Making the most of the web
Join the debate
Consumer Focus would like to discuss these recommendations in collaboration with digital services experts and developers, public service designers, providers and consumers. You may have your own ideas for digital services, or feel that these recommendations need to be much more radical. We will ensure the consumer perspective is included right from the start, so [...]
→ Read moreOdd juxtapositions
Directgov’s website architecture also leads to some odd juxtapositions, making the site feel less like the ‘superstore’ it claims to be, and more like an online bric-a-brac stall. The ‘home and community’ do-it-online page has a link to voting at the top, which makes sense, but this is followed with a link to buying a [...]
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Difficult to search
With navigation through the website architecture proving difficult, the performance of the search engine becomes critical for finding information. Online surveys of visitors to Directgov shows 35 per cent of people are unable to find everything they want, this is a high proportion for a site whose key purpose is to help people find what [...]
→ Read moreDevolving to consumers
While Directgov and digital public services are taking small steps towards experimenting with the potential of the web, other public sector organisations are taking greater innovative leaps by ceding control of data and information to consumers. These are examples of how central and local Government, and independent websites are delivering transactions and services to consumers. [...]
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How we use the web
As internet use has grown, users are much more likely to use search engines to find information than before: up from 19 per cent in 2005 to 57 per cent in 200728. A good example of this is the recent global outbreak of Swine Flu which during one week in May 2009, saw UK searches [...]
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Speaking a different language
As well as the somewhat confusing layout of the website, the way much of the information is presented feels outmoded. When Directgov was launched in 2004, a lot of emphasis was placed on representing information in an accessible and understandable way. This was an admirable aim but, in the digital realm, things move very quickly [...]
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