4 ms·

A lot of people skip reading gov.uk because "I'm not from the UK what do I care?!" but I believe it is one of the best consumer web page development & design do

A lot of people skip reading gov.uk because "I'm not from the UK what do I care?!" but I believe it is one of the best consumer web page development & design document bundles around. Even if you're based out of the US or elsewhere. There's too many good pages to link but to get started: https://design-system.service.gov.uk/patterns/start-pages/ https://design-system.service.gov.uk/patterns/start-pages/ https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-design-principles https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-design-principles https://design-system.service.gov.uk/ https://design-system.service.gov.uk/ The US also has some good sites (Healthcare.gov's design pages[0], federal government's digital team[1]) the main reason I like the gov.uk stuff a little better is because it deals with more than simple design, it gets into philosophy, deployment, and testing. [0] https://styleguide.healthcare.gov/design/ https://styleguide.healthcare.gov/design/ [1] https://designsystem.digital.gov/ https://designsystem.digital.gov/

unfunco 8y ago
I don't want to post someones name without their permission but the information is readily available online, one of the people responsible for the improvements to the government digital service previously worked at Vitsœ; and the government design principles you've linked to above are not too dissimilar to Dieter Ram's design principles[0]. [0]: https://vitsoe.com/good-design https://vitsoe.com/good-design
freddie_mercury 8y ago
Is gov.uk actually better than places like Estonia or Sweden? Or is it just that info about it is in English, so HN talks about it more? (Accessible information is important, so I don't want to down play the importance of it.)
- rhblake 8y ago
  Definitely better than in Sweden, where there is no central site similar to gov.uk to begin with. Many individual government agencies have pretty good sites though, and most are actually available at least partly in English. https://www.skatteverket.se/ https://www.skatteverket.se/ (tax agency) and https://polisen.se/ https://polisen.se/ (police) are two examples.
  - jve 8y ago
    Check this out for Latvia: https://www.latvija.lv/en https://www.latvija.lv/en Ofcourse not everything in English there, but you also have step-by-step instrucations, can submit applications, filter by state authorities, etc.
- flooq 8y ago
  Probably better than Sweden. Estonia did a great job and influenced the UK but GOV.UK is a much bigger project due to the relative population size.
thirdsun 8y ago
I agree, I think it's the gold standard when it comes to accessible, performant, lightweight and functional design systems. It quickly provides information and solves real everyday problems for a wide range of people from all walks of life. Meanwhile I have to visit authorities, bring a printed photo, wait and waste time to have my ID renewed in germany. I envy countries liek Estonia or the UK, which offer digital solutions to these common issues.
prmph 8y ago
I find many government web sites to be too link-heavy. What I mean is that on any particular page, they distract you with too many links to related information in other parts of the site, but such related information should probably have been made part of the current page. As a result, I find myself opening a large number of tabs when getting information about a topic on these sites.
- thirdsun 8y ago
  To be fair, a good amount of the information outlined on government websites is actually pretty dense, complex and requires resources from different branches of the government - it's a difficult task and easy to drown the user in a sea of links and tabs. Which is exactly why this step by step solution described in the blog post is so useful. It guides you through the various tasks involved in achieving your initial goal, which is outlined in a persistent progress sidebar. Well done in my opinion.
rjtrickett 8y ago
Agreed, GOV.UK is so underrated. Their service review teams (who give approval) are relentless about user research, accessibility and ultimate effectiveness of the service. They won't allow a service to pass an assessment until it meets these on a very high standard, no matter how 'urgent' or important the project is. Their commitment to accessibility is also laudable, unlike other commercial organisations who aren't incentivised to service that minority. Many people complain that GOV.UK "looks boring" but it's brilliantly effective.
- IshKebab 8y ago
  Do people actually complain about that? I've never heard anyone in the real world even mention gov.uk.
  - fredley 8y ago
    People probably don't mention it because it's so good it's invisible. In my experiance people in the 'real world' only mention (read: bitch about) services they struggle with.
  - marsRoverDev 8y ago
    I have never heard any complaints in real life, only praise. Gov.uk is brilliant for the same reason facebook beat myspace; it's clean and predictable design which focuses on functionality.
- stuartd 8y ago
  relentless about user research You're not kidding there. Every single time I go to do PAYE I get the same survey questions, even though (when I can be bothered) I tell them they could improve the site by .. not showing me the same survey every time.
  - jon-wood 8y ago
    In fairness I'm pretty sure GDS haven't taken over PAYE yet, so they can't really be blamed for that.

unfunco 8y ago

I don't want to post someones name without their permission but the information is readily available online, one of the people responsible for the improvements to the government digital service previously worked at Vitsœ; and the government design principles you've linked to above are not too dissimilar to Dieter Ram's design principles[0]. [0]: https://vitsoe.com/good-design https://vitsoe.com/good-design

freddie_mercury 8y ago

Is gov.uk actually better than places like Estonia or Sweden? Or is it just that info about it is in English, so HN talks about it more? (Accessible information is important, so I don't want to down play the importance of it.)

rhblake 8y ago
Definitely better than in Sweden, where there is no central site similar to gov.uk to begin with. Many individual government agencies have pretty good sites though, and most are actually available at least partly in English. https://www.skatteverket.se/ https://www.skatteverket.se/ (tax agency) and https://polisen.se/ https://polisen.se/ (police) are two examples.
- jve 8y ago
  Check this out for Latvia: https://www.latvija.lv/en https://www.latvija.lv/en Ofcourse not everything in English there, but you also have step-by-step instrucations, can submit applications, filter by state authorities, etc.
flooq 8y ago
Probably better than Sweden. Estonia did a great job and influenced the UK but GOV.UK is a much bigger project due to the relative population size.

thirdsun 8y ago

I agree, I think it's the gold standard when it comes to accessible, performant, lightweight and functional design systems. It quickly provides information and solves real everyday problems for a wide range of people from all walks of life. Meanwhile I have to visit authorities, bring a printed photo, wait and waste time to have my ID renewed in germany. I envy countries liek Estonia or the UK, which offer digital solutions to these common issues.

prmph 8y ago

I find many government web sites to be too link-heavy. What I mean is that on any particular page, they distract you with too many links to related information in other parts of the site, but such related information should probably have been made part of the current page. As a result, I find myself opening a large number of tabs when getting information about a topic on these sites.

thirdsun 8y ago
To be fair, a good amount of the information outlined on government websites is actually pretty dense, complex and requires resources from different branches of the government - it's a difficult task and easy to drown the user in a sea of links and tabs. Which is exactly why this step by step solution described in the blog post is so useful. It guides you through the various tasks involved in achieving your initial goal, which is outlined in a persistent progress sidebar. Well done in my opinion.

rjtrickett 8y ago

Agreed, GOV.UK is so underrated. Their service review teams (who give approval) are relentless about user research, accessibility and ultimate effectiveness of the service. They won't allow a service to pass an assessment until it meets these on a very high standard, no matter how 'urgent' or important the project is. Their commitment to accessibility is also laudable, unlike other commercial organisations who aren't incentivised to service that minority. Many people complain that GOV.UK "looks boring" but it's brilliantly effective.

IshKebab 8y ago
Do people actually complain about that? I've never heard anyone in the real world even mention gov.uk.
- fredley 8y ago
  People probably don't mention it because it's so good it's invisible. In my experiance people in the 'real world' only mention (read: bitch about) services they struggle with.
- marsRoverDev 8y ago
  I have never heard any complaints in real life, only praise. Gov.uk is brilliant for the same reason facebook beat myspace; it's clean and predictable design which focuses on functionality.
stuartd 8y ago
relentless about user research You're not kidding there. Every single time I go to do PAYE I get the same survey questions, even though (when I can be bothered) I tell them they could improve the site by .. not showing me the same survey every time.
- jon-wood 8y ago
  In fairness I'm pretty sure GDS haven't taken over PAYE yet, so they can't really be blamed for that.