Republic of Slovenia’s state administration websites

The redesign and optimisation of the Republic of Slovenia’s state administration websites, gov.si, was one of the most extensive projects in the history of the Slovenian state administration website and also one of the largest projects ever taken on by Innovatif.

Introduction

The central website of the Slovenian state administration, GOV.SI, combines the presentations of individual ministries, government offices, ministerial bodies and administrative units. After the redesign, this extensive website now features a more transparent content structure, provides a comprehensive overview of the state administration’s work in various fields and meets all the technical requirements for a greatly improved user experience.

Challenge

Slovenia is not the only European country to do so, it is, however, one of the first ones to undertake and successfully implement such a complex and large-scale project. For Innovatif, merging the presentation websites of the Slovenian state administration bodies was a one-a-kind challenge too. We combed through more than 100 websites and merged them into a single website, as well as trained more than 500 web editors to manage the website later.

Solution

We used the SilverStripe content management system, which is based on the SilverStripe Sapphire framework, allowing its operation to be adapted to the needs of the project. For websites that are as complex as the central website of the Slovenian state administration this is one of the key features, as the operation of the system can be adapted not only to the needs of users – which is what CMS focuses on – but also to the needs of web editors (backend upgrades) and connected systems (integration).

The GOV.SI website is based on the needs of its users, providing information in a uniform, understandable and clear way. It gives a comprehensive overview of the state administration’s work in various fields, which is why the website content is contributed by all the ministries, ministerial bodies, government offices and administrative units.

The new website provides different types of users with a single-entry point, through which they can switch between different public administration areas. The website has also been adapted to suit the needs of persons with special needs, ensuring accessibility to vulnerable groups.

The primary focus on the website design is on leaving the primary visual expression to the content, with the greatest emphasis being on the readability of the provided information. This is achieved not only through text readability, but in part also through a well-thought-out arrangement of individual elements. The user interface components are designed to be useful on other state administration sites as well.

Much like the experiences of other countries (such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the USA) which have opted for a single website, the results of this redesign also show higher standards of public announcements and an improved user experience.