Online Ticket Lottery Permits
In March 2019, the Government of Nova Scotia successfully re-launched the Ticket Lottery Permit service. The service is designed for charity and non-profit organizations such as sports teams, legions, religious organizations, to apply online for ticket lottery permits.
A ticket lottery permit is needed for any of the above-mentioned organizations who plan on fundraising where the prize value is $4,000 or less. Think of a hockey team hosting a 50/50 draw to raise money for new equipment; or a religious organization selling raffle tickets on a spring basket.
The Digital Services team, along with our colleagues at Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco (AGFT), researched and tested user needs to build a service that was simple and easy to use. The online service now provides a permit immediately to those groups who qualify, saving organizations time and money. This was important as these organizations rely heavily on volunteers. Before the online service, it could take up to 10 days to receive a permit.
Why so successful?
We are attributing the success of the online service to our dedication to usability testing with actual users. We conducted two rounds of testing with users with a range of community groups. Legions, schools, and sports associations were all represented.
The first round of testing took place in July 2018. We tested prototypes with 6 users from various groups and associations. Feedback from the initial design was very positive. The Director of Licensing & Registration had this to say:
“[the] team knocked it out of the park. We shared a vision with minimal direction and the team nailed it. They didn’t show a Cadillac, what they are building is just what is needed.”
An important take away here is that it is never too early to test. You don’t need to wait for code. Reviewing prototypes, even on paper, can provide valuable feedback and confirmation that the design is going in the right direction.
The second round of usability testing took place in September 2018. This time with 5 users from community groups on a coded prototype.
Testing revealed that users were failing to find organizations they were looking for through the search function. The database did not use the language that users were accustomed to. Some additional work to the search capabilities made it easy for users to search using wording that they are familiar with.
Happy Users
Since going live on March 27, well over 200 applicants have received immediate permits. Our users are happy, and our staff are happy.
One community group indicated that they were shocked by how quickly they received their permit. Others report that the application process is easy to follow, very convenient, and worked well on a tablet.
This is the feedback we love to hear from our users.
