The City of Philadelphia announced that it is seeking input from the public on a comprehensive redesign of the city's website through a project called alpha.phila.gov.

Only last week city officials announced the partnership with Nextdoor, a free and private social network for neighborhoods that gives residents an easy way  to connect. “We are the first administration to come to life in the digital age. We are focus in creating a culture of continuous improvement within city government utilizing technology and innovation,” said Richard Negrin, managing director of Philadelphia.

Now the administration wants to take phila.gov to a new level of impact. For the redesign process, city departments will work to launch prototype websites every two weeks, “with each new iteration adding functionality and content and utilizing user feedback.”

"The City's website hosts a myriad of information for citizens about local government and its impact on their daily lives.  It should be user-friendly and simple to search," said Mayor Michael Nutter.  "Rather than assuming we know what information Philadelphians want, we are taking a new approach to redesigning the website and encouraging citizens to work with us throughout the redesign process to make the website better.  I want to thank the Office of Innovation and Technology team for their work on this project and ask that Philadelphians take a few minutes to provide much-needed feedback."

You can check out the first prototype online at alpha.phila.gov.  The prototype site is not complete but will serve as a starting point for the redesign process.

"This project is about more than just a facelift.  It's about redesigning the experience customers have interacting with city government online," said Adel Ebeid, Chief Innovation Officer.  "We will conduct usability workshops with residents and analyze web traffic to find out what users of the City website really want."

During the redesign process the current website www.phila.gov will continue to run. Learn more about the project at alpha.phila.gov.