I have been tasked with finding a good and bad example of existing applications aimed around local governments. I will post screenshots of any apps that I find, and give a brief summary beneath about why I think the app is good or bad, and how it may be improved. All of this should help me work towards re-branding and improving upon an existing product.
My Council (1)
This application was the better of the two I found both called “My Council”. It features a nice menu that clearly details where every link leads, and contains several useful features such as “street reports” and “jobs”. I feel as though the title bar at the top could have been drastically reduced in size to save space, and the icons could have perhaps been reduced in size also; however the application is more than likely going to be used by the older generation, who for starters may not care about design, and as such this won’t bother them; furthermore, the large icons will also be useful for those that do not have such great eye sight.
One thing I liked a lot was the ability to report crimes, graffiti, etc, by “pinning” them on an embedded Google Maps function under the “street reports” page. The only downside to this is that an internet connection is required to display this content.
My Council (2)
In contrast to the previous application; this one, also named “My council”, features many poor design choices and unusual systems that make it a pain to use. As soon as the application is opened, the user is greeted with a splash screen featuring poorly placed logos over a stretched image with plain text – It’s not nice to look at, and seems as if it was thrown together in a rush. After this screen, the user is then invited to log in. While it isn’t necessary to log in to use the application, it seems strange to be able to create an account with the system. The main menu is not bad, but it’s not brilliant; the only way it seems connected to anything else in the app is by the colour scheme. A slightly crushed selection menu also flanks the bottom, allowing the user to discover more information. This bar at the bottom could probably have been better served in the list with everything else; but I feel the designers did this so that the user would not have to scroll. One bizarre occurrence is that when searching for the Lincoln city council, the embedded Google Maps displayed the location as within Lincoln Common. To give them the benefit of the doubt, however, this may well be a problem with Google Maps and not the application itself.