Steven Clift
Thu, 13 Oct 2005 13:40:12 -0700
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From: http://www.dowire.org/notes/?p=34 Advanced Web Comment Forms - Brief October 13th, 2005 In addition to featuring a case study each week, Ill be working my way through the 15 briefs here as well. Briefs contain practical advice and examples. Ill share just summary and links to examples on the blog. Visit the articles on the wiki for the full text. First off, folks tend to get pie in the sky when it comes to e- democracy. Then they get intimidated and freeze up - particularly in government. Developing an advanced web comment form (while not turning off the right of a citizen to send e-mail) can help direct service queries to the right place so the other 10 percent of policy oriented communication can find its way to right person for a solid response. Here are clips from the brief: Advanced Web Comment Forms Definition: Advanced Web Comment Forms are self-service forms that route public comments and queries to the proper decision-maker or customer service contact. Summary: Organisations with a large amount of incoming online communication may use comment forms to gather specific information from citizens in order to ease the response. While web forms should not replace the right of a citizen to send an e-mail to his or her own elected officials or government, they can be designed and promoted as a more effective communication tool. Successful Implementations Example 1: Direct Connect - City of Menlo Park, California Link: http://www.menlopark.org - Direct Link: http://www.comcateclients.com/feedback.php?id=2 Usage and Results: This system is significantly unique. It asks citizens to create special correspondence accounts. Through this account, the city can manage communication with the citizen, and the citizen can track progress on their pending queries. This allows for dual transparency - where did my e-mail go on the citizen side and from the government, a view into the volume of queries a certain individual might be generating across the organization. Citizens may note the type of response they prefer - telephone, postal letter, e- mail, or none. Example 2: Tell it to the Village Hall - Village of Hastings on Hudson, New York Link: http://www.hastingsgov.org/VILLHALL.htm Usage and Results: Once you select Tell it to the Village Hall you get a sense about all the possible service related coding a government could ask a citizen to help direct a query to the proper department or person. Example 3: Planning online comments form - Lewes District Council, UK Link: http://www.lewes.gov.uk/environment/783.asp Usage and Results: A very simple form that allows someone to comment on specific planning applications and note ones support or objection to a proposal. For the full brief visit: http://dowire.org/wiki/Advanced_Web_Comment_Forms ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - - - W: http://publicus.net Minneapolis - - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - Skype/MSN/Y!/AIM: netclift Join Democracies Online: http://dowire.org Start an Issues Forum: http://e-democracy.org/if *** Past Messages, to Subscribe: http://dowire.org *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To UNSUBSCRIBE instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** New RSS XML Feed Available: *** http://www.mail-archive.com/do-wire@lists.umn.edu/maillist.xml