One of the things I appreciate about Sam Adams, the mayor of Portland, is that he’s tech-savvy. Like President Obama, he’s hip to the tools the internet has to offer. He has a Twitter account, a nice little mayoral website, and ran a good election campaign. His use of technology makes him feel accessible, and that’s important to me.
Recently, I sent email to the Mayor Adams’ office regarding the plastic bag tax in Portland. I was disappointed that the bag tax was being put on hold and wanted to let them know that some of us do still support the tax even though the economy is in the dumps.
I went to the Contact page and entered my comments into the mail form. But when I clicked Submit, I was taken to a Portland Online login page. How confusing. Most people probably don’t even know why they’d want or need to log in to this site, or what it is or does. I only knew what Portland Online was because it’s where I pay my annual business license fees.
Why this unnecessary barrier? Nothing about the Mayor’s nice website — with its Vimeo content and Twitter feed and big graphic call outs to meet with Sam — would lead me to think I’d need a special account to send Sam a note. I nearly abandoned my comment even though I have an account. My natural reaction was, “Oh, I have to log in? Forget it.”
It would be great if Mayor Adams’ site didn’t have to live within the Portland Online umbrella. Government implementations of technology seem to hinder progress in such an alarming way, adding unnecessary hurdles for everyone involved. I’m sure there are good reasons for the hurdles – reducing spam, increased site security, etc. — but in the end it breaks the promise of accessibility that has been so appealing about Sam Adams as mayor.
I know this isn’t Sam’s fault, and it’s not the end of the world, but it’s one of those hitches in user experience, brand promise, and expectations that is so common online. Easy communication has to go both ways!