I’ve spent a lot of the last few weeks on GOV.UK. There’s been so much to do: picking up biometric cards, accessing my eVisa, applying for a national insurance number, etc.
The fact that the UK has one place to find all relevant info has prevented a few headaches. I know where to go if I’m unsure of how things work, and I know that it will be explained in simple, clear language.
Take this section on how to prove that you have a right to rent:
Before I click Start now, the site warns me of what I need to have handy. If I don’t have my passport or residency card on me, I know to wait until I’m home instead of getting halfway through the process and becoming stuck.
The page also explains what the right to rent is, and directs you towards relevant documents based on your citizenship and other factors. It’s intentionally structured, which is a huge help, but it’s also simple. The language is direct but not harsh, conversational but not witty, and clear but not overly succinct. It works.
GOV.UK is known for its effective content design strategy. I’ve seen it shared and discussed on LinkedIn and job boards over the years as a great resource. But now that I’m actually a user of it, I understand the appeal.
Here are some of my favorites gems:
Do not publish everything you can online. Publish only what someone needs to know so they can complete their task. Nothing more.
Good online content uses uses:
short sentences
sub-headed sections
simple vocabulary
3. As writers, we do not want people to read. We want people to recognise the ‘shape’ of the word and understand. It’s a lot faster.
There’s a treasure trove there, and I encourage you to browse through the documentation. In addition to detailed guidelines, you can also find a deeper understanding of how users go about trying to find information:
Keeping concepts like this in mind can make a huge difference when designing a flow.
Contrast this with some other governmental websites and…well. The US, at one point, had over 2,000 sites for all sorts of topics. (Ironically, they tried to condense them with a project called TooManyWebsites.com that no longer exists.)
Changing my last name in the States was a huge pain because there wasn’t one source of truth, and the info I could find wasn’t scannable. Applying for my husband’s immigration documents was a nightmare. Figuring out how to register to vote is a blocker for a lot of people.
I had to change all my documentation once I got married and changed my last name. It was a pain because of sites like these that show too much info in too small a space.
This isn’t meant to be a “Why the UK is Better Than the US” article (though they may be in the UX world). It’s about how Content Design has the power to make a difference, especially in such an important space as government.
So many places get it wrong. Let’s celebrate the ones that get it right.
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