Two Minute Bins

I set myself a challenge. I visited a number of local Council websites, picked an appropriate postcode at random and tried to find out when my imaginary rubbish would be collected. I wondered if I could locate this information within two minutes.

I accept that this may be an odd challenge but here’s how I did with the first site:

Swale Borough Council

The home page shows a lot of promise. Nice and simple liquid layout, inoffensive palette and landscape sitting behind to set the tone. The search field in the centre of the page put me at ease – relax – what are you looking for? I type “rubbish collection” (which didn’t auto-suggest as perhaps it could have done) and get hit with an error page. After resubmitting, it works fine but displays the following results page:

From left to right, I have:

•    Articles relating to rubbish
•    A box that tells me that “no councillors were found”
•    A link to Medway Council’s rubbish collection pages – great if I lived in Medway
•    A blank FAQs box

Nowhere to go aside from up a level, so I try the “Living and Visiting” tab. I am presented with some clear categories which include “Refuse and Recycling”. This takes me to some sub-categories which include “Household Waste” – I am getting somewhere. Clicking this, I reach a further set of options which are:

•    Village Clean-Ups
•    Collection of Bulky Items
•    Wheelie Bins

Hmmm, I pause and wonder what to do - time is running out - I panic a little and click wheelie bins as it seems the closest match. I now have eight options relating to wheelie bins such as “not sure which bin to put out?”.

Time up. FAIL.

And the others…

www.brighton-hove.gov.uk - SUCCESS! 26 seconds.
www.cornwall.gov.uk - SUCCESS! 27 seconds.
www.aberdeencity.gov.uk - FAIL
www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk - FAIL - due mainly to an incredibly slow load speed. The home page was front-loaded nicely however.
www.basildon.gov.uk - FAIL - it confused me. In the screenshot below, you will see a date in the top right hand corner. This is today’s date (at the time of writing). Is it saying that my collection was today or simply stating today’s date? The confusing bit is the text “Today is”. Hmmmm….

One thing for sure though, I do feel enlightened that I know the local MEP. Exactly what I need when I am looking for something else entirely.

www.carlisle.gov.uk - FAIL as it couldn’t find any of the local postcodes I offered up.
www.colchester.gov.uk - FAIL. It offered several pages of content on recycling readily, but it took over four minutes to locate the household waste postcode lookup.
www.medway.gov.uk - FAIL. Possibly the most unneccessarily elaborate and complex interface I have used. Behold…

In summary, I don’t think anyone expects a beautiful life-changing experience from a Council website, but ease of use should be a given. No excuses.

Why not try the Two Min Bin Test yourself and let me know how you get on.