MyNI
MyNI is a Government owned ‘social web’ site that is in the early stages of development, and is now being tested for a number of months among users in ‘beta’ (a test environment). This test will help government adapt and refine how the site works, so that it meets people’s needs and expectations. The site aims to alert people to information and services that will benefit them.
Background
MyNI aims to allow government departments and other organisations in Northern Ireland to collaboratively create and share content that will benefit people living here.
By using digital marketing tools and techniques, MyNI aims to pro-actively alert and engage people with online information and services, by making it:
- Relevant for them to want to engage with the information and share it with others
- Easy for them to use public sector services and encourage others to use these services
It aims to ensure that people are getting correct and timely information about the environment, agriculture, health and other matters that are important to them.
Objectives
The concept behind MyNI radically alters the way that government communicates with the citizen. The only way to prove whether it works or not is to actually build the system and test it with real users.
MyNI needed to allow:
- Easy addition of text-based content
- Clear editorial workflow
- Integration with multimedia sites
- Tie up with Facebook Pixel for enhanced targeting on Facebook
- Web analytics
At a minimum the site needed to be performant, responsive and engaging as it was going to be competing with other lifestyle sites. The Alpha site needed to be built and tested in ten weeks.
The approach
BT48 (through a BT/Neueda contract) built, tested, deployed and maintained a Drupal 8 installation as part of the wider project. Feargal O’Kane was the key point of contact for BT48 on the MyNI project.
Feargal worked within the BT/NeuEda Agile framework to deliver a functional alpha that could be tested and refined within the 10-week project.
Working with subject matter experts we developed a framework site that allowed content addition and testing of the concepts within the initial two-week development sprint. Building off the findings of this user test we worked with Northern Ireland Civil Service design staff to develop a draft look and feel for MyNI.
Working with content production partners we adapted Drupal to allow authors to add a range of content - text, video, imagery, audio, polls, quizzes. Working with the editorial team we developed a custom workflow system to ensure that the editorial team retain overall control over the content on the site.
The result
User testing feedback during the project was extremely positive about the concept, content and execution. The alpha site was completed as a functioning website within the ten week alpha period and was chosen to progress to a beta project in November 2017.
BT48 (through a BT/Neueda contract) are currently providing support for the beta phase and the live site (https://www.myni.life) which launched just before Christmas.
One of the most encouraging aspect of the project so far is the success in targeting users via Facebook to highlight Food Waste as an issue - with almost 40% of traffic on the site coming from promoting the site via Facebook.