Usability and credibility of e-government websites

•The mutual influence between the usability and credibility of e-government websites has been explored.•A set of usability (e.g., ease of moving) and credibility strengths (e.g., correct URL) have been identified on current e-government websites.•A number of usability (e.g. links with too many colours) and credibility weaknesses (e.g., lack of contact) have been found on current e-government websites.•The effect of users’ perception of usability and credibility on their performance has been investigated.

Albeit e-government has seen a steady growth, it can still benefit from a better user engagement, and usability and credibility are believed to be among the factors that influence such engagement. This paper presents an empirical study that evaluates the usability and credibility of current e-government websites and looks at user performance while using these websites. The study is based on a heuristic evaluation which aims to capture users' perception of usability and credibility. Our results show a close correlation between usability and credibility, as e-government websites with a high usability were perceived as having higher credibility, and vice versa. A number of usability and credibility weaknesses were identified on our sample of e-government websites.