Think of a public art project, say, for a new sculpture. Consider how it progresses.

First a tender is advertised and an artist is chosen. After agreeing a brief, the work begins. A year or so later the new art work is announced to the world.

And then what happens? Absolutely nothing.

Web as 'art project'

A red-velvet rope is hung around the sculpture so people can admire it from a respectful distance. Apart from the occasional dusting by a contract cleaner, it never changes. In any case, all the budget has been used up so nothing can change anyway.

(Read my article: Why "have budget ... must spend!" leads to bad websites.)

That's why 'art project' is such a good analogy for many public and government websites.

These websites are not expected to do anything. They are merely aesthetic objects. They are valued primarily for their 'look-and-feel' based on corporate-approved imagery and colours. Little else.

Web as 'machine'

In contrast, consider a machine.

Unlike an art project - which people step away from - people step towards a machine. They need to, so they can use it to do things.

A good machine earns its living. It hums with activity as skilled machinists endlessly tweak, tune and refine it. It even looks nice because the same professionals know how to craft elegant form from function.

That's why most public and government websites cannot be thought of as useful 'machines'.

Even if they work at first, they typically seize-up after a short time because they lack the fulltime specialists needed to keep them going, e.g. user researchers, content designers, UX designers, analytics specialists, developers, etc.

Don't make me tap the sign!

It's very clear that the vast majority of public and government websites (at least in Ireland where I live) are still in the 'art project' phase of digital maturity. They are stuck in endless loops of 'redesign!' in the futile hope that just-one-more will fix all their problems.

Nope. Don't make me tap the sign! It will never happen.

A change of mindset is needed. These organisations have got to understand what a website really is. It's not an art project. It's a machine for doing things.

I think that when the penny finally drops (many years from now), this new approach to web will seem so obvious that they'll wonder why they did it any other way.

(Read my article on Medium.com: Why digital government is failing - and how to fix it.)

Labels: Content Design