The second piece of user research conducted as part of the Yukon.ca assessment project was a cross jurisdictional comparison. There are a two main reasons we thought this would be helpful.

• We have a very small team compared to other jurisdictions that have a greater capacity to constantly test and iterate their websites to make sure they are meeting their users' needs. If we compare well to these jurisdictions - it indicates we are moving the needle in the right direction.
• The second reason is that we want to look at jurisdictions that are similar in geography and population to see of there are any unique designs or features used to meet the unique needs of citizens in these areas. 

We worked with our vendor to select three jurisdictions and landed on the main government websites for Nova Scotia, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. In their assessment of these jurisdictions, the vendor focused on:

• content quality;
• how well the brand was applied;
• information architecture;
• navigation and search; and
• translation.

They looked at each jurisdiction's home page, category and sub-category pages and some task pages.

Initial impressions

Similarities between websites

The vendor recognized right away that each jurisdiction faced the same challenge - how to best organize a lot of information so citizens can find what they need. And all four landed on organizing their sites by topic or category rather than by government department or ministry.

All four websites also had a very similar look and feel. 

Differences between the websites

The vendor found the main differences between these websites was

• how each jurisdiction ordered the information; and
• how they designed their navigation.

Content quality

What Yukon.ca does well

• The content on Yukon is fairly complete. There doesn't seem to be anything missing and the categories are filled with content.
• The main categories are clear.
• Information on task pages was clear.

What could be improved

• Make system status notices (alerts) stand out more. 
• Provide users with more ways to fill out and submit forms online.
• Provide users with more context by adding page outlines to category and sub-category pages.

Branding

What Yukon.ca does well

Overall the vendor found the government’s branding to be established and consistent across the website. 

What could be improved

• When and how icons are used as they don’t always relate to page content.
• Find more balance between presenting text, images and icons.
• Look for ways the design can highlights the Yukon’s uniqueness.

Information architecture

What Yukon.ca does well

Yukon.ca’s information architecture is on par with other jurisdictions.

What could be improved

Update the design of category and sub-category pages so they aren't walls of text that can be challenging to navigate.

Navigation and search

I want to mention that we asked the vendor not to spend a lot of time on search. This is someting our team is currently working to improve. We also wanted to focus the budget on things we might not be aware of to ensure we can address them.

What Yukon.ca does well

The vendor found Yukon.ca was on par with other jurisdictions and the application of breadcrumbs is strong.

What could be improved

• With their testing, the search results they got, were not always what they were looking for. News releases and document pages were higher ranked in the search results than the task or inforamtion pages they were looking for. 
• The category and  sub-category pages are difficult for people to navigate.

Translation

For this piece of the research the vendor was assessing how well Yukon.ca is set up for people who do not speak English as a first language.

What Yukon.ca does well

Yukon.ca did an excellent job of providing French translations for all pages the vendor reviewed.

What could be improved

The vendor found some jurisdictions make content available in multiple languages. Not all content is translated, but jurisdictions like BC have translated certain pages in over 100 languages.

Summary of the vendor's findings

Yukon.ca is on par with other jurisdictions. It does a good job of presenting content to a diverse range of user groups including: citizens, businesses and organizations, travelers and researchers.

Based on this and the previous analysis of user feedback we are seeing some themes appear. As we iterate Yukon.ca we should focus on:

• finding more of a balance between text, icons and images;
• improve contextual cues and design of category and sub-category pages; and
• continue our work to enhance search.

For questions about the Yukon.ca assessement, email eservices@yukon.ca.