Ensuring online usability and value: A comparative analysis of the design standards, criteria and governance models in Denmark, Portugal, and the UK

Utilising the recommendations of the two most quoted online usability experts, Jacob Nielsen and Ben Shneiderman, as an analytical framework, this paper compares the approaches of Denmark, Portugal, and the United Kingdom (UK) to online service design standards and usability over time. The paper finds that all three countries address the recommendations of Nielsen and Shneiderman, albeit with varying degrees of detail, support, and compliance assurance. The approach to the design standard and usability criteria have changed in the Danish case, whereas in Portugal governance and compliance approach have been altered. The Danish and UK approaches to design standards and usability requirements stand out as particularly successful in their reach and ability to improve online user-friendliness of content and transactional services. These two countries stand out as global leaders in their own right. Denmark shows how to reap the benefit of IT and technology investments in public sector services delivery through a combination of strong mandates, coordination, and collaboration across all levels of government to achieve its strategic objectives. With a similar effect, the UK has set a new global standard for the design of public sector service offers online, but the impact is limited by its focus on central government services.