We are humans yet, aren’t we?
Recently, I had to apply for a DBS to the UK Government. For the services like this, they have promoted a ‘universal’ digital identity control solution based on the Digidentity app, and this has appeared a game-stopper. (Fortunately, GOV UK Verify still have regular way to apply, which requires to take your bum out from your chare and go to the Post Office). In essence, ‘universal’ digital identity control is not a new solution and it is appealing to Government for years. (BTW, why should I have a digital identity if I have my passport already? – Is it for making easier to Government spying on me? In this article, I will not address the attack on humanity by chipping people under the cover of COVID adopted in Sweden and so loved by Bill Gates. These topics deserve separate discussions.)
As everyone, who ever contacted IT, knows that Information Technology deals with a digital matter all its history and with nothing else. So, separation of @Digital@ in IT from non-digital is absurdism (for those who do not know this words: it is a ridiculous or bizarre behaviour or character). The term is, probably, created by illiterate developers or analogous marketing to outline themselves from regular Information Technology. I guess, they did not know that words not only had sense but also could change sense, which is dangerous: a digital transformation of IT is oxymoron unless it means that the developer opinion is more important that opinion of architect or manager…
Well, lyric is enough. The fundamental aspect of Digidentity app is that it is a mobile application. When one creates a mobile app, s/he usually assumes that the consumer audience is familiar with such digital “thing”. When you create a mobile app for a country Government and all its citizens, you may not assume the same awareness, i.e. the use of the app must be very simple and even simpler.
It seems that designers and developers of Digidentity app had suffered from Digital Pandemic because their brains did not care about people who should configuration the app to use it, i.e. about configuration usability. For my few decades in IT, I never saw such incomprehensive idiotic configuration. First, when the app makes a scan of the person’s passport, it makes a photo of the identity page, but it is too fast and unknown what had been pictured and whether it is correct. Then, the app requires to “read” several passport pages. What does mean “read”? Who and how has to turn pages, who and how should keep the camera? (One of required pages does not exist in the UK Passports). To perform these manipulation, two people are needed because it is impossible to follow the instructions with only two hands. Supplemental animation illustrating the process is difficult to remember (what to do after what) and it is not visible at runtime to lead you over the step of the process.
After about 90 minutes of trying to configure Digidentity app (making “proper” picture of my passport), I gave up and got frustrated.
I believe, that UK Government Verify programme has made a mistake accepting Digidentity app. I do not know what happened in the related Government Department, but to me it is obvious that User Acceptance Testing was either omitted or failed and hidden for this app. I looked in YouTube, but it shows only advertisement videos about when to apply the Digidentity, not how to configure it. This is another aspect of digitalisation – developers do intend providing adequate documentation and training for non-developers.
When any Government deals with “Digital”, it should beware of digital mind impairment of vendors, which do not see people in users. In general, the usability requirements must prevail functionality.
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