Discussion Group: Website
crimes & how not to commit them: why public service websites should be beautiful
and work beautifully
Chairs: Harry Metcalfe & Paul Clarke, dxw
Slowly but surely the way
that local authorities are using the web is catching up: a place to engage,
not just broadcast - content tailored around real user needs - smarter functionality
and better service design to smooth out ruffled user journeys: we're seeing
more of all of these. Which is a good thing.
But there are still some pretty basic crimes being committed. Without naming
and shaming (too much), we'll take you through a light-hearted tour of some
of the pitfalls, and look at some of the antidotes.
We'd like you to share your views, as service owners and indeed users yourselves,
on what drives you mad, and what should be sent down for a long stretch in the
sin bin. Are there some silver bullets, or at least good general medicines that
you can take in designing and building your site that will help you avoid some
of the worst of the public web experience?
What role has beautiful design got to play in a great experience? What about
continuity across your other channels? And how do you really tie all this together
with great functionality and rock-solid reliability, and still be able to change
the things you need to as needs and technologies change?