Taking Advice from our Mascot

Recently I read an article by our 'class mascot' Jakob Nielsen entitled "Ten Best Government Intranets" on useit.com. The article talks about how to redesign an intranet in the public sector for useability. After reading Nielsen's ideas about how to make a government intranet more effective it was clear that these tips can be used when developing a strategic internet plan for a candidate.

• Nielsen Tip #1: Identify a lead publisher (and supporting publishers) in each organization area who's responsible for content in his or her area and train the lead publishers to manage the intranet and to understand principles for online content usability and readability

Strategic Plan: In a political campaign, especially in a smaller race, it is sometimes difficult to tell who exactly is in change of the Internet campaign. It is important to identify exactly who has that responsibility even if it is a volunteer. Once that person, or people, are identified it is important to train them how to develop a website that makes it easy for a voter to use.

• Nielsen Tip #2: For intranet postings, use a simple and easy form to encourage employees to submit information

Strategic Plan: When you are creating web forms for users to get information, get involved, or donate money it is important to make that form as easy to understand as possible. Voters will not get involved if they get frustrated by the process.

• Nielsen Tip #3: Set expiration dates for all content and use software to automatically track those dates

Strategic Plan: Make sure that all news and events on a candidate's website are properly dated. It is important that people who come to your website frequently know what information is updated and current.

• Nielsen Tip #4: Review pages before posting to guarantee compliance with intranet standards

Strategic Plan: Be sure to review all pages on the website for typos, incorrect information, and links that do not work before publishing a website. Users will not come back to a site that does not work properly.

• Nielsen Tip #5: Use templates and a content management system (CMS) to provide a consistent user interface for publishing

Strategic Plan: When creating a campaign website that has a lot of forms it will benefit the user if all of the forms look similar. People are more likely to fill out a form that they understand and have used before.

Although Nielsen's tips are for the use of Intranets, his advice can be used to develop the best campaign website possible.