Many websites are badly designed.The designer made a common mistake. They put too much information in the page. They think that they are being helpful. They forget that too much information can be confusing.
They like to put in "help" information in that page. They forget that the user can be easily confused with the "help" information and the actual information that is need for them to handle their transaction.
Most websites of our government agencies have this pitfall. Just take a look at the sign in page for SingPass or IRAS, CPF or ACRA. It is difficult to differentiate between the necessary fields and the "help" information. Actually the "help" information becomes unhelpful.
Take a look at the Google search page. It contains only the search bar. It has since been expanded to include the icons for the pages that were accessed recently, but these icons are not distracting.
If I were to design a webpage, I would follow Google. I keep only the essential information on that page. I will provide a link to the non-essential information, such as "Get help" or "Watch a video". But I would not show these non-essential information on the same page.
The bad design does not apply to government websites only. Many commercial websites also have the same shortcomings. Even some popular apps have this shortcoming.
I realize that I might be an exception - and that most people prefer to have a detailed webpage. But I like the Google approach.
Give me a simple neat webpage anytime. You can have links to the other information.
Tan Kin Lian
They like to put in "help" information in that page. They forget that the user can be easily confused with the "help" information and the actual information that is need for them to handle their transaction.
Most websites of our government agencies have this pitfall. Just take a look at the sign in page for SingPass or IRAS, CPF or ACRA. It is difficult to differentiate between the necessary fields and the "help" information. Actually the "help" information becomes unhelpful.
Take a look at the Google search page. It contains only the search bar. It has since been expanded to include the icons for the pages that were accessed recently, but these icons are not distracting.
If I were to design a webpage, I would follow Google. I keep only the essential information on that page. I will provide a link to the non-essential information, such as "Get help" or "Watch a video". But I would not show these non-essential information on the same page.
The bad design does not apply to government websites only. Many commercial websites also have the same shortcomings. Even some popular apps have this shortcoming.
I realize that I might be an exception - and that most people prefer to have a detailed webpage. But I like the Google approach.
Give me a simple neat webpage anytime. You can have links to the other information.
Tan Kin Lian
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