So, okay… how do we start this?
I was applying a job in LinkedIn a couple days ago. Guess what’s the job itself? Yes, it was a UI/UX Consultant in a startup company in Singapore.
I didn’t personally prepared for the case study, though, so I decided to make it a fun review instead!
I know, I’m supposed to make my portfolio looks insanely awesome to attract recruiters. However, I just want to make this article for entertainment because I’m not sure if I’m an expert in this subject, nor having experience in website interface ranting. I want to use this review to pinpoint some important lessons in UI design, especially when it’s applied to a government official’s website.
Prepare yourself for numerous screenshots I’ve taken sporadically. Here… we… go!
So, what is my main objectives in ranting this website?
First of all, it’s normal for our government to use website as a tool for publication and information system. We can see them including recent programs, policies, or annual reports which are (hopefully) useful for further research. Or, in Indonesian government’s case, the website itself can be used as a news portal where it can (somehow) give access to recent activities performed by the officials. So, it’s essential for developers, consultants, and designers (or aspiring ones like me) to understand the purpose of the site itself. Is it supposed to create online presence? To display information? Or… to engage with the users with their content?
Here’s the example. An Indonesian governmental organization called Badan Pusat Statistik (Central Bureau of Statistics) has this website where we can find numerous catalogues, infographics, geographical statistics, population census, etc. So, the website’s main objective is being a huge library for every statistical reports performed by government officials.
Secondly, it’s an obligation for professional IT consultants (or aspiring ones) to propose suggestions about how the site can perform and/or fulfilling its purpose. Anyway, the goal of information architecture is to help users find information and complete tasks successfully when they visit the website. Hence, any contents in the website should be organized, structured, and labeled in an effective and sustainable way.
So, in this non-formal and amateurish rant of a website using my limited skill in user interface design, I will (attempt to) guide you through the pain points I have figured out. But you know, feel free to comment and give me suggestions as well.
Pros
The Singapore Ministry of Health website has one of the cleanest interface I have ever seen. I told you this because, in Indonesia’s case, our government tend to use too many elements and information to display on the homepage, leading us to desperate confusion and begging some white space. You can see Indonesian Ministry of Health website here and compare the two. The sleek design the Singapore Ministry of Health choose gives us the impression of professionalism and elegance.
The sleek design is also supported by consistency in the typography, as they utilize an appropriate typeface (I suppose it’s Open Sans) to help the users navigate the website. Hence, it feels so easy in the eyes.
As you can see in the screenshot above, the header includes a search button to facilitate users in looking for compatible information or reports within the website. For example, I use the search button to look for any statistics regarding COVID-19, then the search results are displayed like this. (I’m not a tech expert, but I suggest this search results to be improved by making it on-page instead of off-page, though.)
User Flow
The website’s user flow is also quite neat.
We start from the homepage, then we can choose any feature to understand more about it. For example, the “Stay in the Know” feature is meant to guide user into the page, and it works.
However, a problem appeared when I want to check the information on a certain page. It said the page is empty and it’s kind of disappointing to be honest. There is also a broken image on the “Falsehoods and Clarifications” reporting page. It’s just one image, but its still annoying to me, considering the page is supposed to inform you about how to report any scams regarding the government’s program.
Also, I think it’s better to add a dialog box here, though, or just add any infographics because any user, who is visual-minded like me, preferred reading less text and more visuals. They can add any plugin to minimize the graphic sizes.
In terms of information accuracy, I think the government needs to update the information regarding COVID because in Singapore, no recent cases are recorded. In fact, statistically, on 7th March 2023 (the time I did this review), it has 0 cases recorded. So, the COVID-19 information needs to be updated. The missing images are not helping either. Because, based on the objective of “COVID Statistics” web page, the government needs to display infographics properly to user, but we don’t have anything to see here.
I love how the website doesn’t use cookies at all, so I think I’m pretty safe when browsing. Oh, and maybe we can improve the “News Highlights” page with more informative infographics instead of just writing long-ass MoM. It’s gonna be more appealing than words only.
And then, the website doesn’t have dialog boxes, just a rating system to rate experience and submit your review to the developers, I suppose.
About the rating system. I don’t understand why the rating system is needed, because the website’s purpose is an informational source. Why I think it is unnecessary? Because it provides zero context to the purpose of the website. I think it’s better to leave a dialog box that provides user with contact information, so if we have an important question (like, for example, if we need to request a specific report or asking for permission in using one of them for a project) we can easily reach out to them. I suggest this idea based on my experience, when I’m trying to collect reports for my college project, I don’t understand which number I should call, or which email I should send my permission to.
Typography
I have to say, I love this website based on the typography alone. I think typography is neat. However, the theme color of blue against white can be a little bit too much of a contrast. They can use better color themes instead of forcing “blue” against the broken white. Maybe grayish black or taupe for the menu display (on the header) is better, to make it consistent with the footer color.
Also, I have a slight problem with the blue buttons on the homepage. They are supposed to enable user to access certain content, but I think the “blue box arrows” can be replaced with “dropdown menus” to provide information to user about what content is gonna be displayed. (I don’t know how to describe it better than… you know, when you want to “see more” of the content, you tend to have those menus instead.)
Performance
Lastly, I want to thank the developers for making this website accessible with the super-fast loading speed. Being not focused on the display makes it lightweight, so you won’t be worried about wanting to access information then… BOOM! The server crashed.
Okay, I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but I think, compared to Indonesian Ministry of Health website, the loading speed of Singapore Ministry of Health website is the winner. Also, I compared it to Malaysia’s as well. The Singapore one is easier to access because we can see the contents quickly, thus enhance our user experience.
The Singapore Ministry of Health website is one of the best governmental website which is functioned as an information portal. (The second best in ASEAN could be Thailand, but I’m not focusing on that.) The pros including the design, user flow, and experience when accessing the contents.
However, the website still be able to improve its performance by applying additional features, such as:
- Additional dialog boxes to improve user’s experience and accessibility to contact the government officials for certain purposes.
- Infographic presentation to improve readability, because at some point, the texts are too long.
- Any broken images needs to be fixed.
- Consistency in the design system, such as the design of buttons, menus, and theme colors.
I’m not a UI/UX expert yet. I’m just a regular person who loves ranting about design.
But, I think the main reason why this web design is awesome is because the Singapore officials paid the consultants for their website properly. The average base salary for a web developer in Singapore alone is SGD 4,313 per month, which is far more than Indonesia’s IDR 6.094.252 per month (or SGD 530,22 per month).
I know, it’s not fair comparing the two since Singapore’s rate is bigger, but the fact that Singapore emphasizes their salary rates in tech jobs, explained much about how they treated human resources better than Indonesia. The Singapore job market continues to demand tech talents, as well as Indonesia, but in this recent lay off season in Indonesian tech startups, it seems that more talents in tech industries are seeking more opportunities abroad. I, myself, have considered to apply job abroad as well, but let’s see how the fate turns out for me.
In terms of Indonesia’s number of human resources, I don’t think we’re less than Singapore. However, it’s so sad knowing that we cannot appreciate them that much. The UI design of the Indonesian Ministry of Health website is a proof that our government is too busy to create “flashy” presence instead of informative and accessible contents. Well, maybe it’s too accessible, since they basically utilize half of the homepage to show us more than we need to know, thus creating information overload. It’s a big responsibility for the officials to be eligible, but let’s not forget that our citizens don’t need all those information to be poured at them once.
Anyway, thank you for reading this essay. Go point every grammar mistakes or fact checking if you like since English is my 2nd language.
Also, probably I’ll do more of these in the future for technical practice, so don’t forget to subscribe, save, share, and follow me on LinkedIn as well. I’ll see you next time!
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