Betagov.uk 'on track' - GDS

Enhancements to the new single central government public services portal have been well received by participants in a study, which seems to sugegst citizens find 'Betagov' quicker and less frustrating than Directgov.

 

The Government Digital Service (GDS) said that participants in a study found information an average of 43 seconds faster using the pilot site compared to Directgov - and Betagov completion rates reached nearly 70%, compared to about 60% in past tests.

 

Nick Breeze, a senior manager at GDS, said in a blog post this would equate to well over 1 million more user needs being successfully met each month.

 

“The majority of participants described the Betagov style as ‘straightforward’, ‘to the point’, and/or ‘reassuring’. Moreover, the majority of participants also agreed that Betagov content contained the ‘right amount of information," Breeze enthused.

 

GDS says if the same level of improvement was mirrored across the live service, a Betagov type product could lead to users saving more than 215,000 hours of their time each month and quantifiably lower levels of user frustration, and higher levels of user reassurance.

 

However, a report published by the National Audit Office in December warned that the government had not in general been properly measuring benefits delivered by Directgov and indeed Business.gov, and the infrastructure service Government Gateway.