Fortnightly EHQ Staff Pick: Public Transport Victoria

The team Public Transport Victoria are new to EHQ and they are off to a great start with a simple, yet effective project. This might not be the prettiest consultation you will ever see, but it is one that produces results and you cannot argue with that. Read below why this is our staff pick this fortnight.

Site: Public Transport Victoria

Project: Regional Network Development Plan

Publish Date: 30 June 2015

Topic: Public Transport

Tools: Forum, Surveys & Forms

Widgets: Sign up Banner, Key Dates, Quick Poll, FAQ

What we like:

1. Forum structure: This project takes into consideration the public transport needs of people in various regions in Victoria. There is one discussion per each region and this approach is obviously working. Interestingly, the top discussion has had the most views and received the most comments. It might be worthwhile moving the discussion topics around after a few weeks to see if it changes the dynamics of the discussions. 
   
   
2. Use of Surveys & Forms tools: Great simple use of our most popular tool. There is a simple survey to capture travel needs and a RSVP form which allows people to register in the workshops. Most importantly both surveys are pinned, hence giving them their own tab.
   
   
3. Key Dates: Details about said workshops are outlined in the key dates widget. What we like about this is that rather than giving each workshop its own date, the key dates description is used for all details. Together with the mentioned RSVP form, this works well, although links from one to the other could have been used too.
   
   
4. Project description: There are three things we like about the project description. It is short, there are links to the tools and the end date of the consultation is clearly outlined. The only thing that is missing here might be a call to action in the project title. 
   
   
5. Life Cycle widget: Good use of the Life Cycle widget to clearly outline the stages of the consultation. This works well because the project team wanted to have the Key Dates widget focus on the community workshops, rather than the consultation dates. Hence using both widgets works well. Also note how the team has opted to show only the current stage, as opposed to all stages at the same time. This was done to keep the widget column short.
   

For further consideration:

1. Lack of imagery and colour: This project would benefit from a touch of colour and, more importantly, imagery. Neither the banner nor the widgets have any pictures and we often find that images, in particular if they show faces, enhance the browsing experience.

2. Call to actions: As mentioned above, we usually like to see clear call to actions. As a matter of fact, the project description calls on visitors to join the discussions and take the survey. But this is a bit hidden. Both project title and the tool tabs could have been call to actions as well. 

OVERALL: You are excused if the lack of imagery and colour catches your eyes first, but at the end of the day, this project produces results. And by that we mean it generates engagement. If you receive more than a 100 comments in your forums within a few days, you have done a good job and we will applaud you. Well done Public Transport Victoria.

NOTE: The above is based on a visit to the site on 06 July 2015. Changes made to the project after that date may have altered the appearance of the project.