In 2014, the number of Internet users worldwide hit 3 billion people: that’s 40 percent of the world’s population, and it continues to grow at a pace that boggles the mind. 

With Utah outranking all other states for the number of households with computers, the need for faster connectivity and more timesaving, user-friendly sites is a ubiquitous reality.

The state of Utah has entered that reality with a partnership with Utah Interactive by giving Utah.gov a much-needed facelift.

“Through our partnership with the state we were able to complete the redesign at no cost,” Sarah Watts, general manager of Utah Interactive, said. 

 The objective was to break down the barriers that exist between city, county and state services by creating an ease of accessibility.

“When state employees, residents, professionals and businesses can conduct state business quickly and efficiently online, it allows them more time to focus on their own work and creates more free time for the things we love to do,” Watts said about the benefits to the community.

The look of the new site reflects something familiar: the search engine.

With a simple quick search (with an even quicker response time), citizens can navigate to where they need to be; the site was built and created to be more interactive, localized and personalized.

Utah State executive director of the  Department of Technology Services, Mark VanOrden, said, “We are always looking for new ways to help the citizens of Utah get more from state government.”

In August, Utah.gov began evaluating and planning for the redesign of the website, which had already been award-winning.

By studying behavior they were able to better understand the needs of the visitors and what content was useful and relevant and what wasn’t. 

The site was designed to work on the go, compatible for a desktop, tablet or mobile phone. Utah.gov serves 2.7 million users statewide.

“Government should always look for the best ways to serve people, and today that means providing services and information online,” Gov. Gary R. Herbert said in a recent press release.