Evaluating the Usability of E-Government Service Portals for Citizens in Kano State

E-government service portals represent a critical interface between Nigerian state governments and citizens, yet usability evaluations of these portals from the user perspective, particularly in northern states with diverse literacy levels, remain rare. This study empirically evaluates the usability of e-government service portals in Kano State, North West Nigeria, applying mixed usability evaluation methods to three active state government portals covering revenue collection, business registration, and health services. Thirty-five participants drawn from Kano's diverse population, stratified by age, education level, and digital literacy, completed task-based usability sessions while thinking aloud. Quantitative metrics include task success rate, error rate, time-on-task, and post-session System Usability Scale (SUS) scores. SUS scores averaged 52.4 across the three portals, categorised as marginal-low, indicating significant usability deficiencies. Heuristic evaluation by four expert reviewers using Nielsen's ten usability heuristics identifies 47 distinct violations, most concentrated in error prevention, user control, and help documentation domains. Qualitative thematic analysis reveals that English-only interfaces and lack of audio navigation support disproportionately disadvantage low-literacy users. A localised usability design framework for Kano State government portals incorporating Hausa language support and simplified navigation is proposed. Keywords: e-government, usability evaluation, Kano State, SUS, digital inclusion