Government Digital Services

A long time ago, in a country far away from, the government released guidelines. Nothing unusual about this, It happens all the time. Usually, when I hear about that I think of things that are well known, well understood, generally accepted, and now written down in obtuse language with lots of buzz words and details. Enough fluff to make it largely incomprehensible. You know, standard bureaucratic language.

When I think about the government that did this, I think of powdered wigs, stiff upper lips, and traditions that date back hundreds, if not thousands of years. Very much rooted in what worked before, with only a passing nod to the current.

And then there’s this. The opposite of stuffy, hidebound, traditional, bureaucratic guidelines. From Government Digital Services in the UK, the Government Design Principles. First published in 2012. Largely unchanged since then. Very forward looking at the time. And still forward looking.

Before I get too far into this, I do want to acknowledge that the design they’re talking about is software design, not interface design. There are some principles that touch on interface design, but it’s about software design and the software design process more than anything.

It might not be quite a pithy as the Agile Manifesto, but it’s close. Remarkably close for a government publication. If nothing else, look where it starts. With the user’s needs. It includes talking to users and to recognize that what they ask for isn’t always what they need. That’s a great place to start for design.

There were 10 points in the original version, and all of them still apply. From doing only what is needed to making things open and interoperable. Because context matters and we don’t know what we don’t know.

I believe all of these principles are good principles, and I would never use an appeal to authority, but it’s nice when others agree with you.