Website design for Govies

University of Maryland Journalism Professor Ron Yaros will discuss how to design your agency's website to serve the needs of citizens. December 16, 2014

December 16, 2014 — Today’s guest is an expert in the field of website design.

Dr. Ron Yaros, is an associate professor at the University of Maryland. He has worked for years in the commercial areas of visual design and now teaches those concepts.

Many federal agencies are tasked with developing websites that serve the needs of citizens. If that is the case, then the natural question is “what are the best practices for web site design that will help a federal information professional help reach the goals of their respective agency?”

The first concept discussed was the value of a design that would produce a site that could be viewed easily with mobile devices. This overriding concept is called “responsive” design.

If your federal agency was charged with getting information out to remote emergency workers, then you must assume that they are getting information on a smart phone. There would be no value to life-saving information if the emergency responders can’t read it easily.

Ron Yaros argues that agencies should realize that they have different kinds of users at the same time. The challenge is to be able to present content to a varied audience. He details his P-I-C-K model which talks about three kinds of users – scanners, seekers, or engagers.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.