman says, "and the Five Second Test helps us understand that important first impression.” Further, Chapman reassures Rhode Islanders that whether it is by “email, live chat, site statistics (or) one-on-one user testing sessions, we are always evaluating ... to help consistently improve the user experience of the site.”

All that, in five seconds.

To submit feedback to Daniel Chapman and the Creative Services team, visit www.ri.gov/wearelistening/. For more infomation on RI's Five Second test, go here.