The site has a dramatically different structure thanks to a $2.2-million facelift that began in January. Instead of organizing its content by state office or agency, it arranges the material by topic such as "Travel and Leisure" or "Living and Working."
By clicking on topic buttons, users get lists of links to relevant agencies. The Department of Natural Resources, for instance, is listed under "Travel and Leisure" as well as "Roads and Driving" and "Hunting and Fishing."
The redesign augments the number of state licenses that can be renewed online: cosmetology, notaries public and real estate, says North Star director James Kauth. Users have been able to renew their license-plate tabs there for a while.
The redesign comes as the Citizens League, a Minnesota non-partisan governmental group, scrutinizes how to better streamline government services by offering them online.
The Citizens League sees e-government as a way to help eliminate the state's projected $3 billion deficit, says program associate Scott McMahon.
Just as airline e-ticketing costs a fraction of what paper tickets do, government agencies can save 20 to 80 percent of operating costs for certain services by offering them online, he says.
The Citizens League worries that Minnesota has dropped in e-government rankings. The state placed 37th in usefulness in a recent Brown University study of such sites.
McMahon is skeptical of the North Star redesign, calling most of the changes cosmetic. He says the state is spending far less than other states on substantive e-government initiatives.
"This appears more like a Band-Aid to make it seem like less of a problem," he says after seeing the site in test form.
But Kauth says the new site not only augments e-government options for citizens but also centralizes electronic license-renewal payments, all without spending the millions other states have.
He predicts Minnesota's site will finish among the top five in the nation next year.
"This really establishes the Office of Technology as a leadership body to bring the state of Minnesota back into focus," he says.
One quirky aspect from the old design didn't carry over. Users won't hear the Minnesota state bird's call when clicking on a loon logo.
Quelle: TwinCities
