5 ms·

What's wrong with their aesthetics? I've always found their simple design to be quite nice.

by zucker42 6y ago

skrebbel 6y ago
I think he means they don't look particularly "high tech" or something. Which I'd say is a feature.
- mytailorisrich 6y ago
  It's simple and clear. The aim is to convey information, not to be fancy and bloated, indeed.
  - blackhaz 6y ago
    And gov.uk's clear design looks better than most of the wild wild web out there, to be honest.
- tclancy 6y ago
  I believe it is: given the focus and care on accessibility for all users, there's a limit to how many whizbang widgets are ok to use.
- g_p 6y ago
  Gov.UK had a good article a while back (appeared on HN) where they pointed out the importance of designing for no JS. All official gov.uk sites that I'm aware of will work without JavaScript. They had an analysis showing how many % of their visits had broken JS support and therefore the need to build for the lowest common denominator.
  - gm3dmo 6y ago
    https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/using-progressive-enhancement https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/using-progressi... When a team builds a service using the service manual as a guide so many things become so much easier. Need to explain something to a non technical manager? The service manual has got you covered: > Progressive enhancement is a way of building websites and applications. It’s based on the idea that you should start by making your page work with just HTML, before adding anything else like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript.
    - g_p 6y ago
      That's the one, progressive enhancement. A great principle, and nice to see they even think about Lynx accessing the sites [0] The post I was thinking about with the analysis of why JS/CSS shouldn't be assumed to work was [1]. [0] https://technology.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/19/why-we-use-progressive-enhancement-to-build-gov-uk/ https://technology.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/19/why-we-use-progres... [1] https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missing-out-on-javascript-enhancement/ https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missi...
npsomaratna 6y ago
I was about to ask this myself. I think their simple design is quite intentional—and it perfectly fits it's purpose. Addendum: plus being accessible (essential for any govt. service).

What's wrong with their aesthetics? I've always found their simple design to be quite nice.

skrebbel 6y ago

I think he means they don't look particularly "high tech" or something. Which I'd say is a feature.

mytailorisrich 6y ago
It's simple and clear. The aim is to convey information, not to be fancy and bloated, indeed.
- blackhaz 6y ago
  And gov.uk's clear design looks better than most of the wild wild web out there, to be honest.
tclancy 6y ago
I believe it is: given the focus and care on accessibility for all users, there's a limit to how many whizbang widgets are ok to use.
g_p 6y ago
Gov.UK had a good article a while back (appeared on HN) where they pointed out the importance of designing for no JS. All official gov.uk sites that I'm aware of will work without JavaScript. They had an analysis showing how many % of their visits had broken JS support and therefore the need to build for the lowest common denominator.
- gm3dmo 6y ago
  https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/using-progressive-enhancement https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/using-progressi... When a team builds a service using the service manual as a guide so many things become so much easier. Need to explain something to a non technical manager? The service manual has got you covered: > Progressive enhancement is a way of building websites and applications. It’s based on the idea that you should start by making your page work with just HTML, before adding anything else like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript.
  - g_p 6y ago
    That's the one, progressive enhancement. A great principle, and nice to see they even think about Lynx accessing the sites [0] The post I was thinking about with the analysis of why JS/CSS shouldn't be assumed to work was [1]. [0] https://technology.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/19/why-we-use-progressive-enhancement-to-build-gov-uk/ https://technology.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/19/why-we-use-progres... [1] https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missing-out-on-javascript-enhancement/ https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2013/10/21/how-many-people-are-missi...

npsomaratna 6y ago

I was about to ask this myself. I think their simple design is quite intentional—and it perfectly fits it's purpose. Addendum: plus being accessible (essential for any govt. service).