Teaming up on COVID-19 web content in B.C.
Many hands make light work. True during ‘regular times’ and even more true during a pandemic (even if those hands are all tethered together virtually). A team with diverse skill sets and a common focus is a recipe for quick, thoughtful delivery and ongoing improvement.
B.C.’s COVID-19 Web Content Team
In response to COVID-19, the Government of British Columbia’s Government Digital Experience team struck a team dedicated to managing COVID-19 related web content. This team (we) manage the gov.bc.ca COVID-19 homepage and review all COVID-19-related web content for plain language, consistency and accessibility.
The COVID-19 Web Content Team is made up of service and content designers, a UX specialist, a user researcher and digital educator. These folks are skilled, whip-smart and adept at juggling multiple priorities at once. It’s an informal group — we usually don’t all work together and our job descriptions haven’t changed, but we’ve teamed up around this common goal.
B.C.’s Response to COVID-19 Web Page
B.C.’s Response to COVID-19 was launched as a central spot for COVID-19 non-health-related information.
The site brings together information on government supports and financial benefits, changes to services and translated information. It also lays out the phases for returning to and living ‘regular life’ in B.C. in the days and months to come. This content changes daily and needs to be clear and consistent. In the last five months, over 2.5 million visitors have viewed the site.
In a COVID-19 context, it’s more important than ever that people are able to easily find clear information about government services and supports online; the centralized COVID Web Content Team supports this.
We use the Government of Canada’s crisis communications content design checklist to promote plain language and raise awareness about the importance of content design.
Clear web content can help more people access government services.
A Team of Teams
The COVID Web Content Team is small — which makes us nimble and means we all pitch in to get the work done.
We work with teams across government to align online, social media and service delivery information. Our partners include teams in digital communications and social media, digital forms and services, and ministry web, programs, and communications. We also work closely with teams outside of government focused on health-information, like the BC Centre for Disease Control and WorkSafeBC, to weave together the various sources of COVID-19-related information.
And — a shout out to our colleagues at the Government of Ontario and Government Canada, whose COVID-19 websites we regularly reference.
We’re a part of a team of teams working together for British Columbians and Canadians.
The B.C. COVID Web Content Team relies on our broad network to help highlight content needs and gaps — and to send us their own insights on how people are accessing COVID-19 information. This means we can quickly tell what information people are looking for, like “can I travel, or what are the guidelines for social interactions?” and then craft and post content to address these questions.
An Evidence and Experience-Based Approach
The COVID-19 Web Content Team’s approach is informed by a digital assistant (aka chatbot) that highlights common questions, as well as website and Google search analytics, COVID-19 call centre metrics, virtual town hall questions submitted by the public and social media comments.
We also run virtual user research sessions with a sample of British Columbians every three weeks to test out the usability and usefulness of key content pages.
There are a lot of analytics to review and process, and every team member brings their own perspective and take on how we can use it to shape improve our content. We’re now on version four of the site — and I’m sure there will be more versions and changes to come based on ongoing research and analysis.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, we know the COVID-19 Response to B.C. site needs to serve the needs of diverse audiences better. We’re also trying to see ourselves in a system of community supports for COVID-19, not just a central government entity.
Really, the COVID Web Content Team is just a small piece of a larger community network that’s supporting British Columbia through the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how we fit into this network and where else people are looking for information and receiving services will help us to amplify others’ work and tailor the information we provide.
It’s not about us, government, or a single website– it’s about helping people access the information and services they need.
As we move into month six of supporting B.C.’s response to COVID-19, the members of our Web Content Team are changing — people are taking well-deserved time-off, returning to their ‘regular duties’ or heading out on maternity leave (me!). And while these changes will open up some knowledge gaps and mean that we need to quickly bring new folks up to speed, the new members of the team will help us to continually question our assumptions and reasoning, and push us to continually do better.
As a team we’ll dig into what lies ahead!
The opinions and views expressed in this post are solely the author’s and do not represent those of the Province of British Columbia or any other parties.
