MSE News: Directgov website to be replaced

lrboylin

dada44 wrote: »

well, ppl are calling this boring, but what are they wanting from a government website? personally, i think one person's boring is another person's peace, and stresslessness. i think they did a great job, and are moving in the right direction with their design

if you want adrenalin... perhaps something like youtube, or an action flick.. may suit you... or even better.... ask yourself why you want something flashy. just cos you want it, doesn't mean it is helpful.

the site already has a bunch of information that is usually quite stressful or agitating to find/take in. the cleanliness of the site adds an element of calm to an already agitating process, and puts it in line more with our european neighbours...

The 3 you have shown here are much better and clearer especially the Swiss site.
That is the sort of site I would have built something that not only British people would look at but also tourists. If you open the 2 side by side you can see which is more of a stand out.
That is what I was trying to get at, it does not have to have big flash animations and all that, just a bit more something like the Swiss site.

lrboylin

ThumbRemote wrote: »

I think you are confusing style and substance.

There is no requirement for a government website to have any flashy style, stand-out colours, modern look etc. It's there to get information across in a straigthforward manner.

Personally I found your post difficult to read due to the excessive smilies - if that's how you want websites to look then I'm glad the gov.uk site is the exact opposite!

Smilies are used in forum posts that is what they are for surprisingly:T whoops used one again :eek: and again
I would not use them in a web design and if you read my other post about the Swiss site then that is how our government website could have looked.
They could have made it more something that not just British people use but also tourists for information on the UK.

Helix

lrboylin wrote: »

The 3 you have shown here are much better and clearer especially the Swiss site.
That is the sort of site I would have built something that not only British people would look at but also tourists. If you open the 2 side by side you can see which is more of a stand out.
That is what I was trying to get at, it does not have to have big flash animations and all that, just a bit more something like the Swiss site.

The purpose of the site is to provide information and services for people living in the UK. We have lots of other websites for tourism.

The Swiss site that was linked to is just a website about life in Switzerland. There is no information about when the clocks change, or how to pay my taxes.

Sally_Brooks_2

The Directgov website was the best! The replacement not only looks bland and boring - it is! I've been searching for all the old info on Access to Work for people with a mental health condition - and the page, and the information, has disappeared completely. What are they doing and can anybody stop it now? I use it almost every day for work (and personal) stuff - so it's crucial to me that all that info is there.

OlliesDad

Sally_Brooks wrote: »

I've been searching for all the old info on Access to Work for people with a mental health condition - and the page, and the information, has disappeared completely.

I typed into the search box "Access to work" and it was the first result.

Sally_Brooks_2

Yes, you get some info re Access to Work - but nothing like the same amount of content as there used to be. Particularly about mental health.

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny

bod1467 wrote: »

What benefit do WE get from this change? (WE = the people who employ those in government). This looks like a lot of wasted investment for no benefit at all - especially in these times of austerity. How does this factor as a priority investment of limited resources?

The £18.7 million it cost, just to confuse everyone!!!

mo786uk

Its a priority investment because the Govt had lots of other sites that were probably costing a bomb to run and by combining them and having one brand it will save money in the long run

I do think they should not try and keep it so simple that they miss vital info.

mttylad

I think the new site looks awful!

And the number of times you have to click through to new pages to read a single paragraph is horrible - put it on one page please!

And !!!!!! is this? !!!!!! is !!!!!! doing on a government website image?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/7982482596/

(Taken from http://digital.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/2012/10/11/no-link-left-behind/)

And now I have pasted the link !!!!!! are the government doing using Flickr to store images?

Who do I complain to about this, which minister should now resign because of the !!!!!! image and the use of Flickr ?