Opening up our code and logic for algorithmic decision-making

https://insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk/2022/07/04/opening-up-our-code-and-logic-for-algorithmic-decision-making/

72 12 4 years ago

insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk

lordnacho• 4 years ago

GDS do some good work. All the government pages I've come across have a simple, consistent, legible interface. Sometimes it's a bit tedious because there's just a lot of text, but they manage it pretty well. They seem to make a point of having specific "Start Here" type buttons for filling out forms, which is a sensible idea.

nmstoker• 4 years ago

I agree - it's a part of UK government I'm pretty pleased with. It often feels like their involvement shakes out poor legacy processes too (thinking back 15 years to picking up mildly Kafka-esque forms at the Post Office for really common, regular mundane tasks!)

Just this evening i benefited from an NHS site that looks like it's had their help/guidance and the process was excellent.

cawlin• 4 years ago

Oh yes they do excellent work in form type workflows - sharing their patterns as well which I love

Ex: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/design/form-structure

midenginedcoupe• 4 years ago

This is super-useful. Especially given I built and run a forms SaaS targetted at central gov in the UK.

It's interesting how so many form products discount themselves from this space by either requiring javascript or not being able to deliver the html+css specified in https://design-system.service.gov.uk/components/

There are still snags though. GDS have made some, let's say questionable, tech choices that go against their own mandates, and they're reticent to engage with the commercial sector to help departments adopt their designs/standards. But, overall, it's an excellent resource and makes designing and building forms so much easier.

civilized2• 4 years ago

I'm an American and an unapologetic fanboy of UK government websites. They are the best of the web: unerringly clean, organized, simple, and substantial.

For example, I've recently noticed that when I need to know about a drug, the NHS page about it is one of the top results on Google. I've come to click on it rather than sites like webMD because I know I'll get a simple, informative page of text instead of an ad-loaded nightmare that responds to any meaningful question with "ask your doctor" (who will then Google it and charge you $500 for the favor).

Turns out it's totally possible to have a government make nice things -- way nicer than the private sector, actually.

alberth• 4 years ago

UK government website remind me of the golden age of Web 1.0 (minus the scrolling blinking Javascript)

- content dense pages

- accessibility

- using the browser defaults with only minor styling (Eg links are blue underlines, proper use of H1-H3, etc)

- works without JavaScript

civilized2• 4 years ago

The halcyon days of the web, when the only people online were future gov.uk web developers.

rkagerer• 4 years ago

I'm kind of surprised the first thing I see is a "we use Google Analytics" in a banner

jmeister2• 4 years ago

I wish govs do this for stuff like CPI. I remember the Danish govt open sourced their macro econ models recently.

nonameiguess• 4 years ago

At least in the US, CPI is an open formula: https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/calculation.htm

There is no way to just present code that will compute it, though, because much of the detail lies in the data collection techniques, which rely on human judgement to replace discontinued or altered goods with equivalents, and they interview homeowners and renters in person via the Census. You can't reproduce the entire computation without employing a few thousand people in representative samples of the country.

jmeister2• 4 years ago

Interesting. Thank you!

Opening up our code and logic for algorithmic decision-making

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