Constructs of Website Quality and Success

and what the findings showed in regards to the webmasters explanation of website quality versus use of quality criteria launched by the central governments.

aspects that were deemed remarkable and significant were in line with the webmasters’ explanations of website quality (Paper 1) and the quality criteria used as guidelines in public sector organisations (Paper 2). However, the findings in Paper 3 indicated substantial opportunities for improvements by pointing to topics that were required to be addressed, concerning usability issues, accessibility requirements and the use of updated technologies.

Paper 3 addressed information quality and we deduced that public websites presented trustworthy and reliable information, closely followed by other features of information quality such as relevant information, current information and updated information. The findings also explained very clearly that perceptions of information quality were higher than those of system quality and service quality.

As webmasters assumed the responsibility of updating and maintaining website content on a daily basis, (Furu, 2006), we speculated that information quality was the feature that webmasters could influence to a great extent, and therefore they were convinced that information quality was the answer to a website’s success.

Prior research (e.g. Nielsen, 1993; Chung-Tzer Liu et al., 2009; Price and Shanks, 2005) suggested that content quality was an important subject matter in website success. Webmasters could effortlessly and smoothly modify and publish content, compared to making improvements on design features, and dealing with highly technical issues and accessibility requirements.

With respect to system quality in Paper 3, public sector websites were perceived to be secure to use, in terms of handling of information and services. Security of online information and services was regarded to be significant from a webmasters point of view, in order to ensure a trustworthy dialogue with government bodies, through website interactions and digital channels. Security were also found to be of high importance from the users’ point of view and governments aims to

facilitate for that (Accenture, 2007), in order to ensure a trustworthy dialogue with the government through website interactions (Ministry of Modernisation 2005;

European Union 2012). Although we ascertained that websites aimed to increase and therefore, encouraged efficiency and effectiveness, the findings also indicated room for improvements with regard to system integration and accessibility requirements. When addressing system quality in websites, usability issues such as efficiency and effectiveness were accepted as key contributors to website quality and website usage. The findings suggested that increased attention should be devoted to easy and uncomplicated usage of websites and user friendliness of digital self-services provided by websites.

Although we ascertained that websites aimed to increase and therefore, encouraged efficiency and effectiveness (Departementene, 2012), both from an organisational and users’ perspective, the findings indicated room for improvements with regard to system integration and accessibility requirements. In order to offer all individuals an opportunity to participate in a digital society, and also to ensure user participation, it is exigent to emphasise system integration and accessibility in public sector organisations (Pasinetti, 2009; Kuzma, 2010;

Snaprud and Sawicka, 2007). Issues concerning usability were exceptionally important (Choudrie et al., 2009; Kuzma, 2010; Gil-Garcia and Pardo, 2005), in order increase usage and stimulate high quality interactions and user satisfaction, and were in prior research highlighted as one of the main drivers of system success (van Iwaarden et al., 2004; Choudrie et al., 2009; DeLone and McLean, 2003).

Paper 3 also focused on the topic of quality in online services and noted that trust and helpfulness were vital issues of quality. In this regard, public organisations were inclined to be service-minded and displayed empathy towards users, thus

ensuring that the public placed trust and had absolute confidence in public information and services provided by the governments. Feedback and response time were decisive contributors of government online services, and key elements in the digital communication between website users and government bodies. As a result, we can conclude that the public sector performed relatively skillfully and accurately whilst striving to provide quality in services, through minimal response time and empathy towards users, although previous studies found that responsiveness towards users revealed a potential for improvements (Andersen et al., 2011). Though service quality could be approached from different levels and perspectives, organisations consistently strived to be accessible to users (citizens), in order to provide help and assistance and solve users’ problems.

Furthermore, regarding perception of website quality among public sector webmasters in Norway and Denmark, Denmark scored significantly higher, with respect to information quality, system quality and service quality. Taking into account the fact that Norway and Denmark are relatively homogeneous countries, there were minor differences between those who held positions as webmasters in the public sector. With almost the same quality criteria and methods applied in quality assessments organised by the central governments in both countries (as demonstrated in Paper 2), we could only speculate on the reasons why websites in Denmark displayed a higher level of quality, without accurately pinpointing one obvious reason. However, one explanation could be that we had talked about relatively minor differences in the findings, although there was an interesting finding that was worth noting, in upcoming research related to quality of websites in the Scandinavian countries.

Given the means by which website quality evaluations of public sector websites were conducted in relation to the use of quality criteria and methods applied for

these evaluations, the findings in Paper 2 also determined that citizens were not necessarily more satisfied with high-quality websites as compared to low-quality websites. Consequently, there was no positive correlation between the quality of public sector websites and actual user satisfaction among the citizens. Since the use of quality criteria obligated by the governments were often found to be important indicators of website quality, we could speculate on the lack of correlation. As stated in Paper 2, one interpretation of these findings could be that there was a significant disparity between what the users in public websites found important and the governments’ use of quality criteria for such evaluations. What was important for the users could be linked to a broad definition of usability issues (Boivie et al., 2006), which affected how quickly and effortlessly the users located information and performed different tasks, for e.g. applied for various services and other similar tasks that comprised the total user experience with a specific website (Barnes and Vidgen, 2003).

Considering the evaluation process undertaken in the light of the webmasters’

explanations of website quality (Paper 1), which were to a higher degree geared toward content, user performance, design issues and ease of use, rather than technical aspects concerning issues the users were not proven to relate to in terms of task performance, the findings in Paper 2 were after all not unpredictable.

Although website quality was considered to be a prerequisite for success, we accepted that there were no indications that this was consistent in an eGovernment context, when measuring quality in public websites and actual user satisfaction among the citizens. This could therefore lead to a discussion on the use of quality criteria in such evaluations and ranking of public sector websites, and furthermore, methods applied for measurement of citizens’ satisfaction.

In this regard, the disparity between website quality and user satisfaction was an interesting finding because almost all organisations endeavoured to fulfil quality criteria, and therefore a range of unexplored concerns would require to be addressed in future research contributions. In order to accomplish a superior and more comprehensive assessment process, increasingly extensive and all-inclusive evaluations could also be considered in the coming years, which would in turn lead to augmented and advanced clarity with regard to perceptions of website quality. A discussion which was also covered in Paper 2, concerned whether there was a mismatch between the use of quality criteria and the users’ expectations and requirements from public websites. The criteria clearly differed from traditional usability testing grounded in the literature (e.g. Rogers et al., 2011; Leventhal and Barnes, 2008; Heim, 2007; Hornbæk and Stage, 2006). Inclusion of real users during the evaluation process (and not merely evaluations by experts), in addition to less standardised and objective measures, could provide added value and insights.

Paper 4 investigated the relationships among constructs of website success (information quality, system quality, service quality, user satisfaction and net benefits) as perceived by webmasters who were the intermediaries for this task. In general, there was a positive correlation between the constructs of success. Further investigation revealed that the strongest correlation in regard to website quality and user satisfaction was the relationship between service quality and user satisfaction, followed by information quality and then system quality. Concerning net benefits, the study established the strongest correlation between information quality and user benefits (measured as net benefits), followed by system quality and service quality. Finally, the study also validated a positive correlation between user satisfaction and net benefits. The correlation results (Paper 4) provide

significant associations among constructs of success and support the efficacy of the DeLone and McLean IS success model within eGovernment environments.

However, a statistical validation of the model in a public sector could be addressed in forthcoming research contributions (the purpose of the present study was not to validation the model, but rather to use the model in order to identify constructs of success).

Moreover, this thesis sought to emphasise an individual level by measuring user benefits, such as time savings, cost savings and continuous and constant accessibility to information and services. Prior research studies, e.g. Flak et al.

(2009) attempted to understand benefits achievement by focussing on organisational efficiency and effectiveness, while measures connected with protecting citizens’ rights and level of economic security guaranteed by the government, were also considered important (Scott et al., 2009).