The Government Is Even Inefficient In Building Search Engines

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the who-needs-user-interface-design? dept

A few weeks ago we wrote about how Medicare was now letting recipients comparison shop for pharmacies online. The system would let them put in info about where they were and what drugs they had been prescribed and get info. When it launched, there we a bunch of problems as people noticed that the supposed “discount” they got was no discount at all. Meanwhile, a new article points out that the way they handle the user interface for this comparison shopping engine probably makes it useless to many users. Users have to go through a series of pages answering unnecessary questions before they can actually search – and the results are presented in a complex and difficult to read grid. The writer suggests that they take a lesson from the travel booking websites like Orbitz or Travelocity, and set up a quick form for search and easy to read, easy to understand results. The spokesperson from Medicare had a typical government response, instead, saying that if they can’t understand the site they should just call Medicare to get the info. Of course, it sounds like there are a lot of people who can’t navigate the site and are doing just that, because the spokesperson immediately pointed out that people should call in the evenings since the phonelines are overwhelmed right now.