Rethinking relative priorities and design on make a request page

[BenJam]

some things that feel a bit wrong with this page are:

• that the information provided in 'special note' is actually just about the authority
• that the 'browse other requests text is completely missed next to that bold section'
• that the information might be available in another request or on the transparency page of the authority

as part of #2 I think adding transparency information link here somewhere would be useful

[BenJam]

another comment from @ANTAI today, is that we should add (right of the request) additional guidance about asking for the information in the format it is kept. e.g. not for a summarised format. This is a cost-saving measure for Panama, forcing the requestor to do some heavy lifting themselves.

[zarino]

@BenJam: That's not a problem, as long as they give us the wording they want.

[zarino]

Note to self: Martin's existing wireframes will come in handy.

[zarino]

Okay, so, as of https://github.com/mysociety/panama-theme/commit/0e9045f8e5ada97afcb3b6f9b62e72ec020d3267, it's currently looking like this:

• The big green box has been removed, replaced by a much simpler paragraph directly under the ministry/department name.
• Help links and bits of advice previously hidden in the main text of the page have been collected and placed into the sidebar.

The downside of this is that certain links, such as the "other requests to Ministry X" one, have been moved from the top of the page to the sidebar, so they're less likely to be seen.

I don't know how important that link was, but from the look of it, we're also going to be adding a "Check that the information you require isn't available on the authority's transparency page" link somewhere, which ANTAI might want to be, potentially, the most prominent thing on the page, since they'll want to cut down on requests. @BenJam – thoughts?

[BenJam]

@zarino the "Check that the information you require isn't available on the authority's transparency page" is quite important as it not only stops unnecessary requests but also focuses attention on information that organisations should be publishing. Perhaps re-introducing that 'special note' like box in the main content or side panel would draw enough attention to it?

[zarino]

@BenJam – ok! Will try to have a new screenshot with you before the end of the day.

[ANTAI]

Please include this "Check that the information you require isn't available on the authority's transparency page" will be very helpful

[zarino]

I've been talking with @BenJam about how to make people actually want to read the transparency information. I'm not sure what the 'voice' of the site's meant to be, but here's my first iteration of how it could look:

[zarino]

Pull request here: https://github.com/mysociety/panama-theme/pull/81

[stevenday]

Re-opening for client review

[stevenday]

You can see an example of this work on the following pages:

http://staging.panama.alaveteli.org/new/aeropuerto_internacional_de_tocumen_sa (an authority with transparency information on their website)

and: http://staging.panama.alaveteli.org/new/autoridad_del_transito_y_transporte_terrestre (an authority which has no transparency information link added)

[ANTAI]

This looks good