One is by taking away the need for citizens to understand the complexity of government. The other is by enabling users to save time. To make navigation as straightforward as possible and get customers to their desired information or services in one to three clicks, California, Pennsylvania and Washington have incorporated features that make the quest a snap. Hot links listing the actual services by name not the agencies are available for the clicking. Navigation links based on constituent such as citizen or business use overlay menus to take a user deep into the site without even leaving the home page.
Search engines enable constituents to ask simple questions and get helpful answers.
Users can even personalize their experience, registering to have certain kinds of information sent to them via e-mail or shown each time they visit the portal page. The PA PowerPort, for example, enables users to register for information by clicking on boxes. The information is automatically sent to them via e-mail. Eventually, the state expects to offer additional personalization, such as apprising license-holders of renewal deadlines and giving customized weather reports based on ZIP code. MyCalifornia plans to take personalization a step further by developing a common customer database that enables citizens to create personal accounts.