Does Directgov deliver as an information provider?
Too much information
Finding the right information on Directgov can be difficult. The website includes a mixture of transaction services, press releases, advice, advertising campaigns and links outwards to Government agencies and departments as well as independent websites. A closer look at the content throws up a series of quirky and unexpected information. It is possible to find [...]
→ Read moreConvergence strategy
Directgov has indicated that its strategy is to converge information, then organise so that its target to pull in over 95 per cent of Government websites to Directgov and Businesslink18 by 2011 is met. This means that still more content is yet to be pulled into the website, and only after it has come online will [...]
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Navigation irritation
Having lots of information and services in one place does not have to be a problem for consumers. After all, the internet already offers massive amounts of content, which millions of people manage to successfully navigate every day. But such a large volume requires a straightforward structure, and excellent search/retrieval functions for easy navigation and [...]
→ 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 moreHow 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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