There is a problem with Obamacare. Not necessarily within the program itself. I’m going to try to stay as unbiased as possible when it comes to that. The problem was with the website. Overloaded, unresponsive, and generally broken, healthcare.gov burst into the world as the digital face of Obamacare. Who is responsible? Republicans? Democrats? Neither. Blame for this fiasco falls solely into the lap of CGI Federal, the company contracted to create this site. When I first heard of and saw all of the problems, I was angry but when I saw coverage of the hearing, I became furious. It became abundantly clear that CGI Federal was not operating with the best interest of the most important thing about a website in mind.
The most important thing about a website isn’t the photos. It isn’t fancy animations, pretty typography, or even the content. The most important thing about a website is the person using it. We make websites for people to use. All of the other elements should be tailored to meet that end. Without people using your site, you’ve just created digital noise. Putting out a broken product alienates users. Digital noise.
You might say “They couldn’t help it. They had a deadline to meet.” No. It was their responsibility, their duty, to put out a good, usable product. Sometimes, it has to just not be ready yet. Instead of just bidding to try to get a contract, create a responsible bid where your client can get the best product. At the very least stand up and say that there is a problem and there’s more work that needs to be done. Pushing out a broken product, especially evident in this case, is irresponsible, greedy, and bad business.
Designers have a lot of power. Designers have the power to change the world. If you believe in something enough to take the job and work on it, make sure you are creating a product that you can stand behind and reflects the belief you have in what you have done. If you don’t believe in it, don’t do it. healthcare.gov should have been reflective of all the good that the program could do. It wasn’t.
Do this as a reminder. Go to healthcare.gov and take a screenshot. Print that out and put it on the wall beside your computer. Whenever you’re working on something, look at it and ask yourself “Am I doing work I can be proud of?” This fiasco is one that designers should remember and take to heart. Don’t forget. You have power, use it wisely.