4 ms·

Could not agree more. In fact, I’d go as far as to say they’re not just the best .gov site out there, but one of the best sites, full stop. (I know a few peopl

Could not agree more. In fact, I’d go as far as to say they’re not just the best .gov site out there, but one of the best sites, full stop. (I know a few people who worked on various parts of it and for what it’s worth: they’re all legit. They care, and they’re good. It should come as no surprise that the site turned out the way it did, if they’re hiring these sorts of people.)

jen20 8y ago
I remember attending a talk by some of those involved a couple of years ago where they stated that the air cover from the (then) minister responsible - Francis Maude - was what enabled the progress which was made, and that other ministers attempted to frustrate the process throughout. I don't know if it was recorded or not, but if it was it's an interesting insight into getting things done in the UK government.
- tomaskafka 8y ago
  Oh yes, these things don't happen without air cover from a wise strongman (or strongwoman)
kqr 8y ago
> (I know a few people who worked on various parts of it and for what it’s worth: they’re all legit. They care, and they’re good. It should come as no surprise that the site turned out the way it did, if they’re hiring these sorts of people.) I imagine working for a government is interesting from an incentives perspective too, simply because the optimisation is not about profit in the market sense.
- yoz 8y ago
  I worked for 18F (a digital transformation organization within the Federal Government, working with many different parts of it) for nearly four years. The lack of profit pressure was one of my favourite things about it, and one of the reasons why we had more room to do things "the right way". (Another reason: you're never sure when a codebase will get improvement/maintenance windows.) Related: GDS (the GOV.UK people) was a huge inspiration to us from the start. Both 18F and USDS (another Federal Gov org focused on digital transformation) have strong connections to GDS, and there's lots of conversation between the groups.
Schoolmeister 8y ago
I recollect reading about the UK GDS in Tim O'Reilly's book from last year "WTF: What's The Future And Why It's Up To Us". In the chapter "Government as a platform" he's got a small, amusing anecdote about the service. Having looked up the relevant part, let me transcribe it for you: > "One of the first things that struck Jen and me as we entered the GDS office on an upper floor of an old office building high above a busy London street was a large sheet of butcher paper covering the picture window in the lobby. In the paper was a small cutout through which you could see the people on the street below. The cutout had a large arrow pointing to it, labeled "Users", reminding everyone when they walked in just whom the unit was meant to serve." I found it really drove home the service's users-first approach. Following that anecdote he elaborates on the service's "10 commandments" (the 10 GDS Design Principles). They're also quite interesting, but I'm sure a search engine lookup can help you there. I really recommend the book if you want an optimist's outlook on the future of technology, government and economy.
- nine_k 8y ago
  "Be consistent, not uniform" is gold.

jen20 8y ago

I remember attending a talk by some of those involved a couple of years ago where they stated that the air cover from the (then) minister responsible - Francis Maude - was what enabled the progress which was made, and that other ministers attempted to frustrate the process throughout. I don't know if it was recorded or not, but if it was it's an interesting insight into getting things done in the UK government.

tomaskafka 8y ago
Oh yes, these things don't happen without air cover from a wise strongman (or strongwoman)

kqr 8y ago

> (I know a few people who worked on various parts of it and for what it’s worth: they’re all legit. They care, and they’re good. It should come as no surprise that the site turned out the way it did, if they’re hiring these sorts of people.) I imagine working for a government is interesting from an incentives perspective too, simply because the optimisation is not about profit in the market sense.

yoz 8y ago
I worked for 18F (a digital transformation organization within the Federal Government, working with many different parts of it) for nearly four years. The lack of profit pressure was one of my favourite things about it, and one of the reasons why we had more room to do things "the right way". (Another reason: you're never sure when a codebase will get improvement/maintenance windows.) Related: GDS (the GOV.UK people) was a huge inspiration to us from the start. Both 18F and USDS (another Federal Gov org focused on digital transformation) have strong connections to GDS, and there's lots of conversation between the groups.

Schoolmeister 8y ago

I recollect reading about the UK GDS in Tim O'Reilly's book from last year "WTF: What's The Future And Why It's Up To Us". In the chapter "Government as a platform" he's got a small, amusing anecdote about the service. Having looked up the relevant part, let me transcribe it for you: > "One of the first things that struck Jen and me as we entered the GDS office on an upper floor of an old office building high above a busy London street was a large sheet of butcher paper covering the picture window in the lobby. In the paper was a small cutout through which you could see the people on the street below. The cutout had a large arrow pointing to it, labeled "Users", reminding everyone when they walked in just whom the unit was meant to serve." I found it really drove home the service's users-first approach. Following that anecdote he elaborates on the service's "10 commandments" (the 10 GDS Design Principles). They're also quite interesting, but I'm sure a search engine lookup can help you there. I really recommend the book if you want an optimist's outlook on the future of technology, government and economy.

nine_k 8y ago
"Be consistent, not uniform" is gold.