12th May 2008 2 Comments

A-Z à vu…

Around 1 year ago, i submitted a complaint to Whangarei District Council about their awful website in general, and in particular the A-Z they have on there.

I remember calling it ‘A sloppy excuse for information architecture’. Instead of actually drilling down to what you are looking for, you’re expected to find it in the A-Z.

Well, here we are a year on and its exactly the same. Every road points to the A-Z, and the council’s website is still as pathetic as ever.

I’ve decided to document the user experience on video, so please, I invite you to watch in awe, the experience that is A-Z à vu

For those who can’t watch the video, for whatever reason, I can offer the following to describe the content within the video.

Browser view of wdc.govt.nz
Mouse clicks link to A-Z
Mouse clicks different link to A-Z
Mouse hovers main menu item, dropdown and clicks link to A-Z
Mouse hovers different main menu item, dropdown and clicks link to A-Z
Mouse hovers different main menu item, dropdown and clicks link to A-Z
Mouse hovers different main menu item, dropdown and clicks link to A-Z
Mouse hovers different main menu item, dropdown and clicks link to A-Z
User Searches for “A to Z Guide” and no A-Z results above the fold.
User weeps and bangs head off keyboard (off screen)
The End.

My Main Concern

Whilst 1 year has gone past and I keep looking for an improvement somewhere, anywhere on the site, I am worried.

Initial theories were that the web team were vigorously working on making the website “easier to use”, and the issues they were having were legacy related. Ok, we thought. Give them some time to sort it out.

Well, I’ve had a gutfull and its pretty apparent that nothing has been done to the existing website to ‘enhance’ it at all.

I’m not sure this is true, don’t quote me on it - but apparently, the site is undergoing a complete overhaul soon, including the internal document management systems/infastructure. Now, what really worries me is that no matter what system, no matter how well crafted it is going to be, the room full of pigeons controlling the WDC website will be the same.

How long will it be before they wreck the new website when it comes.

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