August 17, 2016 at 11:47 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Designing for the Public
August 18, 2016 at 12:53 am
The UK government provides a mixed experience with regards to usability. The open data stuff is great. HMRC (The UK equivalent of the American IRS) still have a long way to go.
It's very easy to vanish into a maze trying to do simple stuff. I got a letter telling me that I will owe an extra £5k in tax this year and if I have any queries to log onto the website.
Their letters refer to a 12 digit UTR number which is required for all correspondence including electronic but it isn't a username. Clue One guys, if you want me to use this number why not print UTR to the left of the number, don't call it Our Ref.
Clue Two don't make the UTR number a substring of a bigger code. If you tell me it's 12 digits long I'm going to hunt for a 12 digit number.
Lost your username and password? You better be able to remember obscure facts from past dealings with them. Get this wrong and in 7-10 working days you will get a letter telling you they can't issue your username because the information doesn't match what they have on file. These facts aren't "what is your mother's maiden name" type stuff.
If they send you an email it always takes pains to explain that you shouldn't reply as the address is an automated and unread box.
Why not use the handy telephone number? I'm deaf.
Why not have my wife ring up on my behalf? Financial institutions and utility companies will only countenance this if it has been pre-arranged.
Write them a letter? To what address?
Oh, and being HMRC the whole farce is probably their error anyway. Like the time they based my tax on a salary more than double what I actually get
August 18, 2016 at 2:55 am
I sympathise with David.Poole's problems. I think some of that can be put down to _not_ "Putting Users First".
On the other hand, I think "Digital by Default" can have real benefits, but also a downside risk.
This can be beneficial if combined with Steve's idea of
Perhaps you may to include an API or integration method to let customers build on what you do, and learn from what your customers might build, including those features in your next iteration.
The benefit of this way of thinking is that you consider interfaces very early on, and it encourages you to design well-structured systems where the different components have clear responsibilities. It also has benefits for security. In such systems it is possible for the "outside world" and the "inside world" to access different subsets of the same data, possibly with completely different user interfaces (or maybe just a technical interface).
I worked on a system upgrade which attempted to do just this. The results were really encouraging, in that it was going to be economical for development and parts of the industry were very interested in using the technical interface we were proposing to publish. And then the project got canned 🙁 (for non-technical reasons).
The risks of "Digital by Default" is that without "Putting users first" it can mean putting a front-end on dodgy processes and data. If the cost case for the development was saving on back-office administration, then that means re-deploying or letting go the people who where making all the minor corrections and connections which made the underlying business work. The result of that is inevitably poor customer service.
Another risk of "Digital by Default" is that it can mean potentially alienating or discriminating against those for whom the "default" being offered (be it web, app or telephone) is not available, convenient or acceptable. You don't have to be totally deaf to find dealing with people over the phone a trial. People in areas with poor broadband or mobile phone coverage need to have sensible alternatives. Organisations need to recognise that some people need to work through "agents" (and not simply expect them to give their credentials to someone else!)
I'm sure we can all think of organisations (private and public sector) who provide services which are examples of both good and bad customer services, sometimes even both at almost the same time!
I have put the "Design Principles" on my reading list. I have hope but then I'm an optimist!:-)
Tom Gillies LinkedIn Profilewww.DuhallowGreyGeek.com[/url]
August 18, 2016 at 5:06 am
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665375/the-6-pillars-of-steve-jobss-design-philosophy
Absolutely agree that clarity and simplicity is a major weapon in producing a secure system.
It also leads to more easily maintained and understood code and thus it becomes obvious where code bottlenecks exist. Simplicity and Clarity are truly the gift that keeps on giving.
The problem with refactoring code for simplicity and clarity is that when done properly the result is so simple as to deny the effort that went into achieving it
August 18, 2016 at 5:45 am
I look a the list as a good set of principles to live your life by, outside of work.
August 18, 2016 at 7:06 am
David.Poole (8/18/2016)
The UK government provides a mixed experience with regards to usability. The open data stuff is great. HMRC (The UK equivalent of the American IRS) still have a long way to go.It's very easy to vanish into a maze trying to do simple stuff. I got a letter telling me that I will owe an extra £5k in tax this year and if I have any queries to log onto the website.
Their letters refer to a 12 digit UTR number which is required for all correspondence including electronic but it isn't a username. Clue One guys, if you want me to use this number why not print UTR to the left of the number, don't call it Our Ref.
Clue Two don't make the UTR number a substring of a bigger code. If you tell me it's 12 digits long I'm going to hunt for a 12 digit number.
Lost your username and password? You better be able to remember obscure facts from past dealings with them. Get this wrong and in 7-10 working days you will get a letter telling you they can't issue your username because the information doesn't match what they have on file. These facts aren't "what is your mother's maiden name" type stuff.
If they send you an email it always takes pains to explain that you shouldn't reply as the address is an automated and unread box.
Why not use the handy telephone number? I'm deaf.
Why not have my wife ring up on my behalf? Financial institutions and utility companies will only countenance this if it has been pre-arranged.
Write them a letter? To what address?
Oh, and being HMRC the whole farce is probably their error anyway. Like the time they based my tax on a salary more than double what I actually get
I sympathise with you as I had a few issues over the years. These are made worse by support staff who seem to know less than most of their clients.
Far worse was when I lost my job and was order to use DWP's Universal Job Match. This is also accessed through the Government Gateway but as I had used my work e-mail to file my tax return there was an issue about both logging ion and changing my e-mail address. This took over two weeks to sort. Fortunately there was someone else on their initial job hunting course who was in the same position as the staff seem unaware of this. UJM was a nightmare as jobs are advertised multiple times by the same agency and multiple times by the same agency. Frequently the links take you off the site to another agency that then seems to start of spam about vacancies and iffy on line training courses. I have tried for years to stop these but every time I stop one agency my details seem to get passed (sold?) to another. The company I work for tried advertising on this site and despite being a perfect fit I was not sent the details - I seem unable to stop UJM's weekly spam!
August 18, 2016 at 7:08 am
Government IT departments, at least at the state and federal level, are well funded, and IT platform tools they use are similar to what you would find in the corporate world. Sorry to say it, but I believe the problem with government IT inefficiency boils down the policies, processes, and people involved. Donald Trump aside, you probably won't hear a political candidate make this point while on stage even if they are convinced it's true. A comment like that wouldn't generate much love and support amoung the political industry and constituency. However, it is something that needs to be addressed.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
August 18, 2016 at 7:08 am
David.Poole (8/18/2016)
...The problem with refactoring code for simplicity and clarity is that when done properly the result is so simple as to deny the effort that went into achieving it
Thanks for the Steve Jobs link David - I like that too.
As for "simplicity and clarity" in the end result, I totally agree! My old chemistry teacher used to describe a chemical process or synthesis as "elegant". He was German and he gave a particular emphasis to the way he said it. He considered calling something "elegant" in that way as the highest praise he could give it.
And as you say, the trouble with an "elegant" system (however it got that way) is that it looks like "anyone could have done that". Of course, we know that is not true. Usually it is like that either because someone put a lot of effort into thinking about it "up front", or because a lot of effort was put into refactoring and making it evolve till it became that way. Principles of simplicity and clarity are worth striving for even if we start a long way from them.
Tom Gillies LinkedIn Profilewww.DuhallowGreyGeek.com[/url]
August 18, 2016 at 7:59 am
Eric M Russell (8/18/2016)
Government IT departments, at least at the state and federal level, are well funded, and IT platform tools they use are similar to what you would find in the corporate world. Sorry to say it, but I believe the problem with government IT inefficiency boils down the policies, processes, and people involved. Donald Trump aside, you probably won't hear a political candidate make this point while on stage even if they are convinced it's true. A comment like that wouldn't generate much love and support amoung the political industry and constituency. However, it is something that needs to be addressed.
Government takes bureaucracy to an extreme by design, unfortunately bureaucracy is by design not efficient.
August 18, 2016 at 8:28 am
ZZartin (8/18/2016)
Eric M Russell (8/18/2016)
Government IT departments, at least at the state and federal level, are well funded, and IT platform tools they use are similar to what you would find in the corporate world. Sorry to say it, but I believe the problem with government IT inefficiency boils down the policies, processes, and people involved. Donald Trump aside, you probably won't hear a political candidate make this point while on stage even if they are convinced it's true. A comment like that wouldn't generate much love and support amoung the political industry and constituency. However, it is something that needs to be addressed.Government takes bureaucracy to an extreme by design, unfortunately bureaucracy is by design not efficient.
Yes and no. There are places where departments and groups in government, with bureaucracy get very efficient. It is really a matter of working with people, using common sense principles, and streamlining processes to work better.
Al Gore spearheaded some of this in the mid 90s and made some progress, but far too many people resisted change because it changed power structures, and likely, reduced money opportunities.
Government sometimes has good tech, sometimes not. However, the larger the scale of projects, with too much money involved, often means there is a dampening effect on efficiency. There's also the issue of large projects trying to serve so many functions that they don't do any well. We see that in corporate work as well.
August 18, 2016 at 8:30 am
David.Poole (8/18/2016)
The UK government provides a mixed experience with regards to usability. The open data stuff is great. HMRC (The UK equivalent of the American IRS) still have a long way to go.It's very easy to vanish into a maze trying to do simple stuff.
I feel for you, and I know it's a problem at times. Sometimes you get lost in a maze because you're an edge case, or you've wandered down a place the designers didn't expect.
Security is hard, and when someone implements a system, they're loathe to change it. Some of the things I've had to do with banks that have a system are silly, but I've run into similar issues identifying myself and getting responses.
August 18, 2016 at 9:24 am
I too have a mixed experience with the UK government sites. Examples of good is sharing driving licence and endorsement deals with vehicle rental companies and insurance companies. An example of the bad is the student loans company whose system just showed a blank screen when I logged in with my company's UTR instead of my own. It was my mistake, I grant you, but it was clearly an error. I contacted their help email address, their twitter account and phoned in. After many contacts over weeks one of their support representatives asked if it was possible I was using a business UTR as this was a known issue. No proper error handling and reporting and no suitable dealing with known issues.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
August 18, 2016 at 9:37 am
I sympathize with David.Poole's predicament as well. I find interacting with government agencies to be a mixed bag. Some seem to do a good job of providing information and a service to the public, others do not. I'll give two illustrations of the later.
I've taken public transit for many years. About 4 years ago I wanted to learn how to do mobile development on my Windows Phone. I have to have some sort of project to do, because the "Hello World" type project doesn't get me very far. So I hit upon the idea of accessing the city's bus system, to gather GPS data from the buses so I could determine when the bus I was waiting for, was about to arrive. So I contacted the city to find out how I could get access to that. Do they have an API I could access, etc. Well, you'd think I was the spawn of Satan or something, because they never even bother to reply. I've no idea if they had an agreement with some people and didn't want to jeopardize that or what, but there was no way they were going to share anything like that with me. To this day I still have no idea what the issue was.
Second example. In 2014 I was one of those laid off due to an ever decreasing budget. So I went on unemployment benefits. At the time they told me that I was eligible for unemployment for a year. Of course I didn't want to wait that long to find a job, nevertheless because of the employment conditions where I live it was almost 9 months before I got my first offer. However, my unemployment benefits ran out 6 months after I became unemployed. Now, as it turns out there is absolutely nothing I could have done about it. I was looking for work 10 hours or more a day, 6 days a week and only doing it 4 to 5 hours on Sunday. But still I would have liked to have known that my benefits were about to run out. Weekly I had to log into the unemployment website and enter information related to my job search. That would have been the place to put how much money was actually in my benefits package week by week. But did they do that? No. With regards to my eligibility the website just said I was eligible. I complained about that and was told that if I went to one of the links on the home page, then opened another link on a second page, then went to a list on that page, etc. etc. etc. Basically, go 4 or 5 clicks and links later, then you can actually see how much money is still left in your account. (You're eligible for benefits for 12 months, but your balance might run out before then.) That is a poor way to bring information to the public, especially the public that is dependent upon some support literally to live. I got the distinct feeling that they didn't care. I'm guessing that the users who worked in the unemployment offices were used to going those 4 or 5 levels deep, they didn't want to change how their muscle memory worked. I could be wrong about this, because I've no real idea why they wouldn't surface pertinent information to the public as soon as possible, but they weren't interested in changing at all.
On the positive side, I do think that the state agency I currently work for does do a decent job of getting information out of the public. (No, I don't work for the unemployment department.) We regularly publish information in print and one the web, on issues effecting people around the state. So kudos to us.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
August 18, 2016 at 11:42 am
There's some nice examples there of how to do things better:
There seems to be a widespread problem of "identifying people" especially occasional users. It's not confined to the government and it's not confined to IT systems.
Many of the public who use government systems will be occasional users. Many will be doing it for the first time (certainly the first time since the system/rules changed). System designers really need to think about the Use Cases. It shouldn't be beyond the wit of man (or woman) to realise that someone on unemployment benefit would want to know their "account balance" periodically! The designer won't get it right all the time, and they will miss some out but starting from somewhere and then getting better progressively would be a good way to go about things.
As for the, "I'd like to interface to your system" request, If I was charitable, I would like to say they didn't understand the question and just threw it in the bin :-(. If I was a public body, I would be welcoming such requests. You want to access my data, especially read only? Great! You're doing part of my job for me. You do it on my terms, here's the API, here's the documentation (if there is any), you get no support (or very carefully controlled support), anyone attempting a DoS or anything else dodgy will get treated appropriately. Good Luck!
Tom Gillies LinkedIn Profilewww.DuhallowGreyGeek.com[/url]
August 19, 2016 at 7:42 am
Tom Gillies (8/18/2016)
There's some nice examples there of how to do things better:As for the, "I'd like to interface to your system" request, If I was charitable, I would like to say they didn't understand the question and just threw it in the bin :-(. If I was a public body, I would be welcoming such requests. You want to access my data, especially read only? Great! You're doing part of my job for me. You do it on my terms, here's the API, here's the documentation (if there is any), you get no support (or very carefully controlled support), anyone attempting a DoS or anything else dodgy will get treated appropriately. Good Luck!
I hadn't considered that possibility. Perhaps someone at the City didn't understand the request. In which case my question to access the bus system's GPS probably sounded more like "give me the keys to the kingdom". If that's the case, then I certain can understand why they didn't respond to my request. I know if I'd been in their position that's how I would have dealt with it, too. OK, in fairness to the City I think I should give them a bye on this.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
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