The Success of GOV.UK
The following article was originally posted October, 2013. GOV.UK really changed my thinking about the management and presentation of deep information / instructional sites.
With all of the fuss recently about healthcare.gov and how government website projects tend to be failures, my curiosity was piqued when I came across a mention of GOV.UK, the website representing almost the entire British government. Being curious, I went to check it out. Something immediately struck me over the head: the homepage of the British government has no hero shots. No smiling citizens, no satisifed stock photography models. No photography--period.
This is unheard of. Everyone likes to trumpet their importance on a home page by featuring impressive photogrpahy. But GOV.UK is different. This site was designed to facilitate action. The first thing that the user is presented with is a list of services. What's the primary reason that anyone would visit a governemtn website? To use a goverment service! So why not present them with such a list right off the bat? Such an obvious thing to do, yet almost no one does it...because they don't have the conviction to follow what design and usability studies teach: avoid the useless glitz, give users the tools they need to get their task completed.
Take a few minutes to peruse GOV.UK. Where the design consistency of most large bureaucratic websites falls apart within a couple of clicks from the homepage, GOV.UK remains remarkably consistent. The interface never waivers, the short, clear documentation style remains from page to page...no matter how deep you dig. That's an impressive achievement.
This isn't to say that the site is devoid of ornamentation; there are images and graphics, but generally only where it makes sense to have them. I didn't see cases where photos were thrown in to fill space. Instead, I see visuals where they should be, combined with a restrained and disciplined use of the grid. The design supports the user's goals, not the design whims of the interface team.
Should every website look like GOV.UK? No, of course not. But those who strive to help users navigate dense and complex online material should stand up and take note.